Truly Righteous
March 24, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from Detroit, Michigan
"ANI DiFRANCO: Righteous Babe" is a must buy for every Ani DiFranco fan, and a
great read for those who would find themselves interested in the story of a
strong-willed, pioneering woman in the music industry. Most everything righteous about
Ani Difranco becomes apparent in the 224 pages of "Ani Difranco: Righteous Babe".
The author, Raffaele Quirino, covers the intrigue that Ani also brings to her music. The
book diplays Ani's ability to combine politics with poetry, while shedding light on the
personal. After all, her ability to make politics personal is what has drawn millions of
fans. Though about a musician rather than a comedian, the book is similar in some ways
to books by and about entertainers like Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen Degeneres and
Sandra Bernhard, yet is much more personal than Goldberg's and Degeneres's and
dives much deeper into the righteous entertainer's political and social views and
experiences.
An absolute mistake
May 3, 2000
Reviewer: Niccola from Warwick, Rhode Island
Let me begin and say that I was truly disappointed after I finished reading this book.
When I first heard of a book being made "about" Ani, I knew it must have been against
her will and it was just a crazy fan who collected all sorts of data and put it all together
into a book.
But part of my hunch was right: It was just a crazy person and not a fan at all who put
together a piece of junk. Why write a book against an artist's will?
And Raffaele-- if you wanted to put together a collection of an honorable person's life,
why not get all the facts correct? I can't even count how many errors were in the book.
And if you are a lover of books and strong in that form of art and you think you
understand Ani, why don't you know who Lucille Clifton is?
I felt insulted when you labeled Ani's fans into two categories and generalized so much
as you did do. Ani fans do not fall onto the left or onto the right. We are challenged by
her music and taken by her words. We indulge her essence and commend her bravery,
and her honesty.
And when you stereotype the Alana Davis situation and try to "understand" why Ani
would take offense when the words to her creation were changed, it makes me
embarassed to know such a book has been made.
Your song interpretations are misunderstood... it doesn't matter how many times you
listened to an Ani cd, or how long you reasearched what she's really trying to say, or
think you know who she was trying to reach.. you missed the boat on almost every
occasion.
I was ashamed with the contents and the factual errors that filled its pages. You actually
started off with a very "righteous" title.. but it went downhill after the first chapter.
If anything at all-- the book was a good resource if you ever lost the case the cd was in
and needed to know the set list of songs contained on it
If Ani ever reads this-- you are a "righteous babe" and we all know it-- but we're not
ever going to believe anything anyone writes about you until you write it yourself.