Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me Reviews

• An Admirable Woman

  
  By A3P51TJ2WD6Q82 on 2007-08-29
  I'm a Beatles fan too, but am dismayed to see some Beatles and EC acolytes posting not just harsh and unwarranted, but arguably libelious, comments here. "Groupie"?? "Call Girl"??!!
  
  It's sad to see people so rabid and in such denial about their heroes' imperfections that they're smearing a lovely woman because she had the temerity to leave those rock gods before they destroyed her. I fear this sends a message that if you're an abused woman, but your husband is a beloved celebrity (or a popular guy in your community), then keep your mouth shut and put up with it. This is the story of a woman's triumph over abuse and that should be celebrated!
  
  Pattie Boyd gained fame in her own right as was one of the top fashion icons and models of the Swinging London '60s. She was and is a dignified, intelligent woman. She was NOT a "groupie" or a "call girl"; in fact, she initially rebuffed the two men she would later marry.
  
  After being talked and sung about for four decades, Pattie has every right to tell her side of the story. She's said in recent interviews, she chose to NOT reveal graphic details of the abuse she suffered from Slowhand, who has already admitted he repeatedly raped Pattie during their marriage. (See the June 27, 1999, London Sunday Times, recounted here, by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/379240.stm
  
  Pattie chose to omit the ugliest details from her memoir, but still gives a very vivid description of the fear, panic, and disillusionment that reigned during her marriage to the alcoholic guitar god and her subsequent nervous breakdown.
  
  There are no truly salacious, graphic details in this book -- Pattie is much too classy for that. Much of the "dirt" in this book has been previously reported; the point of the book is to allow Pattie to offer her perspectives on those scandals. Boyd also makes clear she's let go of (most of) the bitterness and has come to accept that she made the mistake of playing enabler.
  
  George, her true love, did indeed let her down and it's a sad story, filled with lingering regret. Her second husband professed to adore her, then turned into a menacing sociopath. It turns out we fans who envied Boyd during her marriages bought into a fantasy; we should have instead staged a mass intervention for her.
  
  Pattie is to be admired for pulling herself out of a decades-long melodrama and creating a new life for herself in her mid-40s. She is now a respected portrait and travel photographer for Harper & Queens magazine, and is clearly living a full and enjoyable personal life. Wonderful Tonight should be mandatory reading for all abused women: there is a better life ahead for you, but only if you leave your abuser.
  
  Shifting from the soap operas, I was surprised to find the most interesting parts of the book are about Pattie's childhood in Africa, her early adulthood (including the early years of her marriage to George), and her exotic adventure/spiritual travels around the world after her second divorce.
  
  Unfortunately, this is not quite the book we Boyd admirers have long been waiting for and that is the fault of co-author, veteran journalist Penny Junor, whose writing is often rushed, disorganized, and cliched. I'm afraid Pattie once again deserved better than she got. (For instance, there is no mention, at least in the UK edition, of SHARP, an organization for co-dependents, which Pattie co-founded. Why was that left out? Why is this book so truncated? Shame on you, Random House/Headline Review!)
  
  Still, Pattie is to be admired for her courage in standing up to the powerful men who tried, but ultimately failed, to dominate her, and for telling her story with grace -- but I feel she exercised too much discretion in this telling.
  
  Pattie Boyd is not a groupie, or a call girl, or a sell-out. She is not only the greatest muse in music history, in this book she shows why so many of British rock's aristocracy have maintained their close friendships with her: she is a deeply spiritual, empathetic woman who, despite her tragedies, has maintained her sense of humor while learning to stand on her own two feet.
  
  If you're an abused woman -- or an addict's enabler (also an abusive relationship) -- who is afraid to leave, or if you're struggling to rebuild your life after leaving your abuser or addicted partner, Pattie's story will not only give you hope, but guidance on your psychological recovery.
  
  Well done, Ms. Boyd! (And please consider publishing a book of your marvelous travel photos and essays!)
  
  

• Great Revisit to the 60s and 70s

  
  By A136YD08SCJ2LV on 2007-09-14
  Having just read the biography of Phil Spector and the girlfriend of Lindsey Buckingham, I'm beginning to see a pattern. Rock Stars are narcissistic creatures who do what they want when they want, don't like no for an answer and want to be waited on hand and foot. Oh, one more trend. There are plenty of people willing to do that from wives, girlfriends, managers and roadies.
  
  But this is a special book mainly because you are dealing with two very special musicians. Any Beatle is special and George appears to overall have been a special human being. Eric Clapton also has to go down in the Top 20 of musicians for his guitar playing and long history. Imagine what life is like to have been the inspiration of such classic songs, Layla, Wonderful Tonight, Something in the Way She Moves! Patty's life is very interesting although I wouldn't call it fascinating. She just happened to be at a place to view Pop History in the last half of the 20th Century and meet many of the people who influenced it, as well as partake in the drugs and drink that shaped it. In summary, George comes off as what the public saw: a quiet man with faults like others but a fairly even demeanor, a good chap. Eric, is passionate, but eventually cruel. It's often said that the ones you hurt the worst are the ones closest to you. That's the summary of this book. And Patty participates also by breaking hearts.
  
  I too am surprised by the harsh comments of her by some reviewers. She was a beautiful model who inspired men, maybe no more so than Clapton who pursued her from his friend when still married. I wish there had been more pictures of her to see the appeal. What she does an excellent job of is showing what is behind the public persona of these guys. What was it really like? A series of highs and lows but due to the fascinating people, the highs were much higher. Unfortunately, the lows were much lower. There seems to be a lot of criticism for not making this a "tell all" with a lot of dirt. It's very clear this is a caring human being who stills cares for both men and chooses to draw the line on some private matters.
  
  Now, to the criticism. Patty, thanks for the revisit to this fascinating period. But the book begins to read very slowly once she is through with George and Eric. Great, she went everywhere and met many people. There is no reason for this. We are interested in the George, Eric and Patty's recovery, but ultimately, not what sites she was fortunate enough to visit. This part makes me lower my rating from 5 to 4.
  
