Rating: 
Summary: Janis as human being
Review: Having read both Alice Echols' five-years-in-the-making 1999 biography of Janis Joplin (SWEET SCARS OF PARADISE) and the much earlier Myra Friedman 1973 Joplin biography BURIED ALIVE (which was guilt-laden and frenetic in comparison, although written in intelligent, often poetic prose), I was unprepared for the calm, insightful, and wholly convincing account of Janis Joplin's life by her six-years-younger sister, Laura. Despite the intimate connection with her subject, Laura Joplin is startlingly wise and evenhanded in her analysis of her sister's life and times. I found many anecdotes and details here which for me rang even more true in terms of revealing the REAL Janis than Echols' admirable account. I would suggest that anyone wishing to understand Janis Joplin and her times read both Laura Joplin's and Alice Echols' biography. Janis Joplin will never cease to fascinate intelligent, passionate music lovers. Her life and music probed all the deep questions of life, striving to find a balance between the emotional and the intellectual. Had she not accidentally died, her contribution to the world of art and letters would have been Shakespearean in power. We must love and treasure her Keatsian artifacts even as we yearn forwhat might havebeen.
Rating:
Summary: Read Laura Joplin, then Alice Echols
Review: Having read both Alice Echols' five-years-in-the-making 1999 biography of Janis Joplin (SWEET SCARS OF PARADISE) and the much earlier Myra Friedman 1973 Joplin biography BURIED ALIVE (which was guilt-laden and frenetic in comparison, although written in intelligent, often poetic prose), I was unprepared for the calm, insightful, and wholly convincing account of Janis Joplin's life by her six-years-younger sister, Laura. Despite the intimate connection with her subject, Laura Joplin is startlingly wise and evenhanded in her analysis of her sister's life and times. I found many anecdotes and details here which for me rang even more true in terms of revealing the REAL Janis than Echols' admirable account. I would suggest that anyone wishing to understand Janis Joplin and her times read both Laura Joplin's and Alice Echols' biography. Janis Joplin will never cease to fascinate intelligent, passionate music lovers. Her life and music probed all the deep questions of life, striving to find a balance between the emotional and the intellectual. Had she not accidentally died, her contribution to the world of art and letters would have been Shakespearean in power. We must love and treasure her Keatsian artifacts even as we yearn forwhat might havebeen.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I read this book after Buried Alive. I feel it offers a more compassionate and complete picture of Janis Joplin.
Rating:
Summary: This book is an inside look at the life of a legend!
Review: I was born long after the days of Janis Joplin and her brand of hippie rock and drugs. But her music, once I discovered it, moved me in ways previously unimaginable. I found this book, written by her sister, to be touching and real. Janis was an extraordinary person, this book proves that. It also brings you behind the scenes, to her secert life that caused her so much pain.This book made Janis real to me. Laura Joplin did a fantastic job of educating the world about the one of a kind Janis Joplin and her turblent life. Her talent, like this book, will never be forgotten!
Rating: 
Summary: A bit disappointing
Review: Janis Joplin is commonly portrayed as a woman struggling with her demons, but this book goes a step further by allowing Janis herself to speak through letters home. Her anguish and turmoil, as well as her innocent hopefulness, are heartbreakingly evident. Unfortunately, the book lacked cohesion. I found myself skipping entire chapters, such as the one on the early life of the Joplin pioneers, as it did not seem to explain how their lives shaped Janis. It is evident through the writing style that Laura Joplin adored and lionized her older sister. So much so that she seems intent on placing herself in the context of Janis' life with passages like (paraphrased), "In March of that year, two days before my birthday, Janis did..." Although the personal insights I gleaned through Janis' letters was revealing and poignant, this bio was far from the no-punches-pulled treatment that the book jacket claims it is. Read it only as an account of a younger sister trying to come to terms with the troubled life and early death of a beloved older sister.
Rating:
Summary: Love, Janis was a great book that everyone should read.
