After suffering trough 1 204 pages of Stephen King's saga, I needed something completely different to get my mind out of his dark universe and twisted minds. So I turned my attention to well-proved genre of biographies to simply relax and read with pleasure. Oh, what a change! This book was so easy to read, so light and breezy, I actually sailed trough like swan on a swan lake, no pressure, no obligations, no countless characters whose names have to be memorised, no thousands of pages and chapters, just a pure pleasure + I love the subject and her music so it was all like a vacation.
If all seemed somehow vaguely familiar, it should be - afterwards I found out that I have actually read the first edition of this book some two decades ago but in the meantime it was expanded, polished and new chapters were added. Whatever I found light and superficial back than, now I think its excellent - either I have changed or Mark Bego did some serious editing job so final result is definite book about Aretha Franklin, a book that covers almost every single corner and aspect of her life, at least the ones open to public. It seems that lady herself was always very reserved when it came to sharing her private life with audience and there is a long list of subjects she won't discuss with anybody - which I perfectly understand and accept. When she wrote autobiography herself, it was so vague and elusive that at the end of the day seems that other biographers like this one have far better perspective and eye for a detail - which in itself is a curiosity, it brings a question of difference between autobiography (where a person talks about his own life) and biography (where others write about it as they perceive it). Surely Mr. Bego can't possibly know more about Aretha than Aretha herself, however since she is so decidedly silent about what makes her tick, he does admirable job.
We are not talking about gossipy biography here - author shows a great deal of respect and affections for a lady, though he also does not shrink away from her colourful escapades. He (and in turn, we readers) is awed by her talent, perseverance, class and style. On the other hand he is also amused with all of Franklin's non-musical, highly publicised missteps in fashion, food and such. Although she is often thought of as haughty and arrogant, somewhere between the lines she comes across as likable, self-deprecating and often humorously toying with her image and status. If her sensitivity about the crown & throne & sceptre seems occasionally childish, well if you look back at her achievements they are actually glorious and unprecedented so she has all the rights to be proud of them. Contrary to what I expected, I ended up the book liking her actually even more than before.
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