  Overall, not a great piece of literature. But a great story of a great time with fascinating people. And for me that was quite enough to overcome the few weaknesses.
  
  
  

• Disappointing...

  
  By A1YBVBU27AKJ1J on 2007-09-14
  Ultimately, the responsibility of the outcome of this book rests on Pattie Boyd's shoulders, but I can't help feeling that she could have used a better co-author here. There are so many problems with this book I'm not sure where to begin. It's unfortunate because I really believe that Pattie has an amazing story to tell.
  
  Clinical is the best way I can describe the telling of this story. Pattie tells us that "this happened, this happened and this happened," but never gives us a real sense of what it was like to experience all these different things. I could accept that if chronologically she wasn't all over the board. One moment she's telling us about something that happened before she was married to George, jumps to something that happened after they were married, and then she's right back to before they were married.
  
  I've seen some complaints about the name-dropping. Quite frankly, I'd be surprised if she didn't drop a few names. What bothered me was that I have never even heard of a lot of these people (sorry, but I'm just not as up as I should be on all the models, photographers and club owners that roamed around swinging London of the 1960's.)
  
  There is something about the way she describes her relationship with George that left me feeling a bit cold. She doesn't even tell us when she knew she was in love with him. Based on what I read, their relationship seemed to be that of roommates. She paints a picture of him as being quite aloof and distant with her, yet quite joyful and generous with her family.
  
  Then there's Eric. This is really were Pattie lost me. I'm still not sure what she saw in this guy that made her leave her husband (yeah, I know, he wrote a song about her...and?) He is not portrayed in a pleasant light at all. Pattie doesn't reveal too much here that wasn't previously known about Eric's drug and alcohol addictions. If anything, she makes it sound a great deal worse. Because of this, it made her come off as being quite stupid for hooking up with this guy. I laughed and did a bit of eye rolling when she talked about how, after seeing both Eric and her sister Paula struggle with heroin addiction, she decides it would be great fun to try heroin herself!!
  
  I can only assume that she dictated her story to her co-author, who than put it into "book" format. I think a better co-author would have drawn a bit more out of Pattie and given us a more cohesive, introspective book. Again, I believe Pattie has an amazing story to tell, it just wasn't told here.
  
  
  

• What was she thinking?

  
  By AGSD1M3G9WIR0 on 2007-09-03
  Pattie Boyd is the reader on the abrdiged audiobook. She has a pleasant reading voice. In fact, she is a better reader than some of the actors who reguarly read audiobooks.
  
  I found myself very sympathetic to her throughout the first half of the book. Boyd had a rough childhood. It was enjoyable hearing about who she met George Harrison and their relationship. He treated her badly, having an affair with Maureen Starkey. In addition, once he started meditating, he retreated into the mediation, ignoring Boyd. By her account, Harrison treated Pattie better after he married Olivia Arias. He made a touching offer to take care of her at a point when her relationship to Eric Clapton had foundered.
  
  As described in this book, Eric Clapton is just despicable. Boyd says nothing positive about him. In fact, I found it hard to figure out why she was attracted to him.
  
  I lost all sympathy for Boyd when she decided to marry Clapton. By her own account, before she married Claption:
  1) He told her he would take heroin if she didn't have an affair with him.
  2) He had an affair with Boyd's sister and cheated on her.
  3) He was a heroin addict.
  4) He had cheated on Boyd already.
  
  If some one who tells you he is going to take heroin if you don't have an affair with him, run screaming in the opposite direction. This is proof that he is mentally unbalanced, willing to use emotional blackmail, and either a heroin addict or some one well on the way to that unfortunate destination.
  
  And once the man has cheated on you, marriage is not likely to change anything for the better.
  
  By her own account it appears that Boyd married Clapton simply because some friends told her do it. And that Clapton only asked her to marry him because he was trying to win a bet.
  
  After reading all of this, I had no interest in her whining about how Clapton broke her heart.
  
  And I sincerely I hope I misheard something and she did not actually refer to a house purchase for more than 300,000 pounds as a "cottage".
  
  If you have an interest in Pattie Boyd and her relationships with George Harrison and Eric Clapton, you'll probably enjoy the book. I found it interesting. But it left me wondering why she ever married Eric Clapton. Given her account of what happened before the marriage, this seems like a serious lapse of judgement.
  
  Any one with more than a passing familiarity with the Beatles' story already knew that George and Maureen had an affair. The most shocking revelation in this book is that Pattie attended Bill Wyman's 70th birthday party. My God the Stones are old!!!!
  
  
  
  

