Dirty Blonde
Encyclopedia
Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love is a memoir
by rock musician and actress Courtney Love
. The book, published by Faber & Faber and released in October 2006, contains journal entries, letters, poetry, handwritten song lyrics, artwork, collages, school and juvenile hall entries, show fliers, photographies and notes.
Some highlights include a suicide-note-like apology letter addressed to deceased husband Kurt Cobain
and daughter Frances Bean
written on a Los Angeles
' Sunset Marquis Hotel
letterhead, saying that "I love you. Please forgive me. ... You are both too beautiful for me. I love you forever"; a bitter note, realizing that she is "a public figure unhappy with my share of the American dream. There can only be one reason for this. I am on drugs, and have the morals and mentality of a cartoon character. What did I want after all??", and a 1976 rejection letter from the New Mickey Mouse Club for "Coco Rodriguez", a name she adopted while living with stepfather Frank Rodriguez. The show was looking for "youngsters who have exceptional singing, dancing, or musical ability, with a marked degree of performance experience," and, as a consolation prize for not qualifying, a picture of Mickey Mouse
was sent to her.
There are also a 1979 report from Hillcrest School
which documents Love as screaming and swearing about bugs ("Refused to be reasonable, [...] She became louder and more insistent") texts about her late husband's suicide, like an April 17, 1994 journal entry ("Exactly one month ago today was the last time I made love with my husband. I cooked him dinner. We spent four hours in the playroom with Frances. We saw 'Schindler's List.' It made us frightened for life and we saw the value of life. Our convictions we defined until 4 a.m. and we fell asleep in each other's arms and woke up that way in the morning"), plus one note admitting that "[Kurt's 1994 alcohol and Rohypnol overdose in] Rome was a huge cover-up", meaning that it was actually a suicide attempt.
The material contains an e-mail exchange with Lindsay Lohan
about negative press coverage, comments about the JT LeRoy
's hoax (she exchanged e-mails with "him" for years), lyrics of songs that will figure on her forthcoming album, Nobody's Daughter
, and photos from the recording sessions. In a pre-release interview, Love declared that, on the book, she "scrubbed clean the mud and rags of 2000-01-02-03-04 & 05. Five years of hell. Everything runs in seven-year cycles. Well I'm definitely out of my darkness now." The memoir contains a foreword by Carrie Fisher
and afterwords by Manifesta
's Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards.
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
by rock musician and actress Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
. The book, published by Faber & Faber and released in October 2006, contains journal entries, letters, poetry, handwritten song lyrics, artwork, collages, school and juvenile hall entries, show fliers, photographies and notes.
Some highlights include a suicide-note-like apology letter addressed to deceased husband Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
and daughter Frances Bean
Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain is the daughter of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole singer Courtney Love.-Childhood and youth:...
written on a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
' Sunset Marquis Hotel
Sunset Marquis Hotel
Sunset Marquis Hotel is a hotel in West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California. Owned by George Rosenthal, and located at 1200 Alta Loma Road, it is situated just off the Sunset Strip, several hundred yards northeast of the Viper Room. Described by Time as "an old rock-"n"-roll hotel", it is...
letterhead, saying that "I love you. Please forgive me. ... You are both too beautiful for me. I love you forever"; a bitter note, realizing that she is "a public figure unhappy with my share of the American dream. There can only be one reason for this. I am on drugs, and have the morals and mentality of a cartoon character. What did I want after all??", and a 1976 rejection letter from the New Mickey Mouse Club for "Coco Rodriguez", a name she adopted while living with stepfather Frank Rodriguez. The show was looking for "youngsters who have exceptional singing, dancing, or musical ability, with a marked degree of performance experience," and, as a consolation prize for not qualifying, a picture of Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
was sent to her.
There are also a 1979 report from Hillcrest School
Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility
Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility is a state-run juvenile correctional facility located in Salem, Oregon, United States. Hillcrest is run by the Oregon Youth Authority , Oregon's juvenile corrections agency....
which documents Love as screaming and swearing about bugs ("Refused to be reasonable, [...] She became louder and more insistent") texts about her late husband's suicide, like an April 17, 1994 journal entry ("Exactly one month ago today was the last time I made love with my husband. I cooked him dinner. We spent four hours in the playroom with Frances. We saw 'Schindler's List.' It made us frightened for life and we saw the value of life. Our convictions we defined until 4 a.m. and we fell asleep in each other's arms and woke up that way in the morning"), plus one note admitting that "[Kurt's 1994 alcohol and Rohypnol overdose in] Rome was a huge cover-up", meaning that it was actually a suicide attempt.
The material contains an e-mail exchange with Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
about negative press coverage, comments about the JT LeRoy
JT LeRoy
Jeremiah "Terminator" LeRoy was a pseudonym created by American writer Laura Albert. The name was used from 1996 on for publication in magazines such as Nerve and Shout NY. After his first novel Sarah was published, "LeRoy" started making public appearances...
's hoax (she exchanged e-mails with "him" for years), lyrics of songs that will figure on her forthcoming album, Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter
Nobody's Daughter is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Hole, released worldwide on April 27, 2010 through Mercury Records. The album was originally conceived by Hole frontwoman Courtney Love as a solo project titled How Dirty Girls Get Clean, following her poorly-received solo debut...
, and photos from the recording sessions. In a pre-release interview, Love declared that, on the book, she "scrubbed clean the mud and rags of 2000-01-02-03-04 & 05. Five years of hell. Everything runs in seven-year cycles. Well I'm definitely out of my darkness now." The memoir contains a foreword by Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher is an American actress, novelist, screenwriter, and lecturer. She is most famous for her portrayal of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, her bestselling novel Postcards from the Edge, for which she wrote the screenplay to the film of the same name, and her...
and afterwords by Manifesta
Third-wave feminism
Third-wave feminism is a term identified with several diverse strains of feminist activity and study whose exact boundaries in the historiography of feminism are a subject of debate, but often marked as beginning in the 1980s and continuing to the present...
's Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards.