Rating: 
Summary: Get a glimpse of a poet's life
Review: A good portion of Jewel Kilcher's aurora is not in the typical things that make a female singer popular: her voice, her looks, her guitar skill, her musical talent, songwriting writing ability, connections with her concert audience, stage presence or fashion flair. Though she doesn't lack those things, one of her greatest attractions, the one that makes you stop and realize that she's more than another rockstar wanna-be who made it, is the story of her life, her pre-fame life, especially. Even if she never got a record contract and the fame that came with it and made her one of the "elite" few, she still would have been an extrordinary person. She explains that all this book, "Chasing Down the Dawn." It seems that everything possible that could have happened to one person happened to Jewel. Her young life and childhood is one unusual experience after another, filled with unusual people, and almost unbelievable at times. For example, her grandmother was an award winning writer, her father was abused as a child, her parents got divorced, as a nine-year old she was photographed by a child ponographer/molester, her first crush rode off a cliff on a motorcycle, she made friends with gang members and kids who ate vodka popsicles, her best friend died of cancer, she suffered from kidney problems, she sang for eskimos and gave them their first chance to see blond hair...and that's just half of the list. If we included all the crazy things that she chose to do herself, the story is even more interesting. I heard someone say about Jewel, "After living a life like that, she almost couldn't help but write about it." It's true. I'm not really a fan of Jewel's music, I probably never will be. I didn't care about her at all until I started reading her books. One thing that strikes me from both of them is that this girl is actually talented. She's not just a marketable face for her record label, she's actually an artist, a poet, a writer. Literature of such quality is not something I would expect from one of the biggest female stars in the music world. But Jewel is an exception: she's multi-faceted and definitely multi-talented. Her story gives very good insight on the life of a star. Though it certainly has it's upsides, it's not all stage lights and screaming fans. For all you Jewel-wanna bes who still haven't made it, read this book before you pursue a career as a professional musical entertainer. Can I say that if buy this book you won't regret it? I can't judge for you. If you don't like this kind of stuff, you most probably will be let down, but personally, I wasn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Come on...
Review: An ok book but nothing worth cooking a feast over. It smells a bit of justing being there to bring home some $$.
Rating: 
Summary: Chasing Down The Dawn
Review: Chasing Down The Dawn (by Jewel Kilcher) Reader Review
Harper Entertainment, 2000
Reviewer: Karen Unglaub from Noble High School, North Berwick, Maine.
The autobiography Chasing Down the Dawn, by Jewel Kilcher, is notes and paragraphs about Jewel's life from when she was 10 until she was 18. It tells about her parent's divorce and how it was a total shock. How she and her 2 older brothers and her dad moved far away, leaving there mother standing sobbing. All to start a new life, and get on with the old one. She and her father would go into clubs and sing together a few times a week. Jewel met a few, lot of unusual people, but they helped open her eyes to the variety of life. She would talk amongst the men and women, and they gave her respect, because she was a very mature young lady. She writes a lot of short poems that are separate from the usual text; she includes a lot of her own drawings in the autobiography too.
She encounters first love, and leaves him. She always needed more than just a boyfriend to pretend to love her. She thought she was in love with him. She was only in love with the idea of being in love, and had to leave him to find her real prince in shinning Armour. (She has also a book of poems, A Night Without Armour) Her father began going to bars quite frequently to sing and meet ladies. She would accompany him and sing by his side on stage. Her father protected her from ridicule.
Not until she was sixteen, that she ventures out into bars all alone to sing and earn her way out of poverty, for just one day. She made just enough money to cover her bus tickets food and then she kept the left over few dollars, and used it for what she had to. Her father trusted her and knew that she was very mature, and allowed her to go out on her own and experience club life of her own. She got gigs, because she was cute, refreshing and had a folk style that was different than the grunge that was in that era. Her name finally was spreading around the cities, and she was signed to a label to make an album, and go on tour. She now was getting noticed in the street, while she was trying to write in peace and quite. It would frustrate her; she had pressure from the label to keep writing all of her new songs. She liked to write about people, so she would watch people on the street, and jot down poems and phrases. It got so hard once she was getting recognized, because she lived to stay in the hidden and watch from the sides. Now she couldn't look at them secretly, because they were already looking at her!
