Ok so it wasn't Just Kids, but I really enjoyed it and I felt like I got to know and appreciate Juliana a bit more by just spending time with her. It's imperfect, but that's kind of the point, she is imperfect, troubled, uncomfortable and moody, but y'know what, she wrote Backseat so i'll always have a place in my heart for her. When I Grow Up is a brave book, honest, unpretentious, at times plodding (though i liked all the stuff about what food she ate on the road etc. - take that goodreaders), and shows what a resilient and real person she is. (also you should all go out and buy Wild Animals too, it's awesome.) This book is an interest insight into the life and times of a professional musician. As a person who has spent times in bands I found I could relate to some of the content. However, being a musician is definitely not a prerequisite. This book is much more about the experiences of her life as a working musician than the profession itself. Juliana recants her memories in a candid, conversational tone throughout. She does not hold back about her issues with depression and their effects on her personal and professional life either. Especially insightful is the segment about the shift in the music industry from alternative rock during the mid 1990s. She provides the perspective of a musician who effectively got dumped out of the mainstream at this time. All in all I fond this book to be an insightful portrait of a musician's life and times. Though at times she may seem to comfortably on the whiny side, the interesting anecdotes are reason enough to give the book a go.
What do You think about When I Grow Up: A Memoir (2008)?
Some people are too depressed. Even those you think are beautiful, talented and/or lucky.
—Cambam
There was never a chance I wouldn't love this book.
—Thebe
