Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I respect Gaga for a lot - I think she's a very talented vocalist, and I love her message to love people for who they are, and to be who you are.  I think her songs are catchy, and I own both her CDs. 

I don't follow her, however.   Or I do, technically, but I don't pay that much attention to her.  I don't tune into her on TV, I've never been to one of her shows.   I like her music, and that's it.   I'm not a Little Monster by far.  

That being said, and keeping in mind that I do love a lot about Gaga, I am an uneasy fan.   She can say her meat dress was about how she's not a piece of meat, or to be objectified, all she wants but she seems to go out of her way to objectify herself.   She's lied about her past, she's said she'll never go out as Stefani Germanotta, then later posed for pictures sans Gaga makeup or clothes, and I can't remember how she explained that as being Gaga.   I think that she's an attention whore, really, and that does make me uneasy.   I've found that attention whores are fairly untrustworthy.  

Still, her clothing choices are amusing, and she's brought old friends into the fold, like Lady Stardust, who helped her come into her own as a musician, performer and celebrity. Stardust has said that it's not common for people of Gaga's fame to keep the comparatively little people in the fold, and I respect Gaga for that.   And nothing takes away from the joy I get from her music.  

So, as a fan of the music even if not fully a fan of the person, I was hesitant to spend even fifteen dollars on a paperback, much less twenty-plus on a hardcover.   However, I nabbed this for under four as a hardcover on clearance.   I knew, from skimming this in store back when it was full price, that it wasn't all praise for Gaga and went over some controversial and negative aspects, but this only intrigued me more.   

So far this is a mix of a biography and business lesson.   It not only goes over how Gaga got her start from a biography perspective, but also from a business perspective.   As a bio/business combination, it's a fascinating look into how Gaga works, as a performer, and as a businessperson.   It looks at flaws, it looks at her music, and how she effects people around her.   This includes her fans - and those who have reason to distrust her.   

Sorry that this is so long, but I've been thinking about Gaga since I got this book, and I needed something that, shockingly, wasn't robots.   This is a well written book, put together chronologically so far, with the exception of the prologue which was setting the stage for Gaga's first night as a headliner.   It shows some of her still present flaws, then the first chapter goes back to the beginning.   

The book design is also fairly Gaga-esque, which fits the topic of the book.   It's well put together as a whole, and I'm quite impressed so far.   The writing, and the linear writing, is put together, makes it a quick, easy read, and entertaining to boot.   

Love her or hate her, Gaga is everywhere.   I've wanted to read about her for a while, because I've seen the pictures of her and Stardust, I've seen comments praising her and castigating her, and I find the Haus - and arguably Cult - of Gaga to be an absorbing topic if only because of her reach so far.   

Sorry for the novelette.   I will brush upon this, or link to this, when I write my review, but I didn't want to write a whole novel for that review -_-  So you get it here instead.