• should have remained the silent muse

  
  By A3OELD8YILF8JH on 2007-10-09
  I once saw a fleeting image of Pattie Boyd next to George Harrison and thought, oh my god, she's exquisite! then of course , we all know the stories of George and Eric, and layla and i have always felt she must be such a magical woman to inspire that kind of love and passion.
  I did learn a few things. 1. Her own childhood was devoid of any real parental love, so she was used to being a non entity, someone to just mirror whatever anyone else was feeling. 2. that sometimes when you grow up that way, with no identity, the only thing that matters later on is what you have, and where you go, and who you know. I said sometimes, obviously, it also creates people who are deep and wise.
  Basically, after reading her book, you understand that it was never about Pattie Boyd, both George and Eric gave her qualities and she probably never had due to her beauty. Pattie doesn't say this, in fact Pattie says very little about anything except for
  the clothes she wore, who designed them, where they ate dinner,
  who was there that was famous in the 60's , 70's and 80's and you get the feeling she's repaying all those favors by name dropping,and MOST of the names are obscure designers or furniture makers or friends of the famous.
  I wasn't looking for horrible sex scandals and respect her decision to remain quiet about that, but there is absolutely no introspection, no passion, no meat, and its obvious this book was written by going over her diaries and seeing where she had gone, where she ate , etc etc etc ad nauseam.
  I think again, that its because as a child she had to be disassociated from her emotions in order to get on with it, and she simply became the type of person who went through life , doing things with really cool people, she was beautiful and in the right place at the right time. I do get the feeling there is more there, obviously, but i also don't feel she has the depth to bring it out.
  as for George and Eric, i do believe that they loved her very much, yes, regardless of whatever they said later on. Its hard to know that from what she writes, but i did get the feeling that out of both of them Patti was Eric's real love, no matter what he says in the future, and For George, Patti was always someone he loved and cared for.
  One thing is clear, that kind of self destructive love and manipulation from Eric with Pattie would be harder to pull off in today's self help, rehab culture consciousness. Skip this book. I love biography's but this one was torture to read. There is nothing here unless you love trivia about how the wealthy rock stars spent their time and who's houses they stayed at.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Pattie has maintained her silence
  By A1D2FXEWRIV1YV on 2007-08-31
  I am a huge fan of the Beatles and George Harrison and eagerly anticipated this book. It was not worth the wait. It is poorly written and glosses over all of the Beatle years for someone who saw them from the inside. There is nothing new to be learned here that one would not already know if they had read the Anthology, Shout or any of the other better known books on the Beatles. There are many egregious factual errors, such as when the Beatles stop touring (1967!?), that the Mahareshi made a pass at Mia Farrow, John writing a line in "I am the Walrus" in 1967 to insult someone for an event which took place in 1969, etc. People will be mentioned with no explanation as to who they are. A chapter may include one event for the year and then an entire year will go by with nothing at all - and these are years at the height of Beatlemania! 1966 is not mentioned at all except for George and Pattie's wedding. At least eighty percent of the photographs in the book I have seen before in at least one other source. I didn't not expect all the dirty laundry to be aired, but thought it would be fascinating to learn about life from inside the Beatles inner circle, not a retelling of what has been told in so many books before. As far as I am concerned, Pattie has maintained her silence, at least as far as life with the Beatles is concerned, as nothing new is culled here. I cannot speak for the Clapton fans, as I did not buy the book for that reason, and stop reading after Pattie left George as I purchased it for the Beatles story and could no longer stand to read any further.
  
  
• Shattered Illusions
  By AS5CK4SWL6ER5 on 2007-10-08
  I had been fascinated with Patty Boyd forever, and built up such an image of her and what an awesome life she had. She must have been quite something: she was married to George Harrison AND Eric Clapton! They fought over her! They wrote some of the greatest songs ever recorded, inspired by her! But now, finally reading her story in her own words all I can think is - why? In her own account, she doesn't come off as especially smart, likeable, funny, or even kind. She was a model and a photographer, but even the pictures she provides aren't especially flattering.
  
  I guess I wouldn't want a whitewash, but still I wish she could've had some more positive memories to share of two of my favorite musicians of all time. Wasn't there something fun or cool or wonderful about being married to George before he got all wacky with the meditation and the cheating? Didn't he ever do anything sweet or romantic? Wasn't it a hoot to hang out with the Beatles? What about Eric, wasn't there any time when he wasn't drunk or cheating on or totally ignoring her? Weren't there any cute little rituals, any tender moments in their life together?
  And while I truly respect her decision not to share blow by blow descriptions of her sex life, there isn't much of any kind of intimacy here at all.
  
  In fact, the musical genius of these men seems almost an uninteresting detail to her, one that she doesn't appreciate and certainly doesn't illuminate for the reader in any way. The only thing she recounts with any apparent enthusiasm is some of the 'things' they gave her - a car, a cartier watch, rubies, a racehorse, a house. I have to say she came off as a little bit mercenary. She also warms to the subject of how she got the shaft in her divorces.
  
  Maybe a better collaborator could have teased out some details and stories that were more worthy of this presumably fascinating character and the famous men in her orbit. But I definitely prefer my illusions to this version of the truth.
  
  
• A lot Less Pattie's Vacations and A Lot More George and Eric Please
  By A1NEQBTBDMDKB2 on 2007-09-19
  I agree with the reviewers who describe Pattie as as a bit shallow and "artless" was another adjective that resonates. First of all I found the chapters on her childhood and family background facinating. After reading that, it's easy to see why she would have made the decisions that she made later on, especially her appalling choice of second husband. Her childhood makes John Lennon's seem like an episode of the 'Brady Bunch',and that is something I thought I'd never say. After the chapters on her childhood, the book begins to drag temporarily. In 'Modeling', she describes moving to London and finally putting some distance between herself and her family. She is discovered as a model and she begins her career in what would soon be the youth capital of the 60s, better known as "Swinging London". She moves there around about 1961 and her modeling career begins shortly afterwards, but this is the part of the book that I began to have a slight problem with. At this point she dispenses with chronological order and if I didn't know so much about London in the 60s, I would have been very confused. It's supposed to be 1961-1963 and she suddenly starts babbeling about mod fashion boutiques in the Kings Road and Carnaby St. She mentions boutiques like 'Granny Takes a Trip' and 'Hung on You'. She's talking about crushed velvet and love beads and people being stoned all day etc. Absolutely not. Talk about a foggy memory. Or is it just bad writing and editing? How did 1962 turn into 1967 in one sentence? This is also the part where she starts to endlessly, name drop. Photographers, and designers and people that she met at parties become a blur of names on a page. Who are these people? Does she have to mention every person she met, who they married, where they lived and what time they agreed to meet for some party or dinner date? This is unimportant information that adds nothing to the story. Then there's the chapter called 'George'. Her marriage to him was the reason I bought the book in the first place. There is some new information on how she got the job on 'A Hard Day's Night', and I even felt her excitement when she found herself in the middle of filming and meeting the Beatles for the first time. But then she starts holding back. Why? Couldn't she have said a little more? What were they like Pattie? You married one of them for Heaven's sake! In the years that she knew them she didn't come up with anything more than, "Paul was cute" , "John and I always got along really well" and "We went to Ringo's house"....SIZZELING... I was also very disappointed that she was so evasive about her relationship with George. I didn't expect graphic details but wasn't the point of this book to talk about these relationships? She reveals a lot more about when the marriage turned sour than she does about the happy times. The chapter called 'Mrs. Harrison' was about....shopping for furniture! And...going to restaurants with...everyone EXCEPT George! This chapter was another blur of names and places and who married who and who divorced who and married someone else in 1985 or something. I thought,"What happened to Beatle George? Didn't she marry him?" It left me asking, "What else did she do on her honeymoon besides try to keep from drowning"? She was obviously very much in love with this guy but this is all she manages to say? Again, I wasn't looking for graphic details. That would have been tacky, but a little romance maybe? How did he make her feel? What did they talk about? How did kissing him make her feel? Like I mentioned, she opens up more in the period after 1968, when she says their marriage went on the rocks. One reviewer mentioned that it was frusterating that she doesn't talk about what George was probably going through when the group was breaking up. In fairness to Pattie, I don't think she could have told us because George had stopped communicating with her by that time. He told her nothing so she couldn't possibly tell her readers something that she never really knew. Another annoying thing mentioned by many reviewers, was her rehashing of old Beatles news. The same stories that are in every Beatles bio. This was also disappointing. There was no reason to mention these incidents unless she had something new to add from an insider's perspective, and she doesn't!...Of course! If you haven't read any books about the group you won't mind this, but judging from the reviews, most of the people who bought this book seem to be long time Beatles fans who have read extensively about the band.
  
