The Carpenters: The Untold Story : An Authorized Biography

Product Details

Product Reviews

(4 stars) - Interesting and sad
I believe the editor of this book (first edition, hardcover) must have been asleep at the wheel. I spotted several typos throughout. There is even an entire paragraph at the bottom of page 77 which is duplicated in its entirety at the top of page 78. The proofreader must have been on vacation.

Editorial gaffs aside; from a content perspective - it was a most enjoyable read. The Carpenters were truly a success story and their rise to fame was remarkable. Having 'come of age' in the 70's, their music continues to bring back fond memories for me. Karen Carpenter's downward spiral into an anorexic abyss is hard to fathom, but I guess it happens more often than we realize. Trying to get this woman to eat must have been extremely frustrating to her friends and loved ones.

I think the author did a fine job in detailing the career of the Carpenters, paralleled with Karen's (and Richard's) health struggles.

(5 stars) - A real page turner...
I really enjoyed this book. Ray Coleman painted a very clear picture for me of their lives, childhood, career and all. I came away from this book feeling that I had a better understanding of who they were. So what if the book didn't lay bare all of the nooks and crannies of their lives? Aren't they entitled to some privacy? Do we have to know every little detail? I checked this book out from the library and loved it He deals very sensitively and honestly with the disease that robbed the world of Karen's amazing voice. Thanks Ray for this insightful and profound journey into the lives of the greatest music group who ever lived. This book made me cry and I'm not one easily prone to tears over a book. I highly recommend it!

(3 stars) - The Carpenter's
A very well written biography that offers insight into the lives of Richard and Karen Carpenter. A good read for any fan that tells the good and the bad, that any fan of their music will find insightful and interesting.

(5 stars) - Tragic story.
Like all the other reviewers of this book I am a long time fan of the Carpenters.

I bought this book in 1994 when it was first published and was pleased to be able to read about the history of Richard and Karen and to get an insight into their lives. I learned a lot about them both.

Looking back, and having read some of the other reviews here I can only speculate that yes a lot of things will have been kept out of the book. Richard Carpenter is a very private man, and I suspect that he will have been involved in deciding what would be included in the book and what he wished to keep private. Why should he bare every single detail of his family's business for worldwide consumption? Would you or I do the same?

The Carpenters' story is a cautionary tale: Be careful what you wish for. Karen and Richard craved success but success ultimately killed Karen Carpenter didn't it?

There will be certain things which will stay in the Carpenter family forever and we must accept this. There are no conspiracy theories here. Richard worshipped his sister, yes they came from an extremely close family and were incredibly protective of each other. Karen's demise came at a time when anorexia was virtually unheard of. If this was happening now things would be different.

Let's not get too excited about whether Richard smoked, or how many times Karen had sex Mr Koenig. Do we really need to know? This is a very informative book which is very revealing in lots of areas.

God bless you Karen. Thank you for your beautiful legacy. And thank you Richard for your artistry.

(4 stars) - Still and excellent read...
Yes, this book is missing some of the more intimate and probably painful details of Karen's life. Regardless, it's still an excellent read and it does shed light on certain issues which Carpenters fans never knew about back in the 70's.

Popular Searches in Books