Reckless Audiobook By Chrissie Hynde cover art

Reckless

My Life as a Pretender

Preview

Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends January 21, 2025 at 11:59PM ET.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Reckless

By: Chrissie Hynde
Narrated by: Rosanna Arquette, Chrissie Hynde
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends January 21, 2025 11:59PM ET. Cancel anytime.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

From Chrissie Hynde, one of rock's most iconic, alluring, kick-ass, and (let's face it) sexy women, a brilliant, no-holds-barred memoir of a rock life lived to the hilt.

Chrissie Hynde, the songwriter and front woman of The Pretenders in its various incarnations, has for 35 years been one of the most admired and adored and imitated figures in rock. This long-awaited memoir tells her life story in full and utterly fascinating detail, from her all-American Ohio '50s childhood to her classic baby-boomer seduction by the rock of the '60s to her sojourn in the crucible of punk that was '70s London to her instant emergence with her band, The Pretenders, in 1980 into stardom as a frontwoman and songwriter. She brings a fantastic eye for detail, a withering and sardonic sense of humor, and a fearless and sometimes naked emotional honesty to her memoir, and every line, every word of it is unmistakably hers. It is sure to be recognized as a classic of rock literature - and, man, is it fun to listen to.

With an introduction read by Chrissie Hynde.

©2015 Chrissie Hynde (P)2015 Random House Audio
Entertainment & Celebrities Music Women Celebrity Witty

What listeners say about Reckless

Highly rated for:

Compelling Life Story Fascinating Musical Journey Confident Narration Detailed Early Life Captivating Punk Era
Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    295
  • 4 Stars
    159
  • 3 Stars
    100
  • 2 Stars
    36
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    258
  • 4 Stars
    117
  • 3 Stars
    84
  • 2 Stars
    48
  • 1 Stars
    33
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    283
  • 4 Stars
    131
  • 3 Stars
    80
  • 2 Stars
    32
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Candid, compelling and no pretence

What made the experience of listening to Reckless the most enjoyable?

Rock bios so easily slip into self-indulgent pondering and rose-tinted reminiscence, but Chrissie Hynde avoids both of those traps, delivering a book that’s honest, compelling and direct.Reckless has been one of the most enjoyable rock bios that I've read or listened to. But I was still left waiting for more. Chrissie leads you on a compelling journey through her early years of drugs and hopelessness in Ohio, through the excitement of 1970s London up to the second album, global success and the loss of half of her band. But there's a whole career's worth of stories yet to tell, and I hope she has another volume planned.

What about Rosanna Arquette and Chrissie Hynde ’s performance did you like?

Rosanna Arquette was a good choice of narrator; her voice is not as deep as Chrissie's, but she has a confident edge that suits the book. But while Arquette is a good reader, she's also the one problem in the audiobook: If you're British, you're going to have trouble ignoring her criminally painful assaults against British accents. We all know foreign place names and accents can seem weird to Americans, but to hear Rosanna Arquette struggle to mimic a London, Birmingham or Welsh accent is an agonising distraction. I'd rather listen to a cat in a liquidiser than hear Ms Arquette impersonate Sid Vicious again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story, not so great narration voice.

While I do like Rosanna Arquette, I felt her sing song voice didn't work for Chrissie Hynde's deeper, rock and roll sound, which at times was too distracting and I had to take a break.
Loved the back stories and have been a big fan forever.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thank you, Chrissie!

and Roseanna. I loved every bit, especially the honesty and unsweetened history. beautiful written and read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Read - Accurate Title

I always loved the Pretenders music and Chrissie's vocals, going back to college days in the early 80s and vinyl. I had no idea the musicians (and other celebrities) she hung around, or the situations she got herself into. She certainly titled the book well. Really enjoyed the read, the narration is a little run-on ish in places and sometimes had to back it up to get the full meaning. Very sad about the way Pete and Jimmy died.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Reckless Indeed!

I felt this story was good, as far as it went. I honestly don’t understand why some people objected to learning about the earlier part of her life. Hello? This is called a biography for a reason, you know. Having said that, I would have liked to have known what difficulties, if any, that she faced as a result of being one of the few female pioneers in the male dominated music industry. I would also have liked to know how she was able to continue after the deaths of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon. Her career did not end there and it would have interesting to see how her life progressed, how she was able to make that adjustment and continue writing great songs. In short, I wanted more and was a little disappointed at how abruptly her story ended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I love the Pretenders.

The book started and ended strong, but 1/2 - 3/4 way I was getting bored.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Honesty!

Such a remarkable band especially after all they went through in the beginning. A Midwest girl that chased her dream and caught it, but not an easy trip. More than anything, a book about addiction and how it takes youth while others change their path to survive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Reckless: My Life as a Pretender

It was interesting to find out how the Pretenders came to be. Not enough story about Chrissie's personal life as an adult. I felt like there was a lot more story to be told. Maybe Chrissie will do a follow up?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great bio but narration was jarring and annoying at times

The story was a good rock star bio. I loved Christie’s writing style and her complete candor. Rosanna Arquette captured the attitude but sounded like she was sight reading the text, often stumbling over words, mispronouncing words, and sometimes changing what I thought was the author’s
intent with her choice of emphasis. I would have liked to hear it in Chrissie’s own voice. But if you’re a fan of Hynde, the Pretenders, music in general or of London, then its a worthwhile read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent narrator is distraction

The book and story is amazing, and this aspect didn't stop me. Here's the thing, Rosanna Arquettes voice is too singular and recognizable. As I listen to the story, I am imagining Rosanna Arquette in all these situations... Not chrissie. Her performance is amazing, and id like her in a fiction book, but her voice and known beauty really distracts me. Truly a first world problem. Again, the book is fantastic and well written. I don't even smell a ghost writer (Anthony Bozzo, I am looking in your direction)

It was disappointing how early in her career the story stops. Spoiler alert: the book spends half the time on her youth, and too little on her pretenders days. The book stops aftet their second album in the early 80s. We have so few voices of female rock stars and band leaders. She is so thoughtful that's its disappointing we don't get more of her time running the show. We see missing about 30 years from this narrative. It feels like it's part 1 of a 3 parter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful