Wild West Village by Lola Kirke was a very interesting and entertaining read.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Lola Kirke, daughter of Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke and clothing/interior designer Lorraine Kirke, moved with her family from London to the West Village of Manhattan at the age of four. Significantly younger than her siblings Greg, Domino, and Jemima, Lola feels like the afterthought. Told through a series of essays depicting her childhood and early adulthood, Lola writes about her attempts to find her place in the world amidst family dysfunction and internal turmoil.

I finished this book mostly feeling sorry for Lola, though she seems to have built a comfortable life for herself despite personal struggles and false starts. In an early chapter, she describes a time when she was prompted by a psychologist to draw a family - she drew a solar system, with different members of her family taking the “star” role as long as they were suffering, but she felt that she could never be the center of that world. Though her family was well-off and she grew up adjacent to (and later in) the spotlight, her life was lonely and sad, dulled at various points with success in acting or music, hallucinogenic drugs, and denial.

My favorite parts, by far, were the chapters delving into the more tenderhearted moments and relationships in Lola’s life - Rock Legend was a standout, detailing the times she visited her half-brother Simon in Arizona. My Opry Debut and The Cowboy Problem were other chapters that I thought were well-written and showed some heart. Some of the other stories fell flat for me. The introduction calls this “a book about identity forged in fire” but I didn’t see that degree of struggle reflected in the stories she shared.

I consider myself somewhat removed from 2000’s-2020’s pop culture; I had to open Google to get a frame of reference for several of the names and movies mentioned (both directly and indirectly). I am, perhaps, not the target audience for this book as a result. Fans of Lola’s work or those who covet the glamour/sordid nature of Hollywood will probably find something to like here. However, I struggled to connect with Lola about as much as I identified with her, so ultimately this one wasn’t for me.

**Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Lola Kirke for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.**

I only truly began reading memoirs last year, so perhaps my viewpoints on Wild West Village won’t matter. But I found most of this memoir to be very surface-level. The writing, although extremely witty and laugh-out-loud funny at times, felt like Kirke had randomly strung thoughts together in the hopes that it would actually mean something by the end of the book. After reading (and absolutely loving) Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton last year, I was hopeful that Wild West Village would give me the same feelings of Alderton’s work, especially after seeing the title, cover, and reading the book’s description.

To my disappointment, I was actually quite bored with this memoir and had to finish the last half on audiobook just to get through it. I will say that the last few chapters of the book were pretty enjoyable, but I still feel like it didn’t go anywhere for me and I don’t think I’m any closer to knowing who Lola Kirke actually is as a person.

But, hey, I read it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lola Kirke, and Simon & Schuster for my eARC.

This book was dizzying and lacked cohesion. I often found myself confused about what was happening, who the people were, and how they were involved.

I was not familiar with Lola Kirke, but was aware of her elder sister, Jemina, from the Lena Dunham helmed television series “Girls.” I picked this book up on a whim, and I am delighted that I did. Lola claims that her book is not a memoir but a collection of personal essay-type stories about her family dynamics – and what a family. Her father, Simon Kirke, is a musician who was the drummer for the rock bands Bad Company and Free, and her mother, Lorraine, is a fashion designer. The family of four children, Lola being the youngest and “feeling Important Adjacent,” lived in a brownstone in the West Village surrounded by artists – Liv Tyler was their babysitter, Courtney Love both flooded and set fire to their home during her extended stay and the frail Aunt Joan (Didion) with the immovable bob assisted Lola with a school paper she was writing on Charles Manson.

Lola writes with self-deprecating but insightful humor, noting that she understood her mother’s ambivalence about the book because “what parent wants to read about their daughter sitting idle at a threesome? Especially when said daughter was raised to believe in the value of hard work.” Lola turned to acting because it “seemed like a good way to get attention for just being emotional instead of actually doing things. I knew I would be good at it.” Underneath the humor, there is pathos. On the road, her father lead a double life, and her mother sought her young daughter’s advice. Lola counseled, “You either have to accept him as he is or just leave.” She was solving the problems of her parents’ marriage when she “wasn’t sure how to correctly use a maxi pad.” Rather than attending SAT prep with her peers, Lola was the only person under forty attending a seven-hour seminar on smoking cessation, and she decorated her applications to Ivy League schools with glitter. The brownstone was often empty because everyone in the family was “either at Barneys, RISD, or rehab.” A particularly poignant essay is devoted to her trips to Phoenix to visit with the severely disabled brother whom Lola did not know existed until she was an adult.
Lola has crafted a “non-memoir” that exposes her chaotic childhood and unconventional, but glamorous, upbringing with humor. It is also a serious coming-of-age memoir that examines what it means to be raised as what Lola refers to as an “adult child,” being placed in adult situations much too soon and responding as a child might. Thank you Anna Skrabacz at Summit Books for an advanced copy of this impertinent and charming read.

