Chaka! Through the Fire
by Chaka Khan, Tonya Bolden
List Price:
Our Price: $1.18
You Save: $22.77 (95%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Chaka Khan, Tonya BoldenEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-10-10
ISBN: 1579548261
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Rodale Books
Book Reviews of Chaka! Through the Fire
Book Review: 3 -1/2 stars defaults to 4 here. ;o)
Summary: 4 Stars
I truly enjoyed this memoir written by Chaka Khan and Tonya Bolden and would recommend it to any Chaka Khan fan or anyone curious as to how this siren of song came to be and lived.
I've been a Chaka fan since childhood. She is my favorite all-time vocalist. My father bought Rufus' first album but I didn't pay much attention until the second, "Rags to Rufus". Chaka's raw primal energy on the microphone had me hooked from the first guitar riff of "You Got the Love" and "Tell Me Something Good". The third album, "Rufusized", sealed my fate as a lifelong Rufus and Chaka Khan fan. I would sit, listen and ogle over the album covers for hours on end. In my naive young mind, Chaka Khan was the epitome of womanhood. I wanted to be her. All at once this woman was incredibly talented, beautiful, vivacious, tender... exuding tremendous confidence, power and an animal-like sensuality. I would shake my braids loose, dress up in my summer halter and bell-bottoms and dance about the family room doing that side-to-side-jerk-shimmy thing that was her trademark. The band's appearances on shows like Bandstand and Soul Train were moments that I lived for. My father even bought my first guitar to help appease my obsession. It was only much later that I discovered all that glitters is not gold... in regard to my idol and otherwise. My first live Chaka experience was at a mid-80's concert in the Chicago area. She was good... but clearly trashed and suffering. It broke my heart. My adulation remains however, and I'd always yearned to know her story.
The thing that I enjoyed most about the book is the conveyance of her personality through the words. Her candid expression and frankness are qualities that I deeply appreciate. Her matter-of-fact sense of humor tends to come out of nowhere. From the first mention of her first-born you can sense the guilt that haunted her career, having left her child for long periods to pursue her career. Others have remarked on the brevity and lack of detail throughout some periods of her career (if not MOST of it). I would agree. Though personal and to the point, her recollections are fairly vague. I don't know if she was limited to a certain number of pages, by deadlines, or simply couldn't recall those times through the haze of substance abuse. I will say that I wished there were more... much more. (C'mon Chaka... girl if you're gonna write it... write it) Perhaps the intent was to focus on a few specific moments and what she pulled from those experiences. To the self-dubbed "in-the-moment gal", I gather everything else was irrelevant. I would like to know more about her rise with Rufus beyond the formative years, more detail on the inter-relationships (she could've devoted an entire chapter to her and Tony Maiden alone), inspiration for songs that she penned and adventures on the road. Most importantly, more on where that voice derived it's passion and fire. She seems to have completed this book for the purposes of exorcising demons, rather than putting focus on the beauty and legend that she created. In a way the book IS optimistic, in the sense that she feels that she has now gotten the upper hand on her demons. She continues to look forward, taking each day as it comes. I wish her the very best.
Music Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Music Books
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brainby Oliver Sacks
Knopf Publishing Group; Published: 2008; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.45
Listenby Joseph Kerman, Gary Tomlinson
Bedford/St. Martin's; Published: 2007-02-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.00
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Centuryby Alex Ross
Picador; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.82
Price in other shops:
Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylanby Douglas R. Gilbert, Dave Marsh
Da Capo Press; Published: 2006-10-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops:
Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boysby Steven Gaines
Da Capo Press; Published: 1995-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops:
Handbook for Sound Engineers, Third Editionby Glen Ballou
Focal Press; Published: 2002-01-21; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Jazz Anecdotesby Bill Crow
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1990-05-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.18
Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williamsby Paul Hemphill
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
How to Train Singers/ Book and Tapeby Larra Browning Henderson
Parker; Published: 1991-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.95
Price in other shops:
I, Tina: My Life Story (icon!t)by Tina Turner, Kurt Loder
It Books; Published: 2010-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Marsha Ambrosius - Late Nights, Early MorningsRelease date: 2011-03-01; Music CD
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops:
LifeMURPHY,EDDIE; Release date: 1999-10-19; DVD
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops:
Chaka Khan, Rufus - RufusizedRUFUS & CHAKA KHAN; Release date: 1991-04-23; Music CD
Best price: $4.38
Price in other shops:
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptationsby Mark Ribowsky
Wiley; Published: 2010-09-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.42
Price in other shops:
Chaka Khan, Rufus - Rufus Featuring Chaka KhanRUFUS; Release date: 1990-08-13; Music CD
Best price: $4.13
Price in other shops:
Chaka Khan - Funk ThisRelease date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $6.13
Price in other shops:
Midnight Mover: The True Story of the Greatest Soul Singer in the Worldby Bobby Womack
John Blake; Published: 2007-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Foxy: My Life in Three Actsby Pam Grier
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2010-04-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Chaka Khan, Rufus - Ask RufusRUFUS; Release date: 1992-03-10; Music CD
Best price: $4.06
Price in other shops:
The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of a Super Freakby Rick James
Amber Communications Group, Inc.; Published: 2007-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.06
Price in other shops: