“Freak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Butcher was a 21-year-old secretary whose firm sent to Zappa's London hotel to type up some lyrics for songs he was working on.^[2] After arriving in California, Butcher first helped Zappa work on a book on politics, helped manage a group of female musicians Zappa helped found, and managed the correspondence with his fans.

When Butcher started to document her experiences with Zappa she was able to use the thoughts and impressions she recorded at the time, in letters to her family. Her mother had stored a box full of letters Butcher wrote from California.

Reviewers asserted that Butcher brought a different perspective to the study of Zappa's work than other members of Zappa's entourage. A review in Critics at large described Butcher as a "a cultured and fashionable secretary out of Swinging London," and characterized her book as "a reverse of Pygmalion".^[4] Jim Caligiuri, writing in the Austin Chronicle, concluded his review with "Offering deeply personal glimpses of Zappa, Butcher's coming-of-age story is so captivating and vividly told that many will be surprised to discover it's her first book."^[5]

According to Deborah Orr of The Guardian, the book "captures a particularly intense experience of a very brief, yet enormously influential, period in the evolution of western womanhood ... the interstitial time between {{'}}sexual liberation{{'}} and {{'}}women's liberation{{'}}".^[1]

During an interview, in 2012, Butcher described taking the advice of a writing mentor, at the BBC, who had told her to "write what you know". She had worked to develop a script for a series based on her time with Zappa, only to learn that the BBC had approved a documentary on Zappa, to be hosted by Germain Greer. When she was advised the BBC would not fund two Zappa projects, she decided to use her research in a book.

References

1. ^¹{{cite news | url = https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-09-22/remembering-frank-zappa-freak-out-my-life-frank-zappa| title = Remembering Frank Zappa in "Freak Out! My Life with Frank Zappa"| work = PRI| author = Nicola Stanbridge| date = 2011-09-22| page = | location = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2017-12-11| deadurl = No | quote = They met by chance in 1967. Zappa was in London and needed someone to type up the lyrics for a new album he was coming out with.}}
2. ^¹{{cite news | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01ybdw5| title = "Mr Zappa? I'm afraid I only speak English"| work = BBC Radio| author = | date = | page = | location = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2017-12-11| deadurl = No | quote =}}
3. ^{{cite news | url = http://www.blogtalkradio.com/twistedsouthradio/2011/10/27/zappa-author-pauline-butcher-and-patrice-candy-zappa| title = | work = Blog talk radio| author = | date = | page = | location = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2017-12-11| deadurl = No | quote = }}
4. ^¹²{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/oct/03/frank-zappa-women| title = Frank Zappa, his groupies and me | work = The Guardian (UK)| author = Deborah Orr| date = 2011-10-03| page = | location = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2017-12-11| deadurl = No | quote = }}
5. ^¹{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8799995/Pauline-Butcher-remembers-life-as-Frank-Zappas-personal-assistant.html| title = Pauline Butcher remembers life as Frank Zappa’s personal assistant| work = The Telegraph| author = Georgia Dehn| date = 2011-12-09| page = | location = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2017-12-11| deadurl = No | quote = }}
6. ^¹{{cite news | url = https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2011-12-16/freak-out-my-life-with-frank-zappa/| title = Rock & roll books from Austin to Beijing| work = Austin Chronicle| author = Jim Caligiur| date = 2011-12-16| page = | location = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2017-12-11| deadurl = No | quote = Even so, Freak Out! gives the onetime English secretary and part-time modeling instructor the opportunity to tell her insider's view of the head Mother, one that's revelatory and keenly perceptive. }}
7. ^¹{{cite news | url = http://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2011/12/beauty-beast-pauline-butchers-freak-out.html| title = Beauty & the Beast: Pauline Butcher's Freak Out! My Life With Frank Zappa | work = Critics at large| author = | date = 2011-12-20| page = | location = | archiveurl = | archivedate = | accessdate = 2017-12-11| deadurl = No | quote = Pauline Butcher, on the other hand, is not only an accountable part of the Zappa clan from 1967 to 1972, she has written a candid and vividly entertaining story of an unlikely meeting between a cultured and fashionable secretary out of Swinging London and a composer who set out to make himself and his band look anything but fashionable.}}