Lola Kirke is funky, witty, and hilarious. She’s down for a good time having seen a lot of good times in her life. It’s not a memoir, but it’s kind of a memoir, right? She’s also seen a lot of not so good times being the daughter of a 70s era English rocker.

The youngest daughter and larger than life persona catapults her through adolescence and adulthood as she finds her niche, a twang on Southern old country.

Lola is probably the fun friend you share wine with when you’re on top of the world, or passing the whiskey bottle back and forth when the world is suffocating you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read Wild West Village (out January 28, 2025)!

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Very well told, and amusing! I wasn't overly familiar with the author and her siblings, but I know who her father is. Enjoyed this one.

Although I have enjoyed Lola Kirke's acting, I was disappointed in this collection of essays. Each piece felt like a few anecdotes that never connected with anything bigger. The overall feeling from this book was one of trying to be funny in that related pain-through-laughter vein; however, she interrupted herself so much with non-humorous asides that she never actually got beyond anything at the surface level. Kirke mentions she was "raised by wolves" as a reason for her to tell her stories, for us to read them. But there's not any real depth to any of it.

In this series of essays that is not a memoir, Lola Kirke recounts episodes in her childhood, young adulthood, and past several years. The daughter of a rock star (Simon Kirke) and vintage clothing designer, Lola grew up with her two sisters in a chaotic household in the West Village. With her father often absent (as a teenager, she learned she had a half-brother in Arizona) either due to touring or rehab stints, Lola lived primarily with her loving but unstable mother and a series of live-in helpers.

This not-a-memoir was amusing and sobering (in the way that reading of substance misuse will make you never want to even imbibe) as Lola recounts her early acting career and forays into musical performance, including her debut in the Grand Ole Opry. Usually I would not say my childhood was 100% stable but in comparison... #WildWestVillage #NetGalley

Did Not Finish.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the eARC and ALC.

While this book claims “Not a Memoir—Unless I Win an Oscar, Die Tragically, or Score a Country,” this definitely feels like a memoir.

I didn’t know anything about Lola Kirke before starting this (used wikipedia to look everyone up!). And after listening to approximately 25%, I still don’t know much about her. This memoir is essentially the story of a rich, nepo baby name dropping. It feels like it’s intended to be a self-deprecating view with humor, but it just sounds like rich person out of touch with reality.

And I got bored. Add another DNF to the list.

Highly entertaining read about someone who lives a life so unlike mine or anyone I know that it was unbelievable at times. And that's why I love memoirs... or biographical essays or whatever we're calling this! The opportunity to peek into a whole different world!

Lola Kirke is the daughter of Simon Kirke, the drummer of Bad Company fame. Ms. Kirke has also made a name for herself as an actor and musician. I'll be honest, I had no idea who she, or any member of her family was... Sorry! But I picked this book up anyway, and flew right through it! Her essays are about her life as a younger sister and a daughter growing up in a wealthy, and let's be honest, pretty dysfunctional home. And bonus she is quite a funny, witty writer!

Growing up in the rock and roll music business, Lola Kirke and her family never grafted to New York when they transplanted from London. The Bohemian lifestyle of musician refugees is a chaotic way to grow up. Lola says that she was raised by wolves and she’d be right.

The Kirkes might be rich enough to own two homes with one in the Hamptons, but her parents had London working-class roots. Her musician father was on the road most of the year and her mother ran a boutique before getting her four children settled in New York’s West Village. The children wouldn’t live like trust babies. Their parents expected them to find an artistic trade and work at it until they were successful.

Their house had an open door to whomever rolled into town. For Lola, the highlights were watching The Rolling Stones perform from backstage and having Liv Tyler as a babysitter, but her parents fought. They were lovable rogues who weren’t good together and she spent much of her childhood wishing they could be happy.