She would go back home to Alaska, and feel very uncomfortable; her father would want her to join the village's hot shower outside. That was held at her house. They made a shower. She would not join. She would go after. They also had to share a phone line too. She would share it with 7 different families, and she felt that they were always eavesdropping. Also of the other hand, she felt most relaxed at home after she felt the most relaxed at home, in her fathers many acres. She was free to write and not be noticed by anyone at all, except the cattle. She got accustomed to famous life, and was thankful. The autobiography leaves off with her talking about life. "Life is all about rhythm... And Time is not a line, it's a loop."
Strengths
This autobiography is very detailed and had many poems that provide a deeper insight about her life. The book does what it should; it invites you into her life, shows you around and lets you out with a goodbye. This book has many photographs. It shows the good and the bad. Life on the road without makeup after being awake for 20 hours. And her in a field laying in the grass with one of her many horses. She shows pictures of life in the city, and life in the country. It shows random people, and her most loved ones. She includes a lot of her own art in the book too. She draws pictures of naked women, that are bearing their souls, nothing to hide and completely honest and pure.
Weaknesses
The autobiography is not in chronological order. It bounces from thought to thought, as her mind does. She questions herself, and contradicts herself quite often, and left me still to wonder how she is feeling. The only feeling I can conclude is confusion, much like I was when I read the book. She touches on subjects that she never went back to, but it kept you wondering, much like life does. Aside from the normal text, I liked the format of the book. The font was big enough to read, and wasn't boring. It had a different look to it; you didn't feel like you were reading a "boring book for English class". But the format was also mixed up; it would jump from a chapter to a whole bunch of pictures in the middle of nowhere, but an interesting experience. Looking at the experience of reading this, I think that it mad me look more at the world and what feelings that I am going through, and that everyone is different, but more the same.
Rating:
Summary: Chasing Down The Dawn
Review: Chasing Down The Dawn (by Jewel Kilcher) Reader Review
Harper Entertainment, 2000
Reviewer: Karen Unglaub from Noble High School, North Berwick, Maine.
The autobiography Chasing Down the Dawn, by Jewel Kilcher, is notes and paragraphs about Jewel's life from when she was 10 until she was 18. It tells about her parent's divorce and how it was a total shock. How she and her 2 older brothers and her dad moved far away, leaving there mother standing sobbing. All to start a new life, and get on with the old one. She and her father would go into clubs and sing together a few times a week. Jewel met a few, lot of unusual people, but they helped open her eyes to the variety of life. She would talk amongst the men and women, and they gave her respect, because she was a very mature young lady. She writes a lot of short poems that are separate from the usual text; she includes a lot of her own drawings in the autobiography too.
She encounters first love, and leaves him. She always needed more than just a boyfriend to pretend to love her. She thought she was in love with him. She was only in love with the idea of being in love, and had to leave him to find her real prince in shinning Armour. (She has also a book of poems, A Night Without Armour) Her father began going to bars quite frequently to sing and meet ladies. She would accompany him and sing by his side on stage. Her father protected her from ridicule.
Not until she was sixteen, that she ventures out into bars all alone to sing and earn her way out of poverty, for just one day. She made just enough money to cover her bus tickets food and then she kept the left over few dollars, and used it for what she had to. Her father trusted her and knew that she was very mature, and allowed her to go out on her own and experience club life of her own. She got gigs, because she was cute, refreshing and had a folk style that was different than the grunge that was in that era. Her name finally was spreading around the cities, and she was signed to a label to make an album, and go on tour. She now was getting noticed in the street, while she was trying to write in peace and quite. It would frustrate her; she had pressure from the label to keep writing all of her new songs. She liked to write about people, so she would watch people on the street, and jot down poems and phrases. It got so hard once she was getting recognized, because she lived to stay in the hidden and watch from the sides. Now she couldn't look at them secretly, because they were already looking at her!
