When I Grow Up, Juliana Hatfield
When I Grow Up, Juliana Hatfield
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When I Grow Up
A Memoir

Author: Juliana Hatfield

Narrator: Rebecca Gibel

Unabridged: 12 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/25/2020


Synopsis

By the early nineties, singer-songwriter and former Blake Babies member Juliana Hatfield was in a position most aspiring alternative rockers only dream of: her solo career was taking off. She was on the cover of Spin and Sassy; Ben Stiller directed the video for her song "Spin the Bottle" from the Reality Bites film soundtrack; she was a featured guest on My So-Called Life. Then, after canceling a European tour to treat severe depression and failing to produce another "hit," she spent a decade releasing well-reviewed albums on indie labels and performing in ever-smaller clubs. Eventually, she found herself reading The New Yorker on a filthy couch in the tiny dressing room of a punk club and asked herself "Why am I still doing this?" No longer willing to play a kid's game by kid's rules, Hatfield resolved to take a year off and experiment with being a civilian. And that year reawakened her creative passion. She resolved to take charge of her career and write the great untapped songs that she knew were still in her. This newfound determination led directly to her eagerly awaited new album, aptly named How to Walk Away, the most energetic, polished, and creative work of her music career. More than a musician's memoir, When I Grow Up is a rich and revealing tour through an extraordinary mind. By turns wryly funny and woundingly sincere, it recounts her best and worst days, the origins of her songs, the source of her woes, and her quest to find purpose in life.

About Rebecca Gibel

Rebecca Gibel is an award-winning stage, television, and voice actress, who has narrated over fifty audiobooks in a wide variety of genres. She has worked across the country at theaters such as Trinity Rep, Cleveland Play House, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Intiman Theatre, and the Arden Theatre Company. She holds a BA from the College of William & Mary and an MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep.

About Juliana Hatfield

Juliana Hatfield is a singer-songwriter who came to prominence in the 1980s as a member of the band Blake Babies. Her vocals have been praised as "bewitching" by The New York Times.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kirk on October 12, 2008

I tried to snag a free copy of this last weekend, but the Wiley sales rep at the trade show I was at obviously saw through my disguise of mature, gray-haired reflection and took me for the slobbering girl-rock fanboy I am. Not even proclaiming my eternal love for Juliana's 1992 classic Hey Babe coul......more

Goodreads review by David on May 23, 2010

I had the pleasure of speaking to Juliana Hatfield briefly while she was promoting the Beautiful Creature/Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure albums. She was doing a string of in-stores for Newbury Comics and I happened to be working at one at the time. I wasn't a fan of her music until the album Be......more

Goodreads review by Patrick on November 28, 2008

So I'm not her biggest fan, I only have the "Become What You Are" album, but when I saw she wrote an autobiography, it piqued my curiosity, and my expectations were EXTREMELY exceeded. I had no idea she was capable of something this interesting and insightful. The chapters alternate from daily journ......more

Goodreads review by Chriso on November 04, 2013

I just finished this book today and found it inspiring, engrossing, confounding, frustrating and highly relatable. Juliana Hatfield has always been a polarizing figure and has never shied away baring her soul, contradictions and all, for everyone to hear or see. The memoir is half tour diary - chron......more

Goodreads review by Hubert on August 12, 2020

It's always exciting to read about the inner life of a musician, whether one with high level of international visibility, or someone who's appeal (and reach) is more limited. Juliana Hatfield falls into the latter category. The verve, raw honesty, and tenacity with which she unveils some of her most......more