Rating: 
Summary: The truth behind that child's face
Review: I never thought Suzanne Vega was such a fighter, and not literally. One thing that this book will definelly cause you is surprise, a must-read to Suzanne Vega fans that might not please others.
Rating:
Summary: The truth behind that child's face
Review: I never thought Suzanne Vega was such a fighter, and not literally. One thing that this book will definelly cause you is surprise, a must-read to Suzanne Vega fans that might not please others.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow
Review: I really don't know how can I explain this book. It's not really a book it's something more than that, something you always want to carry with you no matter how many times you read it, you want to read again and again. Every poem, story or lyric gain new meanings each time you read. I've always been a big fan of Suzanne Vega's music and now I'm a big fan of her writing too! I wish she wrote more books!
Rating:
Summary: Suzanne is more than just music
Review: I think it i about time that Suzanne Vega got the credit she deserves for her excellant words. There is much more than just music for Suzanne each song is a poem and each poem tells a story of a situation or event in her life. She is by far my favorite poet and this book takes you on a journey with every page. Every word of every poem is filled with sympolism. I think this book has a place on everyones book shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Suzanne is more than just music
Review: I think it i about time that Suzanne Vega got the credit she deserves for her excellant words. There is much more than just music for Suzanne each song is a poem and each poem tells a story of a situation or event in her life. She is by far my favorite poet and this book takes you on a journey with every page. Every word of every poem is filled with sympolism. I think this book has a place on everyones book shelf.
Rating:
Summary: The impersonal nature of personal revelation
Review: Suzanne Vega's Passionate Eye effectively points up some of her ideas in a fresh, readable and consistently interesting format. She uses her song lyrics, poems and prose both recent and juvenile, and a centerpiece radio interview of Ms. Vega by Leonard Cohen (the most "human" part of the book, as Mr. Cohen alternates between simple friendliness, quick wit, deep insight and good, old-fashioned flirtatious play to "illustrate" Ms. Vega's contradictions and the themes of her music through a spirited dialogue).As in her songs, Ms. Vega writes in veiled themes. She tries to illustrate that one can own the artist's revelations without owning (or needing to know) anything about the artist herself. She quotes passages to support her idea that her particular muse stems from childhood experience, and that she is merely saying the same things she thought at nine. She repeatedly makes the point that it is the elusive (and by inference, the allusive) that appeals to her. As Ms. Vega points out, the communication medium of a songwriter includes in large measure the lyrics of her songs. Yet this is not a mere fanzine piece, but instead a well-done arrangement which highlights her ideas without descending into morose autobio. Although her spare, dark sense of humor peeks through the covers a time or two here, the book perhaps suffers from yet another Vega trait--her consistent effort to maintain a sort of "high seriousness" about her proceedings. I would have liked, perhaps, to see the lyrics of Christine Lavin's Vega parody "Mysterious Woman" arrayed beside Ms. Vega's own lyrics. Ms. Vega shows the reader that she understands the limitations in the persona she created, but we do not quite see what persona she wishes we had seen instead.
Still, I left this book convinced that Suzanne Vega remains a complex and interesting artist, wishing for fame, but disliking the toll it can take on the part of the artist which is not the public persona. Thank goodness this is not a morose "pity me, I'm famous" piece, but a set of images and wordplay, well worked out. Read this, even if you are not a "Suzanne Vega fan". I left this book feeling that I understood a thing or two about the public person Suzanne Vega seeks to portray, and that I need not know anything more about Suzanne Vega herself. I believe this is what Ms. Vega wants the reader to feel, and therefore she has succeeded admirably.
Rating:
Summary: A book of complete brilliance
Review: Suzanne Vega, despite her celebrity status, is a true poet and prose writer. Every teenage person looking for inspiration should pick up this book and just dive right in!
Rating:
Summary: A little heavy-handed, little structure, but interesting!
Review: The interview with Leonard Cohen alone is by far worth every penny I chose to spend on this book. I love Leonard Cohen... to see these two artists interacting and conflicting in a dialogue on a printed page was FANTASTIC. The rest of the book is a little harder to warm up to... although die-hard fans will cherish every window into Suzanne's head and heart.
Rating:
Summary: Vega in Black and White
Review: This book is approximately 80% poetry. While some poems you know as familiar song lyrics, not all are (at least published) songs and others were written during Vega's teenage years. Most of the written material are short vignettes from Vega's life experiences told from her perspective. This material is revealing of the artist's personality, showing her multi-faceted nature, sensitive, exploring, wide-eyed, bitchy at times, and the influences of her lifestyle. There are references to her daughter and recent motherhood yet not so much so as to drown you with sentimentality about parenthood. I enjoyed the book, read it quickly, often with the songs going through my head in unison with reading the text. I have a greater appreciation now of the artist.
Rating:
Summary: Suzannes Wonderful Work
Review: When I began to read this book, I soon found I couldn't put it down. Being a fan of her recorded work, I am used to the gentle, beautiful voice of the singer. Quite how she was fashioned from the childhood and other events in the book I'm not sure. Events such as her being in fights as a child with three people at once, I find it hard to reconcile that sort of early environment with the beautiful music she has created. It's beautiful writing. If you want to know a little bit more about what makes Suzanne tick, I think you'll find some insight here. I recently atttended a concert of hers where she read passages from the book. Her reading added a lot to it. I had the chance to meet her, and I suggested to her that she record some of the stories from the book, which she seemed to think of as a good idea, so if we're lucky we may see an audio work in the future ( vega.net would be the place to get further details ). It's gorgeous work, and I strongly recommend it.
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