The irony of As Years Go By is that the additional material feels more tabloidy than what was in the original book. One can only imagine what Ms. Faithfull thought of this revision, if she did indeed read it. There is more drug and alcohol abuse and more disconcerting public incidents. The author also has a tendency to quote big chunks of very unflattering reviews of her and her work. This gets particularly distasteful when her critics focus on her age or looks.
For a reviewer such as myself, this type of book raises a challenge. Did Hodkinson have some sort of axe to grind, possibly because Marianne Faithfull criticized his original book and didn't want to participate with it or its revision? Or was he only doing his job, writing the life story of a woman who was a talented singer and actor but also given to outlandish behavior because of her personal problems?
I do lean a bit more toward the former. While the space devoted to the invective of Faithfull's many critics does feel a bit cruel, Hodkinson also tends to come to her defense, noting sexism when he sees it, noting fine artistry when he hears it, and dismissing nasty myths, which abounded thoughout Faithfull's career. He performed a great deal of research, talked to people who knew her, and made every effort to get her perspective. Writing a book like this is tricky, and I don't envy the author. I don't think every move he made was the best one, but I don't get the sense that he was being dishonest or wielding a hatchet.
Hodkinson also clearly did a bang-up job of ironing the purple out of his prose, as As Years Go By is a very readable book. For its current reprint, he also brings the story further up to date, which is especially necessary since Marianne Faithfull died a year ago. It's not extensive: about 150 words taped onto the preface and another addition of similar length tucked at the end of the book proper. All things considered, that brevity might have been a gesture of respect.