  The part about her marriage to Eric has more information because I knew vertually nothing about him or their relationship, besides what I saw on TV news specials. However after a while, I became bored reading about his drunken, boorish antics.
  
  You may be surprised that I do recommend this book, since I've spent most of this review complaining about it. In spite of it's flaws, I did enjoy it. When she wasn't going on and on about the details of every vacation she took and every party she attended with people I don't care about, she did manage to tell a touching story about triumph over adversity. She also conveys her love for two men, and the sadness she felt when they both let her down. My impression of Pattie Boyd is that she is a nice person who has lived a wonderful, exciting life. I suggest checking this one out of the library though.
  
  
• Sadly...
  By A2BGTNW1J3VBHL on 2007-10-01
  After seeing Pattie Boyd on TV doing promotional interviews for it, I was interested in reading her memoir. Sadly (as a multitude of sentences in the book begin), I was 100% disappointed. Other reviewers have pointed out the biggest flaws: very poorly written (her co-author might as well have let Pattie do it herself) and utterly superficial. Pattie comes off as lightweight, spoiled and relatively oblivious. This was not my impression of her in the TV interviews she did. At one point in the book she notes that George Harrison had trouble understanding the level of fame he'd achieved. She says he knew he was a talented musician but also felt that he'd been lucky. Pattie seems to have been given a similar fate - a very pretty girl who was also lucky. As to Eric Clapton, who knew he could have been a poster boy for the kind of obnoxious and disgusting behavior Jimmy Page and others were so well-known for at the time? Repulsive pretty much describes the Eric Clapton in this memoir.
  
  My advice: if you must read this book, save your $, go to the library - which is where I've donated my copy.
  
  
• Rushed and Disappointing
  By A2IA0KXUZCKIX6 on 2007-09-16
  Pattie Boyd has said in interviews that she wrote this book to inject cash into her bank account, on that level Im sure it was a success. Maybe if she had had a different motive this book it wouldn't have so many problems. It starts out well enough when discussing her childhood but surprisingly becomes very sterile when the story comes to what should have been the most interesting parts. It jumps around between years, relates stories one feels her co-author got from other books and shows a total lack of insight into the interesting characters which surrround her. I for one was hoping to find out what it was like to be around the Beatles up close but there is very little discription beyond the fact that they were funny. One of my major gripes about this book is that in not telling its story in chronological order its hard to put the story into any perspective. I think maybe its written this was so you will have more sympathy for Pattie but ultimatly it makes her appear clueless to the feelings and motives of those around her. An example of this is that in one chapter she discribes the events surrounding the death of George Harrisons mother but fails to state in the next chapter that they were occuring when she was secretly meeting Eric Clapton. Therefore when she states George was morose the night she first slept with Eric we don't know its two weeks after he lost his mother. Also we have no insight into how she felt sleeping with her sisters boyfriend . As for her years with Eric Clapton after pages of hearing about his drinking and cheating on her and then the way she was manipulated out of a decent divorce settlement I don't understand why she keeps referring to their great love , beyond him writting songs for her she doesn't make us believe she was ever happy with him, and if she was she must be a sadist. Something is missing in this story. In the end I guess I would have felt better if this book had been written when George Harrison was alive to tell his side of the story but then again such a private person probably never would. Of course Pattie has every right to tell the story of her life I just wish I could have got the whole story or she had remained silent for in the end this book is not going to reflect well on Pattie.
  
  
• Details? Stories? Not in this book.
  By A37Z9S0FGY3BHD on 2007-10-05
  The reviewer who said they wanted more in-depth stories behind the songs and that this book was a lot of lists of just where she went and who she knew hit the nail on the head. I was very disappointed in this book, so for everyone else who might want to buy it...
  
  Pattie marries George. George is kind of a jerk. Pattie leaves George. Pattie marries Eric. Eric is an even bigger jerk. The end.
  
  There...I've just saved you $15.57.
  
  
• Badly written, certainly not wonderful
  By A1SCBZTD161SV on 2007-08-31
  This book -- "Wonderful Tonight" in America, "Wonderful Today" in the UK -- is really poor, and a huge disappointment since it's taken so long for Pattie Boyd to break her media silence regarding her marriages to not one, but two major rock icons.
  
  Rambling, badly written, poorly edited, chronologically a total mess, it has more than its fair share of standout errors: watching "Monty Python" at home in the mid-Sixties (it didn't reach TV screens until the end of 1969); George away on tour in February 1967 (after already stating that The Beatles had permanently quit the road in August 1966); and my favorite -- after the 1969 drug busts of John, Yoko, George and Pattie, John somehow immortalizing Scotland Yard's Sgt. Pilcher as "semolina pilchard" (in "I Am the Walrus", recorded two years earlier). Maybe Pattie can be excused these and other goofs on the basis of the saying: "If you can remember the Sixties, you weren't there." However, the same can't be said for either her "co-author" or "fact checker". And I say this as a celebrity author/co-author who is frequently relied upon to not only ask the right questions and capture the subject's voice, but also have in-depth knowledge about -- and do extensive research into -- whatever I'm writing about. That clearly hasn't been the case with this project.
  