Review: Love, Janis was a book about a Texas woman's struggle, rise to fame, and terribly disapointing end. I loved Love, Janis because it was written by Janis's sister, Laura, so you know the details are accurate. It was very informative, interesting and real. It tells about Janis's feelings and even about her family history, back in the 1800's and before. I would think that anybody, especially those who like Janis (like me), should read it. Sure, it talks about Janis, but it also mentions lots of big musical names and how Janis was involved with them. If you like Love, Janis, I think you would like a book called The Tightrope Walker, by Dorothy Gilman. It's written really well and I think you'd like it.
Rating:
Summary: Janis as human being
Review: Most biographies about Janis that I read portrayed her as a freakish out-cast turned rock star and detailed events significant only because they ultimately led to her death. However, Laura Joplin presented Janis as a fun-loving, warm human being, not merely a tough blues mama that most people seem to want her to be. Example: Ms. Joplin explained why/how Janis was voted "Ugliest Man On Campus" rather than throwing the title out there as other biographers have done to portray Janis' life as filled solely with the trauma characteristic of great blues artists. I recommend this account of Janis' life over any other. Her letters home were also an advantage to any die-hard Janis Joplin fan.
Rating: 
Summary: A good biography, but not more.
Review: Slightly disappointing-it seems that Laura has used the same sources as any other Joplin biographist-I have expected something more from Janis`s sister. However, if you want to get a good overview of her life, both professional and private, you have to read this. The positive thing: love and understanding filters through the lines and makes them somehow personal and touching-in spite of the commonplaces. It can not be easy to write about a dead sister, facing the dark side of her personality as well, and here a nice effort has been done.
Rating:
Summary: Get it while you can!
Review: Thank you, Laura Joplin, for this honest account of the life of one of the World's most talented blues and rock singers. For so many people, hippie or not, Janis was "it". With all the fictional and half-factual accounts of Janis' hard-lived life, loves, music and death, it was cathartic to read "Love, Janis." for the closure it gave me. So many Janis Joplin fans already feel as if they actually knew her... a fact that can be attributed to the heart and soul she put into every note she sang. Thanks to Laura's careful, detailed account, the reader will feel even more emotionally attatched to Janis, much like that of a sibling. From Janis' childhood, you seem to almost "grow up" with her, sharing in her learning experiences, anguishes, laughter and tears, loves and hates. Finally, the truth from someone who knows... and who better to write a factual account than someone who shared a bond only sisters can share. However...Janis Joplin fans- Beware! Open your mind before you read this book to guard yourself against becoming disillusioned... Janis Joplin was larger than life in many respects, but was still a living breathing, cursing, mistake-making human being. This is the TRUTH... no glossing over. Warts and all, this is the Janis Joplin who actually WAS, not the Janis created by the media. I found myself happy for Janis when the going was good, and grieving for her when I knew the end was near; wishing I could warn her of what was to come... A wonderful book, and a must read for fans who think they really know Janis... you don't yet, but you will! Yes, Laura, your beloved sister is remembered - Thanks again for caring so much about the preservation of her legacy.
Rating:
Summary: Get it while you can!
Review: Thank you, Laura Joplin, for this honest account of the life of one of the World's most talented blues and rock singers. For so many people, hippie or not, Janis was "it". With all the fictional and half-factual accounts of Janis' hard-lived life, loves, music and death, it was cathartic to read "Love, Janis." for the closure it gave me. So many Janis Joplin fans already feel as if they actually knew her... a fact that can be attributed to the heart and soul she put into every note she sang. Thanks to Laura's careful, detailed account, the reader will feel even more emotionally attatched to Janis, much like that of a sibling. From Janis' childhood, you seem to almost "grow up" with her, sharing in her learning experiences, anguishes, laughter and tears, loves and hates. Finally, the truth from someone who knows... and who better to write a factual account than someone who shared a bond only sisters can share. However...Janis Joplin fans- Beware! Open your mind before you read this book to guard yourself against becoming disillusioned... Janis Joplin was larger than life in many respects, but was still a living breathing, cursing, mistake-making human being. This is the TRUTH... no glossing over. Warts and all, this is the Janis Joplin who actually WAS, not the Janis created by the media. I found myself happy for Janis when the going was good, and grieving for her when I knew the end was near; wishing I could warn her of what was to come... A wonderful book, and a must read for fans who think they really know Janis... you don't yet, but you will! Yes, Laura, your beloved sister is remembered - Thanks again for caring so much about the preservation of her legacy.
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