Cher: Strong Enough ― Revised and Updated

AN INTERESTING AND VERY THOROUGH BOOK ABOUT THE EARLY YEAR'S OF THE 'SONNY AND CHER SHOW'.VERY WELL RESEARCHED .

A little tatty after being squeezed through my door but still OK.

Very good and arrived on time

Very disappointed - too much rambling on about newspaper clippings and awards and very little about Cher

Extremely quick delivery. Highly recommended

Amongst the slew of biographies I've read on the lovely Ms Cherilyn Sarkisian, this one stands out by a mile! When Variety magazine called it, 'a labour of love' they really weren't exaggerating. The author is clearly as devoted a fan as you'll find. Actually I think he even scored a writing job with Cher's team in Vegas while she was in residency there - which is pretty incredible, but entirely deserved in my humble opinion. The book is absolutely filled with his original new interview material. And the fact that he's gone the extra mile to track down ex-crew members, lovers, guests on the Cher show, etc. etc. really shines through. It's a much stronger (oh - pardon the title reference) biography for his time and trouble.Though the focus of the book is quite narrow - honing in on the years when she was lighting up the screen as America's sweetheart TV host - this is exactly what I liked about the book. So much trash has been written about her tempestuous love life/excruciatingly public court battles at this time, that it was really refreshing to get an unbiased perspective - based on facts rather than empty hype. Though the author has nothing but love for Cher - her crazy beautiful outfits and her gorgeous personality - he never lets this cloud his judgement. And what you can expect is a meticulously researched, flawless new version of the facts. The detail is such that it's the next best thing to actually being there on the set. Needless to say, pictures of Bob Mackie's dazzling couture creations are nothing short of gorgeous. For all those who missed their chance to sit in on the groundbreaking 70s show - this is almost as good as being there in person! Hope you all enjoy it half as much as I did.

not what i thought it was going to be

Very disappointing! Thought it was a biography. More a discography and a replay of Cher's variety shows from way back when! Gave up half way through!

I browsed through it!! It looked great!!

Se você é um fã da Cher, é bom que tenha a experiência de ler esse livro lindo. Sobre a edição não tenho críticas, a qualidade das imagens no fim do livro e a capa são realmente incríveis, agora o roteiro deixa muito a desejar. O ano de 1975 vira um pesadelo, já que são vários capítulos dando informações ao meu ver desnecessárias. Não me arrependo da compra, mas esperava algo mais divertido e prazeroso para ler.

Unica!

This is a fantastic book. It is not for the casual fan who wants only an overview of Cher's life or career. Those books exist; the best is the Taraborelli. Others are mostly regurgitations of magazine articles and interviews and oft-told anecdotes that those of us who are serious, long-term fans can identify and probably quote. At least four of them are all entitled Cher! Some are catty (Bego), some merely comprehensive (Pellegrino). All of these books, while usually updated more recently, came out in about 1975, the time frame on which Strong Enough (despite its title coming from a more recent recording) focuses.Those of us who have followed Cher for enough years understand that this is the time when she really became CHER, moving from being a famous singer and fashion icon to being a true superstar-- in a time when that term was applied sparingly and to celebrities with serious talent and track records rather than to any random "personality" who has parlayed a sex tape into a reality show career.Following her divorce from Sonny in 1974, Cher moved into a solo career, and this is the focus of the book. While it includes overviews of her life and career before and after the years 1974-76, the book is really about Cher's amazing, groundbreaking, short-lived but much-admired (by her fans at least) solo television show.The research and effort on display are impressive. Although the author did not interview the three most crucial people in the evolution of Cher into literally the biggest female star of this period-- David Geffen, Bob Mackie and Cher herself-- he seems to have spoken with all of the other important figures (George Schlatter, Ret Turner, Jimmy Webb, and other personnel involved with the show and with Cher's recording career at a time when she made an effort to be taken seriously as a recording artist). Additionally, the comprehensive details of the contents and production of each show are a goldmine to those of us who remember it fondly or who would like to know more about it, scarce as it is on today's airwaves. As the author points out, perhaps because of the expense of music rights, the show has never been available on DVD, and only truncated half-hour versions have been shown on VH1.This show was a real high point of (and in many ways a conclusion to) the art of the variety show, along with Carol Burnett's show, but quite different from the latter. Between the "serious" musical guests who never appeared on television (David Bowie, Labelle, Bette Midler, Elton John) and the flamboyant and (for the '70s) risqué costumes, TV viewers before MTV had never seen anything like it.While other Amazon reviews complain that the focus is on this time period, and that the details of the shows are, I suppose, less interesting to them than yet another repetition of her larger biography, to me, that is the value of this book. As mentioned, there are plenty of other sources for the same old same old. And those books include relatively little about the Cher show, focusing more on the concurrent divorce from Sonny and the tabloid saga of her relationship with Gregg Allmann, Certainly all of that is included here, as it was part of the era that began her ongoing role (along with Princess Diana) as one of the most frequently featured faces on celebrity periodicals. But here these "scandals" receive more measured coverage.In fact, the book is notable for the lack of a salacious or bitchy attitude about the biographical details. Cher is given her due as a significant, unique cultural figure whose image, career and life were shaped by the events included in this book.Oh, and great photos-- and, again, not the same ones on view in the other books and magazines.

FANTASTIC BOOK OF CHER