Product Description

Christopher Ciccone's extraordinary memoir is based on his forty-seven years of growing up with, working with and understanding the most famous woman of our time. Throughout most of the iconic star's kaleidoscopic career, Christopher played an important role in her life: as her back-up dancer, her personal assistant, her dresser, her decorator, her art director and tour director. Only Christopher can tell the full and riveting story behind her carefully constructed mythology, and reveal the real woman behind the glittering facade. From their shared Michigan childhood and the early days in Manhattan, when he slept on her roach-infested floor and danced with her in clubs all over town, Christopher was with her every step of the way, experiencing her first-hand in all her incarnations. The punk drummer, the raunchy Boy Toy, Material Girl, Mrs Sean Penn, loving mother, Mrs Guy Ritchie, English grand dame -- Christopher witnessed and understood all of them, as his own life was inexorably entwined with that of his chameleon sister. He tangled with a cast of characters from artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, to Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss, Demi Moore and, of course, Guy Ritchie, whose advent in Madonna's life splintered the loving relationship Christopher once had with her. The mirror image of his legendary sister, with his acid Ciccone tongue, Christopher pulls no punches as he tells his astonishing story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42359 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

About the Author
Christopher Ciccone began his professional career as a dancer with La Groupe de La Place Royal in Ottawa. He art-directed Madonna's Blond Ambition tour and directed her The Girlie Show tour. He has directed music videos for Dolly Parton and Tony Bennett. He is an artist, interior decorator and designer in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. Wendy Leigh is the New York Times bestselling author of eleven books, including True Grace: The Life and Times of An American Princess.

Customer Reviews

Famous Sister Refuses to Fund Drug Habit Shock Horror!
In true fairness Christopher's book is neither spectacular nor obscure. It says everything to all the wrong people and nothing to all the right people. Let's be honest and realistic about this book, it's been aimed at an "audience" in addition to being an instant bestseller due to the fact that the author can genuinely claim to have first hand knowledge of it's subject matter. This is true and proves to be entertaining - for a while - at least.

The book starts with Christopher and Madonna as equals - only 27 months apart (why he can't just say she's 2 years his elder is anyone's guess?) From this point onwards the author describes every incidental detail about his sister and her relationship with their family. No big surprises there. They have their ups and downs like any other family. Madonna seems to know how to survive whilst Christopher never seems to know what he wants from life, trailing any muse that happens to linger for more than a few moments. This is a theme that continues for the duration of the book, Madonna griping, fighting for and demanding what she deserves. In contrast we see Christopher hanging on to every move Madonna makes and from his teenage years onwards, jumping every time she says so. This is not a pretty sight and not particularly inductive of sympathy towards the author; he does however shatter a few myths and legends about Madonna, such as the story of her first arrival in New York - which was much less grim and lonely than Madonna would have us believe. He also enlightens us on the fact that most of the scenes in Madonna's rockumentary `Truth or Dare' were staged for the camera and nothing is sacred when it comes to boosting Madonna's image - including the death and memory of their mother.

Without realising it, Christopher tells a story of two siblings - one plagued with guilt and a insecurities and the other with a sense of reality. The two don't gel well, especially as Madonna matures while Christopher continues to live his L.A lifestyle by association, continues with childish pursuits and alienates himself from his sister by refusing to grow up and see himself as a mature man who happens to be homosexual instead of "Madonna's gay brother." A fact which he seems inexplicably unable to escape from, despite constant physiological support (paid for by his sister.)

It's true that he tells a lot of very personal stories about Madonna during her early years as an artist. He documents Madonna's maturing from adolescence through being an independent woman to being a caring mother, who despite her iron image has the odd flicker of feeling and represses this by being beneficial to many charities.

It's plain to see how Christopher resents his sister throughout the book. The best he can manage in his early 20's is selling jeans in a Yew York store, even then he wouldn't have been doing that without his sister pulling him towards the big city, if she hadn't pushed him, he'd probably be fitting tyres to this day in some obscure Detroit factory and repressing his homosexuality by beating up on more insightful and feeling guys than himself. He does seem to think that his being gay deserves some kind of award as he never shuts up about it, in fact he comes across as paranoid that everyone who isn't from L.A is homophobic. It seems Madonna gave him one opportunity after another and time after time, she pulls him out of his funk and gives him more opportunities. He meets all the right people, ends up in all the right places and still he doesn't seem to be able to stand on his own two feet. Finally after 20 years, Madonna seems tired and can take little more from him. Yet she still doesn't abandon him. Still gives him the opportunities that most people never get - or have to work really hard for. At the end of all this we get the feeling that it all comes down to money. He regularly does various drugs - she doesn't. She has lots of money - he doesn't.

