Love, Janis: The Sister's Intimate Biography―From Awkward Teenager to Rock Legend, in Her Own Unpublished Words

I'm currently reading Myra Freidman's "Buried Alive" biography of Janis, and I recently read "Love, Janis." These biographies are similar only in that they share the same subject; in every other sense, they are entirely different and tell Janis's story from two different lights. "Buried Alive" focuses on Janis's later solo career (fittingly enough, as Myra Freidman was her publicist the last three years of Janis's life) and we get to see the career-oriented side of Janis; we also get to see how Janis interacted with her friends (and "friends"), how Janis reacted to certain situations in both her career and personal life, and we get to see a very honest, truthful (and that means not always positive) portrayal of Janis as a person: her mood swings, her battles with drugs and alcohol, her constant need for reassurance. However, in "Love, Janis," we get to see more of the softer side of Janis, not to mention a much fuller history of Janis's childhood and adolescence, including letters Janis wrote home throughout her career. I think it's important to read each of these biographies because they each show different aspects of Janis, Myra's book giving us a full, well-painted portrait of who Janis really was as a person and how she felt about her career and singing -- ("What if they find out I really can't sing!" Myra quotes her saying) -- and Laura's book painting a much softer picture of Janis and focusing more on her relationship with her family. That's the biggest difference; Myra was right there with Janis when she was an international superstar and dealing with the extreme pressures of her career, while Laura only got to see small glimpses of that whenever Janis wrote home or visited; it's important to keep in mind while reading "Love, Janis" that Laura wasn't with Janis in California, wasn't on the road with her or involved in the whole hippie scene; therefore, Myra's book gives us far more insight on her career and a more personal & detailed account of Janis at that point in her life, with many many quotes and dialogue from Janis throughout the book. Laura's book's strong points are Janis's history, how she got to where she went, who she was before she became the infamous Janis Joplin, and really helps to humanize her as we see her interact with her family, which is, I believe, a very accurate and trustworthy description, seeing as Laura is family and, I think it's safe to say, knew Janis very well.I would recommend, to new Janis fans, reading this one first, then venturing onto others, because I think it's worthwhile to learn her complex history, particularly how she got started in singing, before learning the full details of who she was as a world-famous blues queen, which is what we get in Myra's book. Her letters from home are also quite interesting to read, not only for what Janis writes home about, but we also get to see her handwriting, her exuberance in her letters, and doodles/pictures she drew in her letters. Overall, Myra's book shows Janis as an adult and singer and gives us more insight to Janis's complicated personality, whereas Laura's is more of a straightforward history of her life. Both bios are wonderful and are must-reads for Janis fans.

I love the cover design, size and feel of this book. Very specially written.

This was a pretty good insight, although a bit clouded by familial judgement. A few times it was mentioned how the family didn’t approve of Janis’s lifestyle and they felt her public persona vs the Janis they ‘knew’ was a fake one. The parents wanting her to go back school etc made me cringe..the thought of Janis being forced into a role to keep the fam happy instead of allowing her to express her gifts to the world, words fail me. Anyway, a good read for anyone interested in some background on this legend. Quite well written and interesting.

I love Janis Joplin but never fully understood who she was until I read this book. Thank you, Laura Joplin. Your book is the best and most honest tribute to Janis out there. Thank you for writing it and letting Janis fans draw closer to the great person and artist she was.

I really enjoyed this book. Laura Joplin provides a voice of concern, care, and worry through Janis’ rise in the music world. Laura describes fretting over press that she feels was unkind or inaccurate regarding her sister. You can definitely feel the loyalty, as well as the effort from Janis’ Parents to understand their talented, gifted daughter.Letters from Janis are enlightening. While she was determined to make it in music, she also was looking forward to being a married woman with a family; Love was everything to her, and like any 27 year old woman, she was hoping her next relationship would be the one.Both traditional Texas woman and the modern blues mama, Janis had different sides to her that people didn’t always understand back then. Now we encourage women to have both family and career if they so desire.A great book by someone who grew up with, loved and cared for her. Well -recommended, lots of interesting pics and drawings from Pearl herself. How I wish she’d been able to go to rehab and therapy as it exists today. The 70s generation really didn’t understand yet how dangerous drugs were, and paid the price.

pour un passionné de musique, de rock, de woodstock, de ces légendes du rock parties si vite, livre exceptionnel écrit par la sœur de Janis Joplin au cœur de cette époque et témoin peivilegiee de la vie de sa sœur

Great book.

per gli amanti della musica con la m maiuscola la storia ben fatta di una grandissima e del suo tempo purtroppo passato.

Fue un regalo completamente inesperado para la persona que lo recibió. No creyó que fuera posible conseguir este libro que añoraba tanto desde que era joven.

A most fantastic book !!!