Art has always been an essential part of self-expression in the African American Culture. From the spoken words of music…To the unspoken words of visual expression…And Jean Michel Basquiat left his mark on the World as not only one of the most amazing African American Artist…But as one of the most amazing Artist of his time.As a huge fan of Jean Michel Basquiat work, I could not wait to get my hands on this book. First, I must warn you... if you are looking for a chronological order of the trials of tribulation of the love story of Suzanne Mallouk a.k.a. Widow Basquiat and Jean Michel Basquiat…Then… this book is not for you. This story is told in the form of poetry…the language of L…O… V… E ….which in a sense should only enhance the love story of Jean and Suzanne.However…A love story this is not…If you are looking for a heart wrenching love story that will bring tears to your eyes and run home and kiss your significant other…Well…this book is definitely not for you.In order to understand the story of Suzanne Mallouk, we must first understand the story of Jean Michel Basquiat. The life of Jean Michel Basquiat was a rag to riches story, some may say nothing less than amazing, however with fame and fortune gave birth to a new demon…drug addiction. “Widow Basquiat” is a book of the tumultuous relationship between Suzanne and Jean told by Suzanne’s friend… Author Jennifer Clement. The mix narrative of this story often left me feeling like I was reading a teenage girl’s diary.Now if you don’t know the story of Jean Michel Basquiat you might find this book as tantalizing as watching a reality TV show…With all of the drama of an emotional rollercoaster included.However, if you are familiar with his story…Well…two things can happen…this book might leave you disappointed…Or this book may serve as a decoder ring and help you decipher the artistic works of Jean.I think to call this story a love story is a little bit misleading…but that’s just simply my personal opinion….of my interpretation of the facts.One…Suzanne was not in a relationship with Jean during the time of death.Two…The only thing that made “Widow Basquait” a love story… is the fact that Suzanne and Jean both loved taking drugs.I have no doubt that Jean and Suzanne had a deep love for each other, I just wish this book had concentrated on that a little bit more. No…life is not all about rainbows, fairy dust, and unicorns…But honestly I’m not sure what the message in this book was suppose to be…Other than to remind us that Suzanne Mallouk was part of Jean’s life. But most of us already knew that…This book was like a street artist writing on a wall…Suzanne was here.So with that said… should you read this book? Well…I don’t see why not.Just like everything is life…It’s all up to interpretation.Written as it appears on The Book Blog and Etc:http://myohosisters.webs.com/apps/blo...-
An elegantly written book depicting horrendous abuses. Suzanne Mallouk becomes the lover of Jean-Michael Basquait shortly after moving to the United States from Canada. Basquait is a street or graffiti artist and because of his incredible drug abuse and generally unhealthy lifestyle, Suzanne Mallouk becomes known as the Widow Basquait. They have an on-again, off-again relationship but even when they are in a relationship, Basquait is not faithful. Their relationship is characterized by drug abuse by both. He becomes a famous artist and this leads to more excesses in his life until he ultimately dies of a drug overdose. Suzanne takes him back over and over again until finally she is unable to deal with his drug abuse and moves on with her life. Amazingly enough, Suzanne not only survives but goes on to become a psychiatrist. It is a very sad book that reveals a lifestyle that is foreign to most people. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for review consideration. This does not change how I review a book and the review is still my honest opinion.
I love this book. It is a poem. It is about strength. It is about feminism. It is about marketing. It is about politics. It is about childhood. And yes, it's about an iconic artist and one of his lovers but it's really about so much more if you choose to dig deep and see it. This is not for everyone. Some readers who like a straightforward narrative will most likely be discouraged with the mixed voices in this fictional biography/memoir of Basquiat and Suzanne Mallouk. But I think Clement captures the voices with an authenticity and care that may be only attributed to her personal ties to Suzanne Mallouk, the fictional widow. Living a drug and sex -fuelled life of chaos in the New York and International art scene, the colorful characters come to life while we see the reality of AIDS and overdoses and other STDs at the edges of the frenetic lifestyles. Jennifer Clement exposes the vulnerability of such large personalities without making them caricatures and you can see beauty in the tragedy. I think of a flower growing out of a crack in a dirty and dilapidated sidewalk. I finished it and just wanted to read it again.Provided by Publisher
—Heather Fineisen
If you're looking for a book with a traditional narrative structure . . . this isn't it. The book is really just a jumble of recollections from Suzanne Mallouk, lover and friend of 1980s artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. While they were together, both were doing massive amounts of drugs, so I suppose it's not surprising that her memory is vague and disjointed. Sometimes the narrator/author seems to be telling the story, and other times Suzanne is directly relating a memory (these instances seem to be indicated with italics). But the book is basically "we went here, we stopped and bought drugs, we did heroin/coke, he disappeared for days" over and over and over. Makes for not very interesting reading. There's also tons of people mentioned that I've never heard of, with the occasional celebrity thrown in (Madonna, Andy Warhol). After Basquiat's overdose death, Suzanne cleaned up her life and became a psychiatrist and addiction counselor, but this time period in her life doesn't make for very interesting reading.I received an uncorrected proof of this book from the publisher.
—Lisa Ahlstedt
I love that this book is titled Widow Basquiat - A Love Story. It should be subtitled a story of an unhealthy codependent relationship, drug use and abusive behaviors. If your idea of love is to have your partner spit into you mouth and have sex with anyone he wants to - this is a love story for you. True, there were troubled pasts here but the overriding excuse is that Basquiat was a talented street artist who was friends with Andy Warhol - ergo he was validated. I don't see it that way. What I see is a manipulative abuser who takes joy in the power he wields over his "widow". A junkie.
— wade
