May 16, 2011
Country-Pop superstar Twain lets it all hang out in this moving and revealing autobiography. Having endured a childhood of poverty and ill treatment at the hands of her father, Twain turned to music at an early age. She began performing at eight, often playing the midnight show in bars, and appeared on Canadian television at 11. But, as much as her mother pushed her toward music, her father paid the bills, and, yes, Twain sang (for tips), but also worked on her father's reforestation crew. When her parents were killed in a car crash (an event predicted by a palm reader and foreseen in a dream), Twain, at 22, supported her siblings by singing six nights a week at a golf resort. Success in Nashville followed, and Twain recounts her romance with music producer Mutt Lange, their collaboration, and finally the betrayal of his affair with her close friend, whose husband Twain later married. Amidst such pivotal events Twain reveals who she is: a principled vegetarian with a great sense of humor; someone who avoids conflict, loves horses and dogs; most importantly, a strong woman inured by experience, who made it to the top in her own way. To immerse oneself in Twain's book is to meet an immensely likable person; her voice doesn't leap off the page, it infuses it warmly, like molasses.