David Bowie: A Life by Dylan JonesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
David Bowie is an icon of music—not because he was the most famous musician in the 20th century, but because he was the most famous guy to the outliers, outcasts, and freaks that couldn't have chosen a better person to emulate.
This book by Dylan Jones is a not a straight biography, but instead a collection of anecdotes by those who knew him best, including those who acknowledge that no matter how close, most people never really knew him at all. There are plenty of stories from his early years through his entry into the music industry, the drug-fueled days of the seventies, the struggle to stay relevant in the eighties, and eventually landing at a point in his life where he would rather be boring old David Jones rather than the iconic Bowie.
Since this book is told in stories rather that in definite fact, it may be hard for a casual fan who doesn't know much about Bowie's life and career to get all the information they need. There are clear gaps in his timeline in which things aren't discussed fully, many of the anecdotes skip backward and forward in time (sometimes in the same paragraph), and would seem to be a better format for a documentary where the person watching could have a wide range of visual aids to help tell the story. However, diehard Bowie fans will love this book because it most likely contains some stories and perspectives that aren't present in other books.
*Book provided by Blogging for Books
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