  Indeed, the worst thing about it is that this book contains virtually nothing new. Events are reported (and more are omitted), but we get little idea as to what the subject or anyone else was feeling deep down, how they related to one another or what really motivated them. Accordingly, the two big relationships that are meant to sell this bio -- especially the one with George -- are essentially glossed over, and for me that makes the end result nearly as depressing as the marriages themselves.
  
  
• Boring Tonight
  By A2CW5RSSK8S3XK on 2007-09-22
  
  Pattie Boyd's account of her life with George Harrison and Eric Clapton is shallow and disappointing. Many times throughout the book she mentions a topic with profound implications, yet fails to explore either the situation or the emotional impact. She briefly mentions infertility treatment during her marriage to Harrison, but doesn't discuss how this affected her until we read of Clapton's fathering a child while married to Boyd. She details Clapton's prodigious drinking in a factual manner, leaving the reader guessing about the hurt and despair one would assume she felt. Her descriptions of her own drinking and drugging reveal little insight into the fact that Clapton's substance abuse did not occur in isolation.
  
  As a band chick from the 60s, I was hoping for a sense of the woman who inspired such magnificent music from two legendary figures. Boyd never goes beneath the surface, however, so I am still wondering what it felt like then and in retrospect, now, to be a musician's muse. Rarely do I get any sense from Boyd that either the music or the creative process of the musical icons enthralled her.
  
  
  
• can anyone say "enabler"...???
  By A28SDSUNZRDG23 on 2007-10-01
  sure, she was young when she and George married. yes, Eric "wooed" her away from George. Yes, it was the 60's/70's and EVERYONE was in to "drugs, sex and rock and roll". she endured a tremendous amount of grief and pain from both of these men. however, there's a name for people like Patty Boyd: enabler. she continuously let both of them off the hook, turned a deaf ear, turned the other cheek. she made no bones about the number of parties, the amount of drugs, alcohol and sex made available. she had "no problem" with the one night stands while Eric was on tour? please. sure, that's the life of a rock and roll star and all that. maybe that's how situations were handled - avoidance. but she didn't do much, from the sound of the book, to prevent any of it from happening. THE most beautiful love songs EVER WRITTEN AND RECORDED were about her; she had the power, with each of these men, to make and have a committed relationship. only years after leaving George did she finally realize he was her soul mate. don't think she puts women in general in a good light. maybe my views on the 60's are now somewhat jaded; it was a great time (from what i remember). she lived it to its fullest. she just didn't know what she had at the time. flashbulbs, microphones, drugs, living the high life with the most popular and famous men in "the business"...guess you can't help but get sucked in to it.
  
  
• Unless you have lived under a rock for the last 40 years you know the whole story - don't bother to read this rehash.
  By A1K5GAIQFTJYX8 on 2007-10-08
  What a boring book! Save your money and either borrow it from the library or just wait a few months when it ends up on the discount bin at your local book seller. This reads like a preteen writing 'what I did during my summer vacation'. Whatever you thought of this women will be shattered as you realize she is only in it for the money and that the story you want to read just isn't here because she won't tell or she just doesn't remember. If you care about her obsession with money, clothes, vacations and friends but not her marriages then this is the book for you. Otherwise, buyer beware!
  
  ANYONE who knows the story of the Beatles know who Pattie Boyd is and has read this entire book from other sources over the last few decades. Sorry to disappoint the masses here but unless you are totally oblivious to the story of the Fab Four you won't learn a thing new here. Oh sure, there are some here who believe its a new revalation into the behind the scenes account of a women in the midst of two highly cretive musicians but I ask, what did you learn? Nothing new. A board out of work somewhat well known fashion model finds Beatle hubby engrossed in eastern religion and music to keep her well stocked in drugs and the latest fashions and decides to flirt with his new best friend knowing full well the guy will go crazy for her beauty. Instead of making Beatle hubby jealous, he retreats and now she has to face the music so to speak. She leaves for new guy thinking the 'grass is greener' only to find out nothing is new; oh bother, what to do? Lets just drink and pretend we don't notice the affairs, the drugs and the drinking. We know all this - what's the point of this autobiography except to garner royalities to pad the bank account? Or to promote her pictures?
  
  And to add insult to injury, it reads like a sixth grade composition; there is no meat here and a bore to finish. It seems rushed and barely edited. Sorry, can't recommend this book. Let's hope the Clapton bio is better otherwise save your money.
  
  Layla has nothing wonderful tonight to say. Something in the way she writes just doesn't attract me.
  
  
• Something in the Way...
  By A3SVE5D1OY5NGV on 2007-08-31
  This is not a "tell-all" -- Boyd writes cautiousy without revealing too much that might hurt others. There are factual errors here-- The Ed Sullivan Show being described as a "chat show" being a minor one. In fact, some of her paragraphs seem to be taken word for word from the Beatles Anthology interviews -- especially when she describes her trip with George to San Francisco in 1967. A lot of the information she recounts is already common knowledge.
  
  Still, one can't help feeling sorry for the pretty, unrebellious Pattie with the stern stepfather and her penchant for moody guitar rockers. I wish she would have gone more into her relationship with someone (like George) whose background was so different from hers, and just exactly how she related to the music of the 60s, and why, after the Beatles' interest in TM and Hindu spirituality, they returned from India in 1968 worse off than they were before they went (what with John abandoning his wife and son, George sleeping with Maureen Starr, Ringo's wife, Paul's infidelities, their nastiness toward each other and their continued need for drugs! Didn't the Maharishi give the boys an ethics course along with their mantras?)
  
