Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter Review

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Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter ReviewI've been a Carpenters fan since age eight when I could hear "Close to You" coming through my older cousin's ear piece on her transistor AM radio. Next came drum lessons in grade five. Karen was my idol and my sisters and I devoured her LPs and cassettes like food groups while learning the art of precise harmonies in the process.
So, news of this latest and wonderful biography had me champing at the bit as soon as I heard about its release.
I could not put this book down. And this did not necessarily serve my sleep well (note to self: do not expect to have a good night's sleep if you read such haunting books). It is a heart wrenching tale of heartbreak, control issues, deceit, and the complete misunderstanding of a soul so old and so sensitive that I could not get through this painfully honest biography without a lot of Kleenex.
To literally slowly kill yourself from self-starvation/anorexia nervosa is a tragedy, but when you read about WHY and HOW it happened to this one of a kind talent, you will want to go out and purchase a ouija board to contact and tell off her mother, Agnes, who was such a bitch and so insensitive and controlling that she made Joan Crawford look like Carol Brady.
Karen had no one on her side when it came to her family; all control freaks (except her pacifist father). She was shoved to the back of the line more often than not and was, despite being at the forefront of the Carpenters with that gorgeous voice, placed and kept firmly in the shadow of her older brother, Richard ("The talented one," says Agnes). Mom would see to that.
We find out in her sad story, however, that Karen DID have some very trusted and supportive friends and I am so happy that we are FINALLY hearing their side of the story. One can only imagine how much they miss their friend whom they tried diligently to save from herself and the negativity which surrounded her.
Lots of great information in this book about specific recording sessions, relationships, song writers, musicians, and wonderful details about the most pivotal events in Karen's life and is required reading for any Carpenters fan as well as anyone who grew up and developed their taste for pop music in the 1970s.
The interviews for "Little Girl Blue" were clearly conducted with care and compassion and the bevy of participants is very impressive. Kudos to Randy Schmidt for being a safe place for everyone to share and tell the real story, unlike the sterilized, sugar-coated versions in previous books which were CONTROLLED by Camp Carpenter. We even get the real story about that slag-heap husband, Tom Burris, who is evil incarnate from their first date. When you read this part of the story, your heart will break. And you'll see how Agnes strikes again in the name of "What will people think?"
On another note, I find it very interesting that when there are controlling parents who ostensibly "mean the best for their (dancing monkey-bread winning) children" and expect "perfection" even as they smile and vehemently deny being "controlling stage parents" (Boones, Osmonds, Carpenters) that an eating disorder (or worse) eventually surfaces within the family. These young women honestly feel as if they have no control over any part of their lives and that they'll never be good enough, so they resort to controlling the one thing that truly belongs to them: their bodies. Sad sad sad.
Read this book, but don't expect to feel happier after you do. You'll play your Carpenters albums during and afterward and never hear Karen's songs in quite the same way.
We can only hope that she's finally at peace wherever she is now - which HAS to be Heaven since she already lived through Hell.
Thanks to Randy L. Schmidt for a wonderful book.
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