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A review by saareman
Sinéad O'Connor: The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Melville House
4.0
A Lass That Is Gone
A review of the NetGalley Kindle ARC (downloaded October 7, 2024) of the Melville House paperback/eBook to be released (October 29, 2024).
I suppose most people became aware of [a:Sinéad O'Connor|2927214|Sinéad O'Connor|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (1966-2023) with her recording of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U in 1990. I became a fan as soon as I heard her song Troy off The Lion and the Cobra album in 1987. That fandom even included getting a copy of the 12" vinyl of the notorious collaboration with shock performance artist [a:Karen Finley|109789|Karen Finley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1396330164p2/109789.jpg] on Jump in the River in 1988 [Content Warning: This will sound pretty tame until 4'18", after which it totally jumps the tracks].
This series of interviews collected by Melville House shows that O'Connor was consciously and consistently making her own way throughout her career from the time when she shaved her head in defiance of her record company wanting to market her for her looks. There is the recurring theme of her pain at childhood abuse which underscores many of the interviews.
Much of this was at the hands of her own mother, although the nuns at a Catholic school also left an underlying resentment. That later exploded with her defiant ripping up of a photograph of the Pope during a Saturday Night Live broadcast in 1992 as a symbolic gesture against child abuse in the church. This was well before the Boston Globe's 2002 exposure, articles later collected in [b:Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church|947265|Betrayal The Crisis in the Catholic Church|The Boston Globe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344271732l/947265._SX50_.jpg|932190] (2003) and the Pope's subsequent apology.
The backlash at the SNL performance seemingly derailed O'Connor's career, but her own feeling was that it set her back on course as someone who defied the status quo. That consistent theme runs throughout all of these interviews, even though there was always a haunted background to her life which sadly ended too young.
My thanks to the author, the publisher Melville House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this preview ARC, in exchange for which I provide this honest review.
Footnote and Soundtrack
* Listen to Sinéad O'Connor's recording of The Skye Boat Song (Theme from Outlander) on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
Listen to So Far: The Best of Sinéad O'Connor on a YouTube playlist which begins here or on Spotify here.
Trivia and Link
The Last Interview series collects conversations with various artists, writers and musicians over their lifetimes. With this Sinéad O'Connor edition the series will number 41 volumes. You can see the series listed at the publisher Melville House here.
A review of the NetGalley Kindle ARC (downloaded October 7, 2024) of the Melville House paperback/eBook to be released (October 29, 2024).
Sing me a song of a lass that is gone,
Say could that lass be I? - excerpt from The Skye Boat Song (Theme from Outlander), one of the final released recordings* by Sinéad O'Connor.
I suppose most people became aware of [a:Sinéad O'Connor|2927214|Sinéad O'Connor|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] (1966-2023) with her recording of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U in 1990. I became a fan as soon as I heard her song Troy off The Lion and the Cobra album in 1987. That fandom even included getting a copy of the 12" vinyl of the notorious collaboration with shock performance artist [a:Karen Finley|109789|Karen Finley|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1396330164p2/109789.jpg] on Jump in the River in 1988 [Content Warning: This will sound pretty tame until 4'18", after which it totally jumps the tracks].
This series of interviews collected by Melville House shows that O'Connor was consciously and consistently making her own way throughout her career from the time when she shaved her head in defiance of her record company wanting to market her for her looks. There is the recurring theme of her pain at childhood abuse which underscores many of the interviews.
Much of this was at the hands of her own mother, although the nuns at a Catholic school also left an underlying resentment. That later exploded with her defiant ripping up of a photograph of the Pope during a Saturday Night Live broadcast in 1992 as a symbolic gesture against child abuse in the church. This was well before the Boston Globe's 2002 exposure, articles later collected in [b:Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church|947265|Betrayal The Crisis in the Catholic Church|The Boston Globe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344271732l/947265._SX50_.jpg|932190] (2003) and the Pope's subsequent apology.
The backlash at the SNL performance seemingly derailed O'Connor's career, but her own feeling was that it set her back on course as someone who defied the status quo. That consistent theme runs throughout all of these interviews, even though there was always a haunted background to her life which sadly ended too young.
My thanks to the author, the publisher Melville House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this preview ARC, in exchange for which I provide this honest review.
Footnote and Soundtrack
* Listen to Sinéad O'Connor's recording of The Skye Boat Song (Theme from Outlander) on YouTube here or on Spotify here.
Listen to So Far: The Best of Sinéad O'Connor on a YouTube playlist which begins here or on Spotify here.
Trivia and Link
The Last Interview series collects conversations with various artists, writers and musicians over their lifetimes. With this Sinéad O'Connor edition the series will number 41 volumes. You can see the series listed at the publisher Melville House here.