  This books serves as a cautionary tale about the 60's -- it started optimistic, creative, a little pot here, a little acid there; yet without rules and personal responsibility, many of the so-called counterculture ended up if not dead, in the abyss of drug addiction and alcoholism. Was George writing about his peers --and himself -- when he wrote "isn't it a pity, how we break each other's hearts and cause each other pain"? Judging by this book, it seems that the "peace and love" generation was as cruel and hurtful as any other. Pattie Boyd seems like a sweet woman, a good soul who wanted her marriages to work, but lacked the self-esteem to see how sad the two men in her life were. One wishes she had had the confidence and determination of a Jane Asher. Pattie was vulnerable
  ...yet her book never gives us a deep picture of her soul. What was it about this woman that captivated George and Eric's imagination? I don't think she herself knows. And the book never really tells us.
  
  
• Mixed review
  By A18OF7WUJYNVLV on 2007-09-11
  As a Beatles fan, I'm glad I read this quite flawed book. First off, it reads like it was never edited. She's been accused by other reviewers of misstating the timelines, but it's more a situation of lack of clarity rather than mistakes. She rambles and jumps around, and in general the book is pretty poorly written. That said, it does provide some valuable insight (despite what unfortunately seems like Pattie's own continuing lack of insight and self-awareness). The way in which she presents these events, attitudes and perceptions allows the reader to go between the lines and get a feel for the events that Pattie herself lacks. Autobiography is rarely, if ever, anything close to objective fact. The subject chooses what to include, what to exclude, what to gloss over. Everyone wants to paint themselves in a favorable light, everyone has an agenda in talking about themselves, and it's fairly instructive to see what she thinks is favorable. Pattie spends a lot of time name-dropping; praising her own brief modeling career; and trying to make her life seem full and rich by describing her exotic travels. Her life has been sad and remarkable at the same time, and when I finished the book I was left with "worries": is she still abusing alcohol/drugs; is this book going to provide her with enough income to put her in a place where she can stop asking others for money; is she ever going to be at peace with herself and stop her neverending quest for the next party?
  Despite how superficial she seems, it's hard to dislike her. She doesn't seem malicious, just sort of clueless. She's now 63 years old, and you'd hope she'd have found a little peace and wisom by now. George and Olivia seemed to have found it, but it seems lile Pattie doesn't realize she hasn't.
  
  
• Disappointing
  By A37QJ7ZPAA89V5 on 2007-09-18
  I was eagerly awaiting this book, being a huge Beatles fan and having read everything else I could get my hands on about the group and individual members. While the book isn't bad, it is disappointing. If you plan to read it to find out any new information about the Beatles, you will find very little in this book. The sections about Pattie's family and growing up years were interesting, but I read nothing I hadn't already heard about the Beatles. There is very little reference to Paul, Ringo or John, and what she says about George is old news. I was hoping after she kept her silence so long that she would reveal much more. I wasn't looking for a book to trash anyone, just some insider info. I do have to commend Pattie for not being bitter about her experiences with George and especially Eric Clapton. She would certainly have a right to be bitter. I also question her judgement about marrying Eric knowing that he was so unstable. The book kept my interest, but I was disappointed. I'd give it a "C" rating.
  
  
• Pattie's Editor Let Her Down As Much As George Or Eric Ever Did
  By A3979L2VHGU8K7 on 2007-10-14
  This book is a literary analog to Geraldo Rivera's infamous excursion into Al Capone's hidden vault: Lots of hype followed by... nothing. Basically, the contents of this book can be divided into three categories: Pattie talking about Pattie, Pattie talking about George, and Pattie talking about Eric. The first category is one that, let's face it, no one particularly cares about. When Pattie talks about her first husband, it eventually becomes apparent to the reader that she simply didn't know him all that well. There's no insight into Harrison's character and there are very few new tidbits about The Beatles. (The one item that was news to me -- that Harrison cuckolded his bandmate, Ringo -- was one that I think I'd rather not have learned about.) Pattie had the most to say about her second husband, Eric, but not much of it was edifying or entertaining.
  
  This book would have benefitted enormously from a more talented co-author and/or an engaged editor. There are times when the reader might conclude that Pattie was getting paid based on the number of names she dropped in the manuscript. The name dropping is annoying and almost entirely gratuitous. In fact, most of it involves people who were obscure and minor players at best in the British pop scene of the late sixties and early seventies.
  
  When this book was announced, it was hard to see how someone who was married to two of the most iconic figures in the history of rock music might produce a dull book. Against all odds and expectations, Pattie Boyd managed to do just that. I'm inclined to blame her co-author and editor more than her but, from the reader's perspective, it doesn't matter. This book is a dud.
  
  
• a sponge she is
  By A4DN9SW5DJL5M on 2007-09-08
  I was eagerly looking forward to reading this, but was utterly disappointed in most of it. It is poorly written and edited, jumping from paragraph to paragrah on unrelated topics, and often jumping forward or back years at a time on the same page. She glosses over her life with George, and provides very little details about the Beatles. She was there when it was happening, come on, give us some insights as to what it was like. She takes up only a few lines on George's death (or John's for that matter), but spends pages and pages on the parties she was at, dropping names of then-famous people who were there also.
  
  She was blessed with cuteness when she was young, but seems to have used her good looks living off the men in her life. She's obsessed with money, going into great detail on what things cost (even though she didn't pay for hardly anything). She laments the fact that she was forced to move into a "small" six-bedroom house at one point in her life, and many years after her divorce from Eric she tried to get him to buy her a million-dollar house to live in (he refused). You are left with very little sympathy for her.
  
  Read the book if you want to find out about the excesses of the 60s, the drugs, the booze, its a wonder so many of them are still functioning today. If you want to find details about George or Eric, they aren't in this book.
  
  
• Not "Delicious"!
  By A2V7H6JM9OWAFB on 2007-09-10
  I have to agree with all the negative comments made here, and then some. Where was the Editor or better yet a fact checker? This book is a mess from start to finish and isn't even worth taking a trip to your local library for. The name dropping and Patti's accounts of her endless "vacations" were enough to put me to sleep. By the time I finished this book, I came to conclusion that Ms. Boyd was nothing more than a gold digger and her final victim was me when I purchased this book!
  