She would go back home to Alaska, and feel very uncomfortable; her father would want her to join the village's hot shower outside. That was held at her house. They made a shower. She would not join. She would go after. They also had to share a phone line too. She would share it with 7 different families, and she felt that they were always eavesdropping. Also of the other hand, she felt most relaxed at home after she felt the most relaxed at home, in her fathers many acres. She was free to write and not be noticed by anyone at all, except the cattle. She got accustomed to famous life, and was thankful. The autobiography leaves off with her talking about life. "Life is all about rhythm... And Time is not a line, it's a loop."
Strengths
This autobiography is very detailed and had many poems that provide a deeper insight about her life. The book does what it should; it invites you into her life, shows you around and lets you out with a goodbye. This book has many photographs. It shows the good and the bad. Life on the road without makeup after being awake for 20 hours. And her in a field laying in the grass with one of her many horses. She shows pictures of life in the city, and life in the country. It shows random people, and her most loved ones. She includes a lot of her own art in the book too. She draws pictures of naked women, that are bearing their souls, nothing to hide and completely honest and pure.
Weaknesses
The autobiography is not in chronological order. It bounces from thought to thought, as her mind does. She questions herself, and contradicts herself quite often, and left me still to wonder how she is feeling. The only feeling I can conclude is confusion, much like I was when I read the book. She touches on subjects that she never went back to, but it kept you wondering, much like life does. Aside from the normal text, I liked the format of the book. The font was big enough to read, and wasn't boring. It had a different look to it; you didn't feel like you were reading a "boring book for English class". But the format was also mixed up; it would jump from a chapter to a whole bunch of pictures in the middle of nowhere, but an interesting experience. Looking at the experience of reading this, I think that it mad me look more at the world and what feelings that I am going through, and that everyone is different, but more the same.
Rating:
Summary: Chasing Down The Dawn
Review: Chasing Down The Dawn (by Jewel Kilcher) Reader Review
Harper Entertainment, 2000
Reviewer: Karen Unglaub from Noble High School, North Berwick, Maine.
The autobiography Chasing Down the Dawn, by Jewel Kilcher, is notes and paragraphs about Jewel's life from when she was 10 until she was 18. It tells about her parent's divorce and how it was a total shock. How she and her 2 older brothers and her dad moved far away, leaving there mother standing sobbing. All to start a new life, and get on with the old one. She and her father would go into clubs and sing together a few times a week. Jewel met a few, lot of unusual people, but they helped open her eyes to the variety of life. She would talk amongst the men and women, and they gave her respect, because she was a very mature young lady. She writes a lot of short poems that are separate from the usual text; she includes a lot of her own drawings in the autobiography too.
She encounters first love, and leaves him. She always needed more than just a boyfriend to pretend to love her. She thought she was in love with him. She was only in love with the idea of being in love, and had to leave him to find her real prince in shinning Armour. (She has also a book of poems, A Night Without Armour) Her father began going to bars quite frequently to sing and meet ladies. She would accompany him and sing by his side on stage. Her father protected her from ridicule.
Not until she was sixteen, that she ventures out into bars all alone to sing and earn her way out of poverty, for just one day. She made just enough money to cover her bus tickets food and then she kept the left over few dollars, and used it for what she had to. Her father trusted her and knew that she was very mature, and allowed her to go out on her own and experience club life of her own. She got gigs, because she was cute, refreshing and had a folk style that was different than the grunge that was in that era. Her name finally was spreading around the cities, and she was signed to a label to make an album, and go on tour. She now was getting noticed in the street, while she was trying to write in peace and quite. It would frustrate her; she had pressure from the label to keep writing all of her new songs. She liked to write about people, so she would watch people on the street, and jot down poems and phrases. It got so hard once she was getting recognized, because she lived to stay in the hidden and watch from the sides. Now she couldn't look at them secretly, because they were already looking at her!
She would go back home to Alaska, and feel very uncomfortable; her father would want her to join the village's hot shower outside. That was held at her house. They made a shower. She would not join. She would go after. They also had to share a phone line too. She would share it with 7 different families, and she felt that they were always eavesdropping. Also of the other hand, she felt most relaxed at home after she felt the most relaxed at home, in her fathers many acres. She was free to write and not be noticed by anyone at all, except the cattle. She got accustomed to famous life, and was thankful. The autobiography leaves off with her talking about life. "Life is all about rhythm... And Time is not a line, it's a loop."
