JANIS: HER LIFE AND MUSIC
Holly George-Warren (Simon & Schuster)
Holly George-Warren paints a finely crafted portrait of a life remembered in psychedelic technicolour for this outstanding biography of Janis Joplin. Eschewing myth and fiction, the reader is gifted a well-researched insight into Joplin’s journey from conservative Texan oil-town to beatnik superstar of the Summer Of Love. Incorporating extracts of correspondence between the singer and her family, the revelatory anecdotes of confidantes and assorted love-letters, Janis: Her Life And Music challenges the image of Janis Joplin as simple freewheeler, a hippie indifferent to her conservative roots. On the contrary, the singer is found to be a vulnerable character who, despite attaining her much-desired stardom, suffered from her unconquerable kozmic blues. JW
Price: £20. Info: www.janisjoplin.com/book