  On a side note, Patti threw a few nasty digs at Cynthia Lennon and stated she didn't get on well with Cynthia. Miss Boyd would have done herself a favor if she had read "John" by Cynthia Lennon. At least Cynthia Lennon could put together a coherent sentence and kept basic facts straight, which is more than I can say for Patti Boyd.
  
  
• Pattie Boyd is lovely but the book could have been better written..
  By A2X9QMIEOEY0XO on 2007-08-31
  Pattie Boyd was the quintessential 60's female icon and I, along with all of my friends wanted to copy her style.I have often wondered about Pattie Boyd and what her life had been like married to George Harrison and living in the thick of Beatlemania and beyond. But this book,just skims the surface of those years--in terms of information, writing style and depth. The same stories that have been written in many books are here and yet, Pattie doesn't really dig deep and give the readers any personal insight or her opinion about the major Beatle players or events. Perhaps it's because some of them (Paul,Ringo,Cynthia,Yoko,etc.) are still alive. So, the book feels like Pattie Boyd is holding back and underneath this bio-lite is probably a deeper richer story. For example, one chapter ends with the wedding to George Harrison in Jan. of 1966--the next chapter starts with 1967! What happened in 1966? The story of her life with Eric Clapton is a nightmare and here she opens up a bit more about this passage of her life. But even there she seems restrainted (in her writing) when she should have really let go! I think that Bob Dylan's bio (Cronicles:vol one) is probably the best biography written to date of someone from that era. He really raised the bar and it's hard to top that book! Well, the final word is that Pattie Boyd lived one hell of a life-- but not all as happy as we may have imagined. And one more person burned by being too close to the flame of the Beatles.
  
  
• let down
  By A2USNY5GXYUKJY on 2007-09-07
  I had always very much admired Pattie Boyd, thinking that as the muse to these 2 great musicians, she must be extremely sharp and smart. What a letdown. She comes off as a doormat to both of these guys. Although she never claims to have any drug or alcohol dependencies, she criticizes Clapton for his, all the while sounding like all she does is go out and drink. At the very least, I expected good gossip and there was nothing...
  I am disappointed that someone I thought was really hip and together, a leader of these guys, seems to have been simply arm candy with nothing to say.
  
  
• Waaaaaaa Waaaaaaaaaa Waaaaaaaaa
  By A326J2D3Z1BBR7 on 2007-09-12
  I couldn't wait to read this book--was dying to hear from the greatest rock and roll muse of all time what living with Eric and George was like. I imagined her as the most fascianting, remarkable, sexy woman who ever lived. Turns out Ms Boyd is just a big ole whinny baby complaining about her childhood, her marriages, her inability to pay a bill or schedule a vacation without someone to plan it for her. She lives in a $600,000 "cottage" and expected ex-husband Eric to pay for remodeling. She sobs about divorcing badly and constantly bouncing checks. This book was terribly written, not at all interesting, had typos, bad grammer and had to go to great lenghts to make this subject matter an extreamly boring snore-fest.
  
  
• Too Little Too Late
  By A1ZKGSDVP057L9 on 2007-09-10
  Pattie Boyd waited too late to tell her story. It's already been told many, many times in other people's books, and even though Boyd was an insider, she doesn't tell anything here only she would know or that is real news. Poor girl came from a dysfunctional family, so she didn't leave dysfunctional, emotionally abusive relationships until she had been walked over many times. In fact, she pretty much had to be kicked out of her bad relationships. The kind of abuse and manipulation she tolerated is crazy and gets tiresome. The first quarter of the book, before she meets George Harrison, is as tedious as most people's childhood memories are, and the last third, after she leaves Clapton and she's just traveling and hanging out is of no interest to anyone. Harrison was no prize, and Clapton is an abomination. If she was a muse, it was because of her amazing staying power despite their truly shoddy treatment of her. And in the end, neither kept her.
  
  As for the writing, she and her ghostwriter drop too many names that are of no interest to her readership, fail to stay in chronological order, and pretty much stay in the shallow end of the pool as far as revelations. It is 40 percent boring.
  
  
• Armchair critics get a grip!
  By A13UUE0S2ZJVHJ on 2007-09-14
  All of you armchair critics need to get a grip. This is not great literature, it is Pattie's story the way she wants to tell it. She is obviously a sweet person who feels deeply. She lived in amazing times, and she loved two high profile world class musicians. She didn't tell her story for many years and we are lucky to get her story at all. The book isn't bad. It is a guilty pleasure read that goes down real easy.
  
  
• Not Much Substance
  By A304ZTGKSNCY5S on 2007-09-20
  Patti Boyd was a central figure in one of the most pivotal and compelling eras of the 20th century, both musically and socially. Yet, she manages to gloss over it with a disaffected air that leaves the reader wondering if she was even really there. She goes into excrutiating detail about her childhood in Kenya and meals she cooked, yet moves from a first date with George Harrison to becoming his live in girlfriend in just a few paragraphs. She was the inspiration for some of the most passionate and enduring love songs of the rock era - yet, the reader does not get any sense of her except as a passive bystander in that world. In the end, the reader is left wondering - what the heck did two rock icons see in her that resulted in such passion, love and creativity? Whatever was there does not come through in her book. It is an interesting story but seems to only scratch the surface. I was left wanting to know more and, most importantly, why?
  
  
• Disappointing
  By AIFM0R8QQLL7T on 2007-10-04
  As a child who grew up as a Beatles fan, I looked forward to reading this book and getting a perspective on life with a Beatle. I did learn of the songs that were written for Patti, so I expected some great stories in this book, both of George Harrison and Eric Clapton.
  I was disappointed all around. I felt this book was more a listing of where she went and who else was there (many names were totally unfamiliar to me).
  Where were the in depth stories I expected to read? Missing, unfortunately.
  
  
• A muse, perhaps, but not amusing
  By A196RYWTA9NVSI on 2007-10-28
  At age four I fell for George Harrison when he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Something about him struck me as a young child which has remained with me into middle-age. Having heard for the past 38 years that his song, 'Something", was written about Pattie, I expected to find in her book insight as to what that 'something' is. I came up empty handed.
  