Strengths
This autobiography is very detailed and had many poems that provide a deeper insight about her life. The book does what it should; it invites you into her life, shows you around and lets you out with a goodbye. This book has many photographs. It shows the good and the bad. Life on the road without makeup after being awake for 20 hours. And her in a field laying in the grass with one of her many horses. She shows pictures of life in the city, and life in the country. It shows random people, and her most loved ones. She includes a lot of her own art in the book too. She draws pictures of naked women, that are bearing their souls, nothing to hide and completely honest and pure.
Weaknesses
The autobiography is not in chronological order. It bounces from thought to thought, as her mind does. She questions herself, and contradicts herself quite often, and left me still to wonder how she is feeling. The only feeling I can conclude is confusion, much like I was when I read the book. She touches on subjects that she never went back to, but it kept you wondering, much like life does. Aside from the normal text, I liked the format of the book. The font was big enough to read, and wasn't boring. It had a different look to it; you didn't feel like you were reading a "boring book for English class". But the format was also mixed up; it would jump from a chapter to a whole bunch of pictures in the middle of nowhere, but an interesting experience. Looking at the experience of reading this, I think that it mad me look more at the world and what feelings that I am going through, and that everyone is different, but more the same.
Rating:
Summary: A very touching novel!!
Review: Chasing down the Dawn was an amazing novel.Jewel's words were just like her lyrics--poetic & insightful to the human spirit.Rather than it being the story of her life--it was emotions of her experiences thar were written.It was a wonderfully beautiful novel that will light the way in literature --showing how a book should be written.The illustrations were very creative & altogether it was a very enjoyable book in which things were expressed that are in most hearts but Jewel was able to put on paper.I gave it a 5 stars which Chasing Down the dawn truly deserves for the heartfelt story that it is.
Rating:
Summary: Advertising Gem
Review: Hats off to Jewel's publisher for creating those eloquently phony reviews, knowing full well any fan of "Chasing Down the Dawn" has at best a sixth grade education!!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Book!
Review: I actually haven't finished reading it because I've begun to hold off on reading it so I won't have to come to the end! I've always admired Jewel Kilcher's music and her writing is much of the same. I admire her for sharing some of the things that make her human in a town where it's easiest to want to hide any and all faults. She seems to be living her dream and it's a good thing to see.
Rating: 
Summary: As Always, Ms. Kilcher is Candid and Honest
Review: I believe that most people appreciate Jewel's art not because of their spectacular artistry, but the heartfelt sincerity and honesty she imbues into everything she creates. This book is her memoir, a collection of stories and essays about her life. As always, she impresses me with her candid words and her lack of pretense. She is trying to build no public image. In one passage she admits that as a child she stole. She admits she does get mad, like every human being does. It's not so much "the life of Jewel" but moreso "the life of a human being." She's very mature and it shows through her work. What I love about this memoir is it's not a "woe is me" tale. She remembers everything fondly, and even if she didn't, she's learned a lesson from it and has moved on. This memoir focuses on the journey of life, not the destination, and celebrates the journey and every trial. It's inspirational and almost spiritual. There is no pretense. The passages are well written and flow nicely. The words aren't flowery, but neither is the author, when you think about it. It's very much a rainy day book, something to snuggle up in a blanket with. It's a quiet, reflective, and thought-provoking book about not life, but the *experience* of life. Like with her music, Jewel makes no point to put forth material most pleasing to her audience. That is her charm, though. She is only what she is, and not what she pretends to be. It also polarizes her audience, to the point where some believe she's hokey and others adore her for her candor. So, I must say that most people who might enjoy this book are people who already enjoy her music, or music from musicians of like minds and genres.
Rating: 
Summary: Roseanne Hodge is brilliant -- five stars for her.
Review: I couldn't say it any better. Jewel might have grown up in the wilderness in Alaska, but it's funny how she got access to Rikki Lee Jones and Sheryl Crow CDs while she was there. This snaggletoothed vacant's book of poetry was the funniest book of 1999 -- this one might be even more dangerous. Her comment about how hotel rooms feel like homes even if just for one night is inspired stuff. When is she appearing at the Guffaw Factory?
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