And I Don't Want to Live This Life - Deborah Spungen

A spellbinding account of growing up with Nancy Spungen spoken with some eloquence by her mother, Deborah. This book tells the tale of dealing with a child difficult from birth to her untimely death at 20. For anyone with a child/parent/sibling/friend with mental illness or a conduct disorder, this book is a must. Sad to say, the inpatient psychiatric field has not changed for the better since this family dealt with it. This book offers first-hand insight into Nancy's life, not just with Sid Vicious and The Sex Pistols but growing up in an upper middle class familyand how her illness impacted their everyday lives. Her many psychiatric hospitalizations and ...  Read the complete review

Those of us who are old enough to remember the early years of punk music will doubtless remember the Sex Pistols. We may recall 'that' interview on television, where the Pistols and their entourage were goaded to 'say something contraversial' and responded with a tirade of four letter words. Some may even recall Nancy, the bleached blonde, hollow-eyed girlfriend of Sid Vicious, who hung around on the fringes of the group looking, in the words of one of their songs "Pretty Vacant". That's right, she was the one who was ultimately murdered by Vicious. But that was years ago, wasn't it? And he's dead now, isn't he? And they ...  Read the complete review

I wasn't looking to review today, I was just having a casual read around, but seeing this book with no opinions - obviously suggested and forgotten - I can't resist. "And I Don't Want..." is the biography, birth to death, of "Nauseating Nancy" Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious, written by her Mother. It isn't the greatest piece of literary work ever, but remains one of my favourite books, if such a harrowing read can be described as a "favourite". The book tells Nancy's story, and the story of her family, in significant detail, and provides an object lesson in how dangerous and superficial media ...  Read the complete review