  It seems as if her life has been one long ride on the merry-go-round of dysfunctional relationships, self destructive behavior, addictions to drugs and alcohol, and to sick people.
  
  I found very little reflection in one who is leaving middle-age and heading firmly into her senior years. She seems to lack the ability to honestly and fiercely turn her lens for viewing life on herself. In the preface to the book, and later in her story, she cites being a member of Al-Anon and attending its twelve-step meetings. What I find lacking in her life story is a fourth step: "Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." Lacking this, she hasn't moved into Steps 5 & 6. She seems very emotionally stunted.
  
  It is a quick read; I checked it out of the library on Thursday evening and finished it Saturday evening. For this I was grateful because I found the chapters about her life with Eric Clapton to be dreary. By the time she leaves him the first time I was bored with their relationship. By the time she left him for good I was grateful that she never had children as she demonstrated that she would not make a good parent.
  
  It was an interesting read to gleam a bit of day-to-day life in the lives of two famous rock artists. The chapters of her time with George and having the other Beatles and their wives in her life were more intersting than the years she spent with Clapton.
  
  I found no sympathy for the incestuousness of the relationships to which she is drawn. It made my skin crawl to learn that her younger sister was living with Clapton and having a sexual relationship with him when he wrote 'Layla' for Pattie. There is something creepy about Pattie leaving her husband to begin a relationship with a man who just recently shared his bed with her sister. (Let's not even go into the fact that Clapton and Harrison were friends.)
  
  This pattern repeats itself later when, after finally leaving Clapton, Pattie strikes up a relationship with Rod, who had had a ten+ year relationship with a friend of Pattie's.
  
  There is something unstable in such behavior. Spooky.
  
  She did not have a 'normal' childhood. For this I have sympathy for her for it seems to have permanently messed her up for life in terms of healthy relationships.
  
  What I found most poignant about the book is that at the end, after she well documents George's emotional abandonment while married to her, and Eric's very destructive addictive behavior,she did not look at her own behavior. She drank and drugged alongside both of her husbands and then wondered why her marriages were not working. She focused on their behavior and never really takes responsibility for her own, though she makes talk of doing such. In the end, I do not see a woman who walks the talk.
  
  I also find it very telling that after being married to Pattie, George moved on to find a healthy relationship, over came his addiction to cocaine, fathered a child, and remained married to the child's mother until his death. He does not seem to have been the one, or only one, in his marriage to Boyd who couldn't fully emotionally commit or achieve true emotionally intimacy.
  
  Though I have never been a fan of Clapton's personality (he rubs me the wrong way), I, too, find the same result in his life after Boyd finally broke from him. He cleaned up his addictions to drugs and alcohol, committed to a woman, married her, and is rearing children with her.
  
  Pattie moved on to a relationship with yet another alcoholic which did not withstand the test of time.
  
  And, she continues to drink herself.
  
  Her great pride and joy in life is to have inspired beautiful songs.
  
  Whoppee!
  
  She, too, appears to be full of dichotomies. She goes on and on how Eric's drinking wore her down and was destroying him, so he left him. She writes of how she was finding peace in her days during the two weeks being away from him when she agrees to marry him.
  
  Later she writes of how the not knowing how each day will be with him grew too exhausting and that she needed stability in her life. In the post-being-Mrs.RockStar era of her life, she writes how she thrives on not having plans and having the unexpected happen each day. I got the impression of a woman who is a crazy-maker. Her words and actions do not meet. It is her ex husbands who moved on to create stable, lasting marriages; not Pattie. She is the one who seems to be the addict who hasn't come to terms with her addictions. I laughed at the line in her end chapter of how she is glad that she did not "inherit the addictive gene." If she read her own story with open eyes she would see that she is a very addictive personality and is drawn to addictive personalites.
  
  Her contradictions are tiring by the end. She claims to have been the mother-hen to her younger siblings, yet, she was mean to them when young and then engaged in a sexual relatioship with Clapton who had been living with Pattie's sister. How is such behavior protecting and nurturing ones younger siblings?
  
  I found Pattie to be ultimately a very emotionally immature and unstable personality. She moves from relationship to relationship in a way that is frightening. She fears being alone and until she confronts her fears she will continue living lies.
  
  She too claims that she and Eric had a very passionate relationship. This I did not find in her story. I found a very co-dependent, drug and alcohol fueled relationship. Pattie seems to confuse addiction with passion. She seems to be very emotionally confused.
  
  I wish her well. I wish her growth. I wish her recovery. I wish her peace. I wish she would stop dying her hair blonde and trying to look the part of a young rock and roll muse. She is growing old in body. It would be wonderful to see her accept this rather than deny it. Maturity would do her well, but she still seems lost in the first verse of Clapton's song, "Beautiful Tonight." I've never liked this song as I have found it always very shallow (the blonde in the song has always struck me as a very shallow woman) and the last verse is anything but romantic and loving. How romantic is it to be with a man who is so drunk that he needs help to getting into bed? Pattie still is trying to live verse one of the song. Eric has moved beyond the last verse and into a new and better song of life.
  
  May Pattie do the same.
  
  As for the book: Fast read. It does offer insights into lives of rock and roll from the 1960s-1970s. It is not a book worth buying and keeping. Check it out of the library and save your money for good literature.
  
  
  
• My Husbands and Me
  By A3DK5X66XYMTHO on 2007-08-30
  Pattie Boyd married two of the 60's English rock star icons, George Harrison and Eric Clapton. Without those marriages, she would still be a person of interest to the reader. With those marriages, a life-on-fire love triangle ensued as Eric Clapton pined for the wife of one his best friends (and poured out his torment in "Layla"). Eric Clapton does not come off well with his obsession for Ms. Boyd while George Harrison is more endearing. The story is interesting though it could have used more editing. Overall a book worth reading for music fans of the 1960's.
  
  

• Clapton: The Autobiography
• Complete Clapton
• I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie
• Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies
• Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation