Publishers Weekly
08/21/2023
Biographer Gabriel (Ninth Street Women) fastidiously captures the four-decade-plus career of a boundary-pushing star “who spoke her truth, took shit for it, and kept standing.” Ever since her childhood in Michigan, Madonna nurtured a love of music and performance, influenced by Detroit’s thriving Motown scene and such “revolutionary” pop girl groups as the Shirelles and the Shangri-Las. In 1978, at age 19, Madonna moved to New York City with $35 in cash and dreams of a dancing career, but later began pursuing music, first performing as the front woman of the band the Breakfast Club, and then going solo in 1982 after she was signed by Sire Records. From the start of her career, Madonna was fueled by an overwhelming determination to do and be more: “I always remembered Madonna as never being happy,” one friend recalls. “She always seemed like she was so impatient to move ahead.” That grit paid off with such early successes as 1984’s Like a Virgin, which debuted to scathing critical reviews but rave audience responses and went platinum after only three months, with three million album copies sold. Drawing on extensive research, Gabriel paints a satisfyingly nuanced portrait of a trailblazing musician who never shied from controversy, whether the issue was her “corsets and push-up bras and garter belts” that scandalized fans and enraged feminists or her 1980s advocacy for AIDS awareness. The singer’s myriad admirers won’t be disappointed. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
"Exhaustive but infinitely readable . . . Gabriel meticulously chronicles the influences and endless evolutions of the groundbreaking performer"—People
“Madonna’s career spanning pop, performance, dance, activism, fashion, film, photography and theater has been, by design, uncontainable . . . But Gabriel approaches the task with a rigor and ambition that matches Madonna's. She cuts to the heart of every album, tour, video, acting role and collaborator . . . Contextualizing this seismic star — at least by Gabriel’s eye — is tantamount to documenting history broadly since 1958."—Jenn Pelly, Washington Post
"The perfect deep dive into an endlessly complicated celebrity. Gabriel traverses Madonna’s many public personas, including Material Girl, Lady of the Manor and beatific mother of many, with grace and skill – and reflects on what she means as a pop culture doyenne.”—Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR
"A thoughtful biography of one of the most iconic entertainers of our time . . . Gabriel unfolds Madonna’s life seamlessly . . . Fans and neophytes alike will come away with greater respect for an uncompromising artist."—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Thorough and engaging . . . Gabriel is a wonderfully empathic writer, attuned to emotional nuances as well as the public side of her complex subject, resulting in a minutely detailed, lushly evocative portrait as Madonna's story continues.”—June Sawyers, Booklist (starred)
"Drawing on extensive research, Gabriel paints a satisfyingly nuanced portrait of a trailblazing musician who never shied away from controversy . . . The singer's myriad admirers won't be disappointed."—Publishers Weekly
"Mary Gabriel’s vivid, memorable biography of Madonna takes a fresh look at a true icon of our time."—Amy Scribner, Bookpage
"Gabriel’s writing is unfussy and direct – the approach of a cultural historian rather than fan . . . the book leaves no stone unturned, and no song, music video, film, TV appearance, friendship or romantic liaison unanalysed, in its quest to understand the woman behind the global icon. This is Our Lady made flesh."—The Guardian UK
"This riveting biography follows the rise of one of the greatest pop performers."—San Francisco Bay Times
“Mary Gabriel, whose book Love and Capital was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, reintroduces us to Madonna in this exciting new biography by offering insights into major decisions Madonna made during her career and contextualizing how her music and activism shaped our culture.”—Town & Country
“Gabriel’s book is a meticulous history of an extraordinary trailblazer, a reappraisal that reminds current and future generations who didn’t experience Madonna in real time why we should always celebrate her . . . A Rebel Life is Madonna’s history as much as it is our own.”—Chris Azzopardi, Pride Source
“Mary Gabriel eloquently tells the engrossing story of how Madonna combined music, dance, art, fashion, theater and pop stardom to develop a completely contemporary way to be an artist. It chronicles how her embrace of the artistic vanguard transformed popular culture.”—Jeffrey Deitch, owner of the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery; former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA); and author of Art in the Streets
"A must-have for any (and every) Madonna fan."—Jim Piechota, The Bay Area Reporter
“Mary Gabriel's astonishing book with its pointillist detail feels fresh, surprising, vital, and necessary. It’s thrilling to be reminded of how brave Madonna has been—to a fault! It doesn’t matter where it springs from, because the results are the same: a singular, towering career that changed the culture.”—Jonathan Van Meter, creator and founding editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine and author of The Last Good Time
“Mary Gabriel has dared to write a biography of a woman with whom the entire world is on a first-name basis. Here, she reveals Madonna as a rock-and-roll suffragette, managing the stress test of her personal life and using the power of music to bring about social change. Exquisitely detailed in her storytelling, Gabriel convinces us that we all still vogue in the House of Madonna.” —Brad Gooch, author of City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O'Hara and Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor
Praise for Ninth Street Women:
"A gorgeous and unsettling narrative...Ninth Street Women is supremely gratifying, generous, and lush but also tough and precise — in other words, as complicated and capacious as the lives it depicts...It's as if once Gabriel got started, the canvas before her opened up new vistas. We should be grateful she yielded to its possibilities."—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times
"Ninth Street Women is like a great, sprawling Russian novel, filled with memorable characters and sharply etched scenes. It's no mean feat to breathe life into five very different and very brave women, none of whom gave a whit about conventional mores. But Ms. Gabriel fleshes out her portraits with intimate details, astute analyses of the art and good old-fashioned storytelling."—Ann Landi, Wall Street Journal
"Ninth Street Women is a must read...Gabriel seamlessly weaves the intimate and the public, the lives and the art, making us feel we were there...It is a story that is a part of the American story, told here in vivid, meaningful detail, an absolutely pivotal text."—Margaret Randall, Women's Review of Books
"Gabriel's fascinating group portrait shimmers with vivid personal detail...She traces their interwoven paths from studio to Cedar Bar to the Eight Street loft known as the Club...Over time, Willem de Kooning outshone Elaine; Jackson Pollock eclipsed Krasner. Key contributions were erased...Gabriel makes sure these major artists who have been written out of history are not forgotten."—Jane Ciabattari, BBC.com
"Masterful. Mixing critical insight with juicy storytelling, Mary Gabriel brings five brilliant female painters to the fore of the art revolution that cut a wide swath in postwar America."—Patricia Albers, author of Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter
author of Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter Patricia Albers
Masterful. Mixing critical insight with juicy storytelling, Mary Gabriel brings five brilliant female painters to the fore of the art revolution that cut a wide swath in postwar America.
Women's Review of Books Margaret Randall
Ninth Street Women is a must read...Gabriel seamlessly weaves the intimate and the public, the lives and the art, making us feel we were there...It is a story that is a part of the American story, told here in vivid, meaningful detail, an absolutely pivotal text.
New York Times Jennifer Szalai
A gorgeous and unsettling narrative...Ninth Street Women is supremely gratifying, generous, and lush but also tough and precise — in other words, as complicated and capacious as the lives it depicts...It's as if once Gabriel got started, the canvas before her opened up new vistas. We should be grateful she yielded to its possibilities.
BBC.com Jane Ciabattari
Gabriel's fascinating group portrait shimmers with vivid personal detail...She traces their interwoven paths from studio to Cedar Bar to the Eight Street loft known as the Club...Over time, Willem de Kooning outshone Elaine; Jackson Pollock eclipsed Krasner. Key contributions were erased...Gabriel makes sure these major artists who have been written out of history are not forgotten.
Wall Street Journal Ann Landi
Ninth Street Women is like a great, sprawling Russian novel, filled with memorable characters and sharply etched scenes. It's no mean feat to breathe life into five very different and very brave women, none of whom gave a whit about conventional mores. But Ms. Gabriel fleshes out her portraits with intimate details, astute analyses of the art and good old-fashioned storytelling.
Library Journal
★ 10/01/2023
Pulitzer Prize finalist Gabriel's (Ninth Street Women) massive biography of singer Madonna follows her life from her Michigan childhood to the conclusion of her Madame X tour of 2019–20. The book devotes considerable space to Madonna's companions and collaborators and offers an in-depth look at her work and inspirations. Her albums and tours receive song-by-song descriptions, with looks at the wider history of their eras, which results in a deep cultural context for Madonna's career. Significant attention is given to her connection to LGBTQIA+ communities, her activism for HIV/AIDS, and her philanthropic efforts in Malawi. A minor flaw is that the author's highly sympathetic view, effective at critiquing the persistent sexism and scaremongering that has dogged Madonna's career, sometimes skims past more difficult criticisms that could have offered an even deeper understanding of her complexities as an individual and artist. VERDICT Impressive in size and scope, the 880 pages of this tome might deter some readers. However, casual and hardcore fans of Madonna (or of pop music in general) will still benefit from making a beeline for this book. A vital pick for public libraries and institutions with collections on women artists or 20th- and 21st-century music and pop culture.—Kathleen McCallister
NOVEMBER 2023 - AudioFile
Elise Arsenault expertly delivers a truly excellent and detailed look at singer Madonna's life. From her humble beginnings, Madonna has become an icon for her music, as well as the causes she has championed over the years, such as AIDS awareness. Despite her success, she, like many celebrities, has also endured criticism for her choices of artistic expression. Arsenault offers a clear delivery of the narrative and provides emotional depth when depicting important conversations or thoughts from Madonna and the people in her life. Though this is a lengthy audiobook, Arsenault's smooth transitions through the stages of Madonna's life create a well-paced journey throughout all of her highs and lows. G.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-08-09
A thoughtful biography of one of the most iconic entertainers of our time.
At more than 800 pages, this latest book by Gabriel, author of Ninth Street Women, spares few details about its subject. Born in Michigan in 1958 to humble, hard-working parents, Madonna Louise Ciccone suffered the loss of her mother at age 5. Once in New York City, she scraped by in the performance and club scenes and gradually rose to fame at a pivotal juncture where disco and punk suffered existential crises and MTV was in its infancy. Using music video and fashion as her mediums, and life as her muse, Madonna stirred a generation of young women. As Gabriel amply demonstrates, however, glamor and art are only part of the story. Proximity to the LGBTQ+ community drove Madonna’s advocacy for AIDS education. “In order to talk about AIDS,” writes the author, “one needed to talk about gay sex, and that was not a conversation to be had in Ronald Reagan’s America.” Unafraid to avoid controversy, she became the artist, according to her, that the critics “hate to love.” With years and locations serving as chapter signposts, Gabriel unfolds Madonna’s life seamlessly. The author shows us how her groundbreaking tours and acting chops in videos, on stage, and on the silver screen light propelled her, as well as a thick skin. “Madonna wasn’t overly bothered by the critics,” writes Gabriel, “which like the paparazzi seemed to be a necessary evil.” The author fully analyzes Madonna’s songwriting talent and her triple-threat ability as a singer, dancer, and actor. Often misunderstood, she emerges as a conscientious mother of six who treasures love and honors family while also remaining unafraid of expressing her sexuality. Ultimately, Madonna’s relatability is what will draw readers in, whether they listen her music or not.
Fans and neophytes alike will come away with greater respect for an uncompromising artist.
