Lady Gaga from struggling as a performer in New York to a worldwide phenomenon

Lady Gaga from struggling as a performer in New York to a worldwide phenomenon

In little over a year Lady Gaga has rocketed from struggling as a performer in New York to the glamorous life of a worldwide phenomenon. From her outrageous outfits to elaborate live shows and out-spoken politics, her life is one grand performance. In Lady Gaga: Behind the Fame, Emily Herbert goes behind the costumes and the gossip to find out how Stefani Germanotta, the self-confessed "weird-girl" in school transformed herself into the most talked about pop figure of the new decade.

Well-researched and filled with color photos documenting Gaga from her gogo dancer days to the release of her second album, The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga is an essential source for anyone wanting to get the behind the scenes scoop on this fascinating performer. Both an inspiring story of self-actualization and a comment on today's celebrity obsessed culture, Gaga's tale, whether she's beloved or reviled, is one of pop history in the making.

Despite having sold millions of records and becoming a household name through her own will and creativity, the fact is, Lady Gaga is still a relatively "new" celebrity, so I was somewhat skeptical about how informative (or necessary) a full-on biography could be at this point in her career. But intrigued as I am by her and her music, I picked it up with an open mind in hopes of learning more about the woman herself, getting behind the mystique she so carefully veils herself in publicly. Heavy with quotes and page after page of gorgeous color photographs, this is a great reference tool for fans. However, in the end I don't feel like I necessarily learned anything new or came any closer to understanding the "meaning of Gaga," so to speak.

That's not to say it wasn't entertaining or well-researched, because it obviously was, but I felt like the author never fully broke through the wall that separates the reader from the subject matter. Lady Gaga's (aka Stefani Germanotta) privileged upbringing is glossed over in a matter of pages, and for as much as she mentions heartbreak and the love-vs-fame theme, no further details are given about her personal/love life. I guess I was just most interested in seeing the transformation from Catholic school girl to pop exhibitionist, but that connection was never clearly made. It's almost as if this girl fell right out of the womb as the Lady Gaga persona we know today. Then again, I get the feeling that's how she wants to be perceived. It's just too bad the author couldn't add a new spin on it to make her somewhat relatable. Humanized may be a better word. On the other hand, I can appreciate the attention that was paid to the music itself, which can easily be overlooked when writing about such an eccentric personality, so it does work as a really good resource in that respect. Plus it does paint a good picture of her dynamics within the music industry and the song-writing process.

Mixed feelings aside, was it worth a read? Yes. The pictures alone are worth the price, lol, and it was fairly well-written with a heaping of interview material from the Lady herself. But I think we need to wait a few more years before we get anything real substantial as far as life stories go. Meanwhile we can sit here all day and discuss whether or not Lady Gaga truly is the loner workaholic who revels in the avant-garde, or just another pretentious, gimmicky pop tart, because this book sure doesn't help in deciding one way or the other. She's just as much of an enigma by the last page as she is on the first.