Rating: 
Summary: But I still love her...
Review: Whoops. This book is a real snoozer. Too generalized. Not enough "down and dirty" information we all crave about what it means to be a woman in show-biz, how she did it, who she did it with, etc. It's bland and barely scratches the surface of an obviously fabulous fantasy life. She doesn't come across as a particularly interesting person, yet you know she must be. I found her food references a tad embarrassing, for the obvious health reasons - (hey, I'm a woman, I have my food obsessions, too, but when you reach a certain age you sort of start pulling in the reins, just so you can live a little longer, and we do want Aretha around for many more years). I made her rosemary chicken wings for years until I realized I needed to put down the fork and the fat if I wanted to arrest the "spread." Still - "Pink Cadillac" gets me through the day like no other high. She's my choice for Top Angel-Voice. Thanks, Aretha. One tip: get a better ghost writer for Volume II. David Ritz must have been a cousin or someone else you "owe." No, no, no. P.S. Does anyone know where I can get an Aretha Franklin bumper sticker(s)? Maybe a fan club member could e-mail me.
Rating: 
Summary: Why an Autobiography
Review: I was truly disappointed in this autobiography! The book was poorly written and recounted many petty incidents that seemed to have absolutely no significance. Also, I got very, very tired of Aretha remembering almost every morsel of food that's ever entered her mouth! Who told Aretha she should write an autobiography! If she has trouble discussing the private details of her life and she's a private person, why on earth would you choose to write an autobiography?
Rating: 
Summary: Learning about the Queen
Review: I found the book to well written. Knowing from previous interviews wih Aretha tha she is very private person, having a chance to learn about her family in more detail was exciting. I have been a fan for many years and this was a chance to hear firs hand about her life. I still feel that many areas of her life need to remain personal. She is a public figure who is entitled o keep those things private that she feels she should. Her book gave us an opportunity to she a different side of the star. Overall I enjoyed the book!
Rating:
Summary: THE RESTRICTED AREA OF LADY SOUL
Review: One of the mysteries of Miss Franklin , which has kept our interest in this lady over the years, is her capacity to mix at random her sense of reality with her fantasies about life and her own persona. No doubt what made of her what she is was the honesty of her deliverance and impressive presence. For years she'd turn up as a "real fact" taken emotions to a raw, naked exhibition of our inner path. This attitude, along with the peerless power of her expression, led us to see her as a "true holder"; she was not telling us about truth, she was carrying it with her. But all of a sudden something broke seriously down and we saw all this fact that made out of her what she was and represented to appear dyed blonde. The public image of this lady , including her music, turn upside down in a style which none of us would recognize as true and much less to be placed in the cultural level harking back to Bessie Smith and Billy holiday in which she was placed at the start of her meteoric musical success. Miss Franklin has never wanted to openly speaking about her persona and points of view and she keeps in not wanting it by only looking to the cover front of this book in which instead of a nice, rich personality of 58 (I mean experience and wisdom by this datum) sustained by her wonderful overweight -as well rich in anecdotes- and surrounded by her grandchildren , we are slapped again in our faces by this false immage of a falsified Miss Franklin looking more like a shellac ad than like the real Miss Franklin that was onstage at VH1 Diva's live concert at the Beacon which held as much reality, soul, respect an d self fantasy as the best of her songs. From that moment on, years ago, she has struggled to keep herself as The First Lady Of Song by imposing her presence to others (sometimes in a nearly gross way) rather than to investigate in her own capacity as singer, composer, player and musician with some very few exceptions, giving us a listless Collection of boring wrong recordings and video concerts from 1974 to say a date. At times though, when she feels relaxed, there is still a hint of Aretha Franklin which sparkles for a second bringing on such an amount of talent that our souls are lightened again with/for what could otherwise be considered an extra mere effort to keep the audience's eye. She's tried with Leslie Gourse on a biography which was a mere "curriculum vitae" already listed by David Nathan on the liner notes of the reissued discography on CD, giving some extra and very interesting light on old recording sessions, and now she charges again with David Ritz. Again there is no particular contact with the personality or a deep sight into Miss Franklin's persona, as it happened with Russell Gersten and his great, deep comment on Miss Franklin on Rolling Stone. Far beyond the interest in the casual week end lovers she's got (I do wish her a very long, successful, pleasant , adult sexual life much as I do to myself and no one cares) which only concerns her casual or long time mates, there is one thing I unluckily will die without having done, which is to be at her place -I don't thing she'll ever dare to come into mine since she's afraid of flying and I'm quite far away, among many other lurking fears- commenting on about the books she has read and playing lots of records. Then maybe I'd put some few questions. The matter with Mr, Ted White does not matter at all and to be honest we should allow him to tell about his then wife Aretha, which could become a real unpleasant thing to be listening to. (Miss Tyler I hope you read this lines). Regards.
Rating: 
Summary: Very, very good reading!
Review: I am a big fan of Lady Soul and I found this book opened a lot about her personal life; some good and some not so good. I am very happy that the part of about her mother leaving her has been made clear. I can not imagine her having to deal with all the negatives lies that have been told about her mother all these years. She revealed what she felt so should reveal since after all she in entitles to a private life too. I really did so enjoy hearing about all the old black stars like Sam Cooke,Dianh Washington to name a few that she learned so much from. There is a lot of Black History in this book and I really did enjoy reading it.
Rating:
Summary: No Soul Here
Review: A complete waste of time and money. One can find the same degree of depth while standing in the grocery store checkout line perusing the magazines. If I ever have the need to catch up on celebrity gossip and what designer gowns they are wearing I'll read PEOPLE. It takes much less time, costs next to nothing and has about as much to say.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts to tell, then stops
Review: This book is a tease. With few exceptions, just as the Queen of Soul gets close to giving some dish, she pulls back. It seems like she has feuds with many stars, but she doesn't give the complete story. I was very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: what happen?
Review: i love aretha franklin she is my all-time favorite female artist&singer but this book has many pot holes.coming from a lady who has most of her life been very honest in her music this is a puzzle.i expected her to unload and really break down the music biz but that's not happening here.if i want mysteries i'll read stephen king.i still dig my box set of aretha's and the other music i have of hers but as for books forget about it.the queen took a stumble here.
Rating:
Summary: Hoping for something better
Review: I have a feeling that Ms. Franklin is unaware of just how her book has let so many of her fans down. Why write a book and not be prepared to tell it all. I wanted to like this book but just could'nt.
Rating:
Summary: Better than I ever imagined
Review: I love this book because Aretha puts right the myths that have surrounded her life and lets people know the real Aretha so people stop making it up for themselves and looking too deeply into her lyrics for hidden meanings that don't exist. Also my mouth watered all the way through the book with her many references to food and I can't wait till the cookbook comes out. I like the way that Aretha makes you feel the good times and the bad but without dwelling too much on things we don't need to know.
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