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(More customer reviews)In "The Carpenters: The Untold Story" Ray Coleman has written the authorized (with Richard Carpenter's approval) biography of the famous brother and sister singer act, the Carpenters. With many other musical biographies to his credit (John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, Eric Clapton, and others), Coleman surely has the literary talent to tell the story of Richard and Karen Carpenter, yet, unfortunately, Coleman fails to deliver the intimate personal details that help one to understand the tragic and bittersweet story that is the Carpenters.
In any autorized biography, there is a tendancy to "sugar-coat" the live(s) of the subjects, and to gloss over their shortcomings. This then begs the question: Does Coleman tell the fans the entire story of the Carpenter Duo, warts and all? In my reading of the book, I have to answer both "yes" and "no". Yes, Coleman tells the entire story of the Carpenter's birth in New Haven, CT, to their relocation across the country to Downey, CA (to further the musical aspirations of Rich Carpenter), to the meteoric rise through the pop charts, and finally, to the sad decline and eventual death of Karen to anorexia at just 32 years of age. The basic framework of their lives is told here with input from many different sources, but what is lacking is the personal and character development of both Richard and Karen. Yes, we learn about their hits, but what do we actually know about their personal lives? What are they like when the stage lights are dim? What did they do for fun? Did they drink, smoke, party, etc.? Virtually nothing is told about their personal lives, and this especially holds true for Richard Carpenter. We know so little about Richard, and yet in the TV movie about their lives, we are given snippets of scenes where perhaps Richard was not lax in partaking of the sexual benefits of being adored by his female fans. Coleman mentions nothing of this. On the other hand, Richard's battle with addiction to prescription sleeping pills is detailed. In an unedited backstage picture with Herb Alpert and Karen, I saw Richard Carpenter with a lit cigarette in one hand, and a drink in the other. I was shocked, Richard smoked and drank?!? Like Jackie Kennedy (and today with Jennifer Aniston), Richard's cigarette habit was obviously a well-guarded secret. In later viewings of that same picture, the frame was edited so that the cigarette was omitted. How interesting it would have been to learn when Richard had his first drink or his first smoke. Did he sneak a smoke in the garage, or did he have the approval of his parents, affterall, his dad smoked a pipe. Details like this would have enlivened the book and given more insight into the complex personality of Richard Carpenter. One gets the impression that Coleman was perhaps limited by Richard Carpenter himself in what details he could reveal.
As far as Karen's personal life is concerned, Coleman offers more, but it is still vastly inadequate to understand the person and personality of Karen Carpenter. Coleman mentions Karen's sadness in her inability to establish a personal deep relationship with someone else but her own family. I learned from Coleman that Karen moved in and lived with her boyfriend for a short while, obviously in direct conflict with her parents wishes. What sort of confrontation with her parents resulted from her actions we are not told. How about the other men in Karen's life? In an interview that Karen did in the early 1970's she mentions (almost proudly) that she was not a virgin. Coleman does not mention this in his biography, nor does he mention any details about Karen's love life.
Of course, Karen's battle and eventual death from anorexia is an issue which fans are intensely interested, as it is so hard to comprehend why a talented and beautiful woman such as Karen would willingly starve herself to death. There is simply not enough detail on these and other critical issues for the reader to begin to understand the tortured mind of a person suffering from anorexia. The Carpenter home life (with mom and dad) was extremely sheltered, and neither Rich nor Karen moved out of their parent's house intil they were both in their 20's. And when they did move out, they bought a house together, somewhat unusual for a brother and sister. Now it is obvious that they loved their parents and that they loved each other, but is there more lurking beneath the surface that Coleman is not telling, or is not allowed to tell? Could the home life dynamics been a factor in Karen developing anorexia? For instance, it is insinuated that the Carpenter parents, Agnes and Harold, held Richard in such high regard that (mother Agnes) seemed almost resentful that Karen received the bulk of the adoration and love of the fans instead of Richard. Was the career of Karen an afterthought compared to that of her brother Richard? "The Karen Carpenter Story", the made for television movie, implies that one of the reasons for Karen's descent into anorexia is a desperate plea to get demonstrative love and approval from her mother, who seems to favor Richard as her favorite child. Coleman could have shed more light into the family dynamics of the Carpenters, but unfortunately does not. As this is an authorized biography, perhaps Coleman was prevented from revealing more details in this area to protect the feelings of the Carpenter parents.
While much detail is given in regards to Karen's battle with anorexia, the enormous number of laxatives she took, her dieting tricks, etc., there is not enough space given to the possible reasons for Karen's disease. Obviously, Karen suffered from a severe mental disorder, yet, no causative factors are spelled out. Perhaps the answer to this is that anorexia and bulemia are still misunderstood mental illnesses, and at the time of the writing of this book, even less was known. How enlightening it would have been to have had Karen's psychologist/therapist from New York, share with the readership his insights into Karen's illness.
Another area in which more detail is needed is in Karen's marriage to Tom Burris. There are no interviews with Mr. Burris in the book, in fact, I have never seen any interviews anywhere from Mr. Burris on his relationship to Karen Carpenter. If Mr. Burris was unwilling to be interviewed, then surely, the couple had friends that could have shed light on their relationship. All we are given is that the two were married, and about a year later, Tom Burris abruptly and mysteriously "gives Karen back to her parents", stating, "You can have her back". There is much to be read into his statement, but Coleman fails to bring out the details of why the marriage failed. Was it Karen's anorexia? Was it Karen's attachment to her parents (her mom and dad accompanied the newlyweds on their honeymoon)? Obviously for a marriage to fall apart in a year's time, there is something terribly wrong, yet the reader is left guessing as to what the underlying factors were. Was Burris at Karen's funeral? Again, no details are given. Did Burris remarry? Unfortunately, there are too many unanswered questions.
Karen Carpenter was and is a much beloved figure in the music industry. Her multitudes of fans absolutely idolize and love Karen for her innocence, her sweet girl-next-door personality, and of course her astouding vocal ability. Coleman fails to truly bring out the inner Karen Carpenter, the Karen Carpenter behind the sweet smile and image. This is the major failing of his book.
Fans of the Carpenters will enjoy the book for the pure nostalgia factor alone, but I believe most readers will feel that there was so much more to tell about both Richard and Karen's lives that would have helped us to understand them better. Perhaps someday there will be an unauthorized biography where the details will come out. Until then, their lives, and especially the life and death of Karen Carpenter will remain a mystery.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig
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The Carpenters: The Untold Story : An Authorized Biography
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