For Whoever You Are

Martha Wainwright has one of the most expressive, distinctive voices in the pop music pantheon. In it you can hear echoes of her famous parents, the performers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and hints of her brother, Rufus, the crooner, but its beauty has an unpolished aspect all its own, one that can surprise with its raw edge.

If only the singer’s narrative voice were so singular. In her slim memoir, Wainwright does get raw, dishing enough surface dirt to keep rubberneckers engaged. Despite the ample sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, though, Stories I Might Regret Telling You is more bluntly revealing than reflective. Her candour and conversational style are appealing, but there’s a faint yet persistent tone of petulance or self-pity that undermines the book’s more touching moments.

From the first page, Wainwright sets herself up as an underdog with the revelation that her father had encouraged her mother to get an abortion when she was...