Nola’s acting career started unconventionally. Answering the phone, she navigated the turmoil of infidelity and its resulting power struggles. Nola trained as an actor and played the narrator/writer in Mistress America, which is my favorite Greta Gerwig movie.

However, Hollywood’s tedious auditions wear her down after her initial successes. Her mother’s constant advice to ‘stay thin’ haunts her when she gets rejected for roles.

With time on her hands out in California, Nola discovers a secret brother who needs 24-hour care. She finds she has a place for tenderness for him. This begins her quest to find her real self—not the barely clothed woman she thought the world wanted.

Finding unexpected kindness and honesty from sex workers in her area, Nola seeks therapy and returns to her musical roots. She discovers a new way of living and loving. The Texan’s modesty soothes her brash New York personality, and they became a couple during Covid.

By the time Lola debuts at the Grand Old Opry, it’s the most comfortable she’s felt since she was a child.

Focusing on the difficulties of growing up female, Lola’s memoir centers on her parents’ devotion to their children. She picks painful stories about her sisters that show what it was like to grow up with too much and no boundaries. Lola can splash a story with vividness and no judgment--a rare ability.

I'd call her story, "The only home I have is in a song," and I hope she'll write more of what she finds.

3 stars- I went into this blindly not knowing Lola Kirke or her family. While some parts were interesting, ti just didn't grab me in the way I had hoped it would. Perhaps this would be a more captivating read for ones who already adore Lola. Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Such a great read to kick-off the year! I really enjoyed this memoir and had a fun time reading. I don't usually reach for memoirs, but I am so happy I did because I loved it!

A sharp lively memoir in vignettes that surprised me. Kirke is definitely and defiantly a child of privilege and parental connections but that's only the top layer. She's a lot more. Hers is a supremely dysfunctional family laced with unhappiness, addiction and tragedy- but also joy. Kirke maintains a light voice as she shines the light on celebrity and she's not afraid to make fun of herself. I wasn't familiar with her but I'm glad to have read this. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Gotta wonder what her family thought when they read it.

“Wild West Village–Not a Memoir”, contrary to its subtitle, is a celebrity memoir-in-essays with a twist. Actress and singer-songwriter Lola Kirke weaves together anecdotes from her eventful childhood in an eccentric rockstar family to her present-day life in an engaging and entertaining, almost weightless read.

I hadn’t really heard about the author before I received this review copy, but I certainly relate to her more now than I’d ever get to know any other celebrity stranger, celebrating her wins with her throughout her vulnerable book and rooting for her in the challenges she faces as she tries to find herself amid the chaos in her surroundings of addiction and affairs.

Because of the humorous writing style, the book perhaps doesn’t go as deep as other memoirs do when it comes to the emotional gravity, but this might just be what a contemporary reader needs when the market is flooded with stories of the bared hearts and souls of our world.

Well done Lola Kirke! Out January 28, 2025

In gratitude to Simon & Schuster for the invitation to review this title.

This book was such a fun read, and a great light first one to kick off 2025! I enjoyed reading about tender early memories the author shared with famous big sis. The author seems insightful about herself and does a good job describing incidents from her youth. This felt part memoir, part family mythology. Couldn’t stop reading it. There’s a narrative arc here which I appreciated.

I really enjoyed this memoir! Lola Kirke was funny, brutally honest, and vulnerable. Lola really conveys that it never to late to start something you are passionate about and go into full steam ahead. I also loved the fact that the book ended with her Grande Ole Opre debut. I would recommend this book to my friends and my followers.

Lola Kirke is a 'nepo baby' but in a way that she doesn't throw in anyone's face. Born into a family of disorder and the youngest, she didn't grow up surround by the best role models, so she's floundered for much of her life. Until she found country music...

Lola is honest and open about the disfunction that she grew up in and why it led her to Nashville. She's not trying to pull any strings to get on that Grand Ole Opry stages, she's going to do it on her terms.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wow what a wild ride and life Lola has lived thus far. I loved reading more about her life, she and her family are fascinating and then there are also a smattering relatable thoughts she shares even though so much of her life is so unfathomable to most of us. She writes in a way that isn’t snobby and is very self-aware, which is a major feat in and of itself because she comes from so much privilege and such a famous family.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review