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Book of Life

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Book of Life

By: Deborah Conway
Narrated by: Deborah Conway
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A no-holds-barred memoir that charts the rise and fall - and rise - of one of Australia's most iconic music performers.

You think you know Deborah Conway? You think seeing her striding and scowling down Sydney's back streets in an oversize coat or galavanting around a golf course wearing a close approximation of plus fours means you know who Deborah Conway is? She figures you probably don't know the half of it. And there's a lot to know.

If you have listened to any of Deborah Conway's songs and were half curious about the origins; if you have ever wondered whatever happened to that chick who covered herself in Nutella and was photographed shovelling cream cakes in to her mouth; if you gave a nanosecond of thought to whose bare arse adorned the giant Billboard ads for Bluegrass jeans in the 1980's and how much someone could get paid to do that; if you liked Tracey Mann's vocals in The Takeaways but asked yourself, "did she really sing them?"; if you were a movie buff who thought Running On Empty was a classic BEFORE it became a cult phenomenon and need behind the scenes gossip, now's your chance to find out all this and so much more.

Conway pulls back the curtain on the fevered world of a 1980's post punk band, the spectacular rise and fall and rise of one of the more obstreperous women working inside Australia's music industry, a woman who has straddled the high arts and the low without losing her footing or her mind and whose fierce independence has seen her produce her best work.

Book Of Life: the good, the bad, and the ugly of being alive in the 20th and 21st centuries from the vantage point of a music insider (and outsider) with a deep need to tell the truth about it all.©2023 Deborah Conway (P)2023 Allen & Unwin Pty Limited Entertainment & Celebrities Jewish Heritage Music Women Celebrity
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I loved the book, however something needs to be done about the production of the sound of the songs throughout the book. They definitely need to be fixed.

Love the story that something needs to be done about the sound of the songs

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As surprising, rich, raw, engaging and sustaining as her magnificent music. A reverie and a love story. I loved every minute of it.

An Iconic Australian

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I recommend this book to everyone, but specifically those with a love of 80’s 90’s music that are familiar with Aussie artists as there is lots of fabulous reflections.
Deborah you are one in a 20 million and a brilliant artist. Thank you for writing a book of your amazing life to date.

Book of Life

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what an intriguing combination of life and song! I love finding depth behind lyrics and learning an artist's journey! Deborah has had an amazing one thus far for sure and I am left wanting to hear even more! very enjoyable!

an interesting balance

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Deborah is a little older than I, however I’ve been a fan since my youth.
In all honesty my interest fell away as I got older and travelled this journey called life.
Reading (or listening through audible), was a bit like catching up with an old friend I haven’t seen for many years.
I was a little bored at first.
It felt a little like, “I did this, and this” ..
Then however it felt like it, “matured”.
Just as the narrator was growing older, wiser .. it reflected in its pages.
I laughed aloud a few times, and also stopped, and reflected with true empathy.
Life has its complexes. It’s highs, and it’s lows.
I felt honoured to walk along side her, and listen to her story.
It has sparked an interest in her later material.
Especially as she uses it as references to what’s going on, or has gone on in her life.

It was an enjoyable listen.
I feel closer to this human being through her story.
True, I have had a much different life, but I can relate to the struggles of motherhood, a parent that was dysfunctional (and emotionally abusive), and the many other facets of “life”.

- I’d highly recommend it.
It’s a good story of our shared humanity ✨
(that’s what I found in it).

A rich tapestry of life

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