Posted on Oct 29, 2023
Madonna and Britney Spears: It's them against the world
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https://www.npr.org/2023/10/28/ [login to see] /book-review-madonna-a-rebel-life-and-britney-spears-the-woman-in-me
While Britney Spears was trying to get over her very public breakup with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake, Madonna came to visit her.
"She walked into the place and immediately, of course, she owned the room," Spears writes in her new memoir, The Woman in Me. "I remember thinking, It's Madonna's room now. Stunningly beautiful, she exuded power and confidence... She modeled a type of strength that I needed to see. There were so many different ways to be a woman in the industry: you could get a reputation for being a diva, you could be professional, or you could be 'nice.' I had always tried so hard to please — to please my parents, to please audiences, to please everyone."
While Britney Spears was trying to get over her very public breakup with fellow pop star Justin Timberlake, Madonna came to visit her.
"She walked into the place and immediately, of course, she owned the room," Spears writes in her new memoir, The Woman in Me. "I remember thinking, It's Madonna's room now. Stunningly beautiful, she exuded power and confidence... She modeled a type of strength that I needed to see. There were so many different ways to be a woman in the industry: you could get a reputation for being a diva, you could be professional, or you could be 'nice.' I had always tried so hard to please — to please my parents, to please audiences, to please everyone."
Madonna and Britney Spears: It's them against the world
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Posted 7 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Despite the sadness and anger that permeate The Woman in Me — particularly towards her family — the tone is much breezier than the heavy subject matter. (Spears doesn't publicly recognize any ghostwriters, but she does thank multiple "collaborators" in her acknowledgements.) She barely mentions the details of the pop songs she's made, or why and how she made them. This 288-page book, with its large font and generous spacing, is easily consumed in a single sitting; it's a world away from Madonna: A Rebel Life in tone and purpose.
Both the Madonna biography and the Spears memoir have their chronological limitations — not to mention inevitable narrative elisions. (Who is telling what story, and why?) Gabriel doesn't address the serious bacterial infection Madonna suffered this summer, which delayed the start of her "Celebration" tour. (Earlier this week, during a tour stop in Belgium, she called her recovery a "miracle.") Spears' book makes glowing references to her third husband, Hesam "Sam" Asghari — she calls him "a gift from God" — but the timeline ends before August, when the couple publicly confirmed that they are divorcing.
By the end of Madonna: A Rebel Life, fans will have a comprehensive knowledge of Madonna's accomplishments, her various personas over the decades, and what she represents culturally — but they won't have come much closer to actually knowing her heart. And maybe that's the ultimate secret to Madonna's five-plus decades of success. Forget the public nudity and the quasi-confessional documentaries: We still only know what Madonna wants us to know about her, and when — and it's always on her terms.
The Woman in Me is almost the inverse: Readers will come away with a much more profound understanding of both Spears' fragility and the fierceness that has carried her through. We are watching Britney Spears come to know herself, in real time."
..."Despite the sadness and anger that permeate The Woman in Me — particularly towards her family — the tone is much breezier than the heavy subject matter. (Spears doesn't publicly recognize any ghostwriters, but she does thank multiple "collaborators" in her acknowledgements.) She barely mentions the details of the pop songs she's made, or why and how she made them. This 288-page book, with its large font and generous spacing, is easily consumed in a single sitting; it's a world away from Madonna: A Rebel Life in tone and purpose.
Both the Madonna biography and the Spears memoir have their chronological limitations — not to mention inevitable narrative elisions. (Who is telling what story, and why?) Gabriel doesn't address the serious bacterial infection Madonna suffered this summer, which delayed the start of her "Celebration" tour. (Earlier this week, during a tour stop in Belgium, she called her recovery a "miracle.") Spears' book makes glowing references to her third husband, Hesam "Sam" Asghari — she calls him "a gift from God" — but the timeline ends before August, when the couple publicly confirmed that they are divorcing.
By the end of Madonna: A Rebel Life, fans will have a comprehensive knowledge of Madonna's accomplishments, her various personas over the decades, and what she represents culturally — but they won't have come much closer to actually knowing her heart. And maybe that's the ultimate secret to Madonna's five-plus decades of success. Forget the public nudity and the quasi-confessional documentaries: We still only know what Madonna wants us to know about her, and when — and it's always on her terms.
The Woman in Me is almost the inverse: Readers will come away with a much more profound understanding of both Spears' fragility and the fierceness that has carried her through. We are watching Britney Spears come to know herself, in real time."
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