By the end of the book, you feel that he's just making one pettier attempt to extract money from his sister's hard work instead of doing something himself to make a name for himself without her association - so that he doesn't have to go back to the cheaper and less exciting "Key bumps" of coke and can continue to do "lines" instead. To give him credit, he does tell stories of life close to Madonna which will appeal to the fans. But generally, he's not saying anything that we didn't already know or suspect.

Another good thing that can be said about this book is that it may well inspire a few Madonna fanatics to get a life instead of following and emulating hers. I give it 3 stars because it has some interesting stories about their relationship and it generally evens out the balance - despite the fact that it's littered with spelling mistakes, factual errors, and cultural misunderstandings. It does lead one to believe that, even as a casual reader, the author really hasn't a clue much of the time what he's writing about. This goes to prove that nobody knows Madonna quite like Madonna.

Great fun
Naturally, Madonna is as mad as a hatter, and so is her brother - that's the point of this book, at least. To tell you what you have already been thinking. For millions of people, since she popped up in 1983, the act of looking at Madonna, thinking about Madonna, talking about Madonna and writing about Madonna has been an act of pleasure. Absolutely nobody can explain WHY this should be, but why should this book be any different? It's hilarious, frightening, weird and actually quite well-written. I hope it sells millions, since up to this point Christopher Ciccone has had only the depressing job of wiping sweat off Madonna's body. Yuk. Time to move on?

Decades after the fact, nobody can really explain Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, the Beatles or Abba. They appeared at the right moment, pushed the right buttons, found a mass audience and became hugely successful. Now nobody can explain Madonna. Even Martin Amis failed to come up with anything in his book Visiting Mrs Nabokov: And Other Excursions. But neither the academics, the fans, nor in truth the individuals themselves can really give you a clear understanding of why any of it played out the way it did. That's why shows like 'The X Factor' are called the X factor. You can't explain it.

Chris Ciccone's life does not seem much of a happy one and it must be hard being related to someone so successful. Sadly, he claims that she does not maintain any relationships with anyone in her family now, which suggests that Madonna shares the ordinary problems we all have - getting on with people is a bitch, isn't it? In public Madonna is first in line to tell you that fame, money, success and looking fabulous do not actually make you happy. Half her records are cold reports of how bloody miserable she is. Chris Ciccone's account contradicts nothing that has come from the singer herself, adding a few celebrity party titbits, descriptions of doing up Madonna's various houses, family gatherings, and the pitiful Catholic childhood, all done with a dead mother haunting the place, that seems to have set everyone in the family off.

We now have Madonna at 50, and still getting away with everything she got away with at 25, and she still sells out tickets like mad, and she still does whatever she bloody well likes, and there is, it seems, still so much to say. It is hard to imagine the past 25 years without her. She sort of brightens the place up, doesn't she? Chris must be mad jealous, although a very clever and very well-qualified co-writer (look her up) has turned this book into a balanced account - instead of the screaming cry of anguish it probably should be, if he were really, really honest.

Warm and Tacky
If you are expecting a no holds barred, close up and personal insight into the queen of pop, by one of her nearest and dearest then you are likely to be disappointed. This isn't a lengthy tome either. I read it in a few hours and although it is an easy read and by no means boring, it certainly didn't reveal anything to cause a reserved person to blush about, let alone Madonna. There is probably nothing in it you couldn't find out by a bit of surfing the net either - or reading Rupert Everett's "Red Carpets & Other Banana Skins", which I will be getting next (but wouldn't have thought of buying otherwise).

The most revealing details in Christopher Ciccone's volume have already been published in the Sunday paper.

However, I did like the book, as it was an insight into relationship between brother and sister and was also a bit of a nostalgic review of Madonna's career.

What Christopher talks about will ring true to anyone who has asked their own family members to help out or have helped family - whether that is financially or otherwise. My friend's mum does her ironing. My friend is unhappy with the quality of the ironing and her mum with the rate she is paid! Seems to be a similar scenario here but on a somewhat different scale.

Christopher Ciccone either only has a vague recollection of what has gone on between him and Madonna and Madonna and others, or he is glossing over the past in order to sell his book but careful so as to preserve his "relationship" with his sister.

This is a bit of a moan by Christopher on how he hasn't had such a great deal out of being brother (in fact one of 4) to a superstar, interlaced with evidence of how proud he is of his elder sibling.

You can't help but think that Christopher also glosses over some of his own flaws. Mention of flying from Miami to LA - you can't help but think where did he get the money from, when he says he is owed money and having to down size to get by.

As for who is the wronged - seems to me, as is often the case with family conflicts, that it is a bit six of one and half a dozen of another. Think of this as a slightly longer version of an "OK" magazine interview, with slightly less facts - though if you are looking for statistics on Madonna's record/ticket sales you will find them all here.