Cat Power: A Good Woman

As pointed out in reviews below, there's not much new here to people who've already dug up all the other articles ever written about Chan other than more information about her Cabbagetown era and early NYC days and an appalling confirmation of why exactly Chan's father kicked her out at age 16 to make her own way in life (i.e., to make room for a new main squeeze, not because Chan was flunking high school). The fact "divulged" in the book that Chan has outright lied about many things is not surprising to anybody who has read her various interviews and realized that what Chan said in one interview contradicts what she said in a previous interview. Chan appears to have a pathological desire to please her interviewers by telling them whatever she thinks they want to hear, whether it's true or not, probably a defensive mechanism from growing up with a crazy mother where the goal is to tell crazy mom whatever will keep her from going off into crazy abusive behavior. The lie about moving to NYC to escape drugs is typical (she moved to a drug-riddled part of NYC where drugs were everywhere) -- most of her early band members from Atlanta are either alive or died in ways that did not involve drugs (such as auto accidents). The truth was probably that she was bored, would always have been "that cute girl at the pizza parlor" if she'd stayed in Atlanta, and the opportunity arose when her Cabbagetown room-mate died in an auto accident and a friend who had moved to NYC said "I have room here, why not come to NYC?" and she jumped on the opportunity as a way to re-invent herself. Nothing unusual there. But the drug thing was more exciting, a detail that would please interviewers, and Chan loves to please interviewers. Same deal with her supposed meeting with Steve Shelley and Tim Foljahn at the Liz Phair concert. According to the book neither Steve nor Tim remember it that way, rather, they remember that they'd heard of that strange girl who worked at the copy shop who had some really interesting tunes and went searching her out, not that they saw her accidentally at the Liz Phair concert. Neither even remembers being at the Liz Phair concert. But the Liz Phair story makes a great story for interviewers, they love it, they eat it up, so Chan gives them what they want. Going beyond the "warts" Ms. Goodman finds, the psychological speculation in the book is interesting but ignores one of the most obvious theories (other than the crazy-mom one) about Chan's sometimes-awkward behavior - i.e., that she is undiagnosed ADHD. She certainly seems ADHD in every video interview I've ever seen of her, she has more twitches than a tweaker and skips from subject to subject like her brain is working at a million miles per hour, but she doesn't have the ravaged skin-and-bones body of a tweaker. ADHD also would explain Chan's academic difficulties in her school days despite her obvious intelligence (let's face it, you don't maintain a career in music for 15 years and write

I happened to come across Cat Power: A Good Woman at the library. It looked interesting, so I grabbed it. I absolutely enjoyed this book from beginning to end. The reason my review may differ from the negative reviews....this is the first time I've heard of Cat Power. I found this book intriguing to say the least. The author did an excellent job writing about Chan, she remained objective throughout. Of course Chan's resistance to the publication helped Goodman delve deeper into understanding Chan in a way that,as a fan, she may have looked over. Chan Marshall's inner conflict goes unresolved, her soul seeks resolution while her mind is distracted by fame. She is her own worst enemy. I don't think it was disrespectful for Goodman to write about Chan Marshall, she didn't exploit her in anyway that wasn't already known. Goodman doesn't attempt to disect the illness schizophrenia - she states a couple times in her book that the onset of schizophrenia is usually in late adolescence. She does state that if you have a genetic disposition to the illness, you will always have some risk of developing it even after the frontal lobes are formed. Research has shown schizophrenia can start between ages 16-30 years old. Bad research? Not in this book. Chan Marshall obviously has had many inner struggles that played out in her music & performances. Elizabeth Goodman did an excellent job putting together pieces of a puzzle that would almost seem impossible. Goodman didn't have much to go from considering the lack of cooperation from her subject. I applaud Goodman for her determination to continue on with this project. Recognizing the deceptive nature of Chan's tactics, piecing together Chan's statements vs. Chan's actions - having a time line to put things into sequence - brilliant. Logic comes out of this emotional mess, almost to the point of Chan becoming predictable. I highly recommend this book to those who are new to Cat Power, or want some additional insight and perhaps answers to the contradicting nature of Chan Marshall.

Easily the best rock biography since _Morrissey and Marr: The Severed Alliance_. Sensitive, intelligent, and stylishly written, the book gives a vivid picture of a difficult, tortured personality. Very honestly, I think this book would profit even those who've never listened to or really enjoyed Cat Power's music -- the book is compelling on its own merits. And for those who do listen to and enjoy the music, the book will give you a richer appreciation. This is not a genre I enjoy as a rule. I like those Continuum 33 1/3 books, of course, but those are clever essays. Goodman has managed something rather more difficult.