A fascinating memoir from one of New Zealands leading fashion designers.This is Denises LEstrange Corbets honest and frank account of her turbulent life - from her difficult childhood through to her successful business life today.She covers the emotional landscape of her childhood; her malevolent grandmother; her dysfunctional family and most of all the development of her depression. This is a really honest; raw story that shows how mental illness can develop through childhood.Her insights into the causes and effects of depression are enthralling; its a compelling story of mental illness; written with a great deal of humour. At times; its like a darkly fascinating version of Bill Bryson: funny anecdotes about childhood with the menacing tinge of depression.Her account of the early years of WORLD; her time as a fashion student in London and her interactions with people in the business are terrific. This is an eye-opener and a page-turner of a book; with great anecdotes about the fashion world and strong; compelling writing about childhood and depression.The foreword is by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and all royalties go to the Mental Health Foundation.
#4091136 in eBooks 2014-09-16 2014-09-16File Name: B00NMXR1JK
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great for car nuts. Not so much for AC/DC die-hards.By Ryan SkorichIf youre looking for an in-depth look at Brian Johnson and his life in AC/DC; sadly this book probably wont be for you. Probably less than 10% of the content in the book revolves around the band. It is mostly stories of cars he has owned over the years and tales that involved them. Even though I am someone who is a casual car fan at best; I still found his stories interesting enough to keep reading. As far as stuff regarding the band; youre probably better looking for one of those unauthorized biographies.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great BookBy CustomerGrowing up; I always listened to AC/DC. After reading an AC/DC biography my senior year of high school; I wanted to know more about the man himself; Brian Johnson. This is not only a hilarious book; but it also gives you insight to his personal life and experiences as well as seeing some nice rides along the way. I recommend this to any AC/DC fan; or any fan of cars in general.8 of 9 people found the following review helpful. A Brilliant BookBy Geordie DadBefore I start to review this book let me say that I grew up on Tyneside in the 60s and 70s and even worked at Parsons for 10 years (where Johnna "served his time"). So I can probably relate to many of the events; situations and locations described a lot more than most readers.The style of the book is really off the wall and works so well because of that. There is no timeline or plot. Just a bunch of chapters describing various cars and how theyve affected Brians life. In many cases he uses cars as a vehicle (groan!!) to describe his feelings for various family members; friends and acquaitances. Although his style appears to be haphazard it works really well. The main thing I took away from the book was that Brian is a really cool guy who certainly hasnt lost sight of where he came from (unlike a certain ex-teacher from Wallsend that I could mention). He appreciates the breaks that hes had (joining AC/DC) and has made a great life for himself. He cerainly doesnt come off as the big shot rock star who gets to drive fast cars.His recollections of North East England in the 60s and 70s are spot on and while he may stretch some of the tales to get a punch line; his stories ring true and many of the characters in them are for-real.If Brian ever does an audio version of this book Id buy it in a heartbeat; but it would have to be the full unexpurgated Geordie version - not the English translation!
