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Bowie: A Biography
by
Marc Spitz
Finally an expansive biography of one of the twentieth century’s greatest music and cultural icons
From noted author and rock ’n’ roll journalist Marc Spitz comes a major David Bowie biography to rival any other. Following Bowie’s life from his start as David Jones, an R & B—loving kid from Bromley, England, to his rise to rock ’n’ roll aristocracy as David Bowie, Bowie re...more
From noted author and rock ’n’ roll journalist Marc Spitz comes a major David Bowie biography to rival any other. Following Bowie’s life from his start as David Jones, an R & B—loving kid from Bromley, England, to his rise to rock ’n’ roll aristocracy as David Bowie, Bowie re...more
Hardcover, 429 pages
Published
October 27th 2009
by Crown
(first published October 15th 2009)
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I have been waiting for this book for months, and to be fair, I have to admitt that I'm listening to Bowie as I write this. If you're looking for it in the stores, it's important to note that it's no longer called "God and Man," which is, of course a quote from the song "Modern Love", but just "Bowie".
I'm beginning to love this book, and I don't often love books about David Bowie. He's intensely private, and has never authorized a bio, so they are usua...more
I'm beginning to love this book, and I don't often love books about David Bowie. He's intensely private, and has never authorized a bio, so they are usua...more
This loses a star just because I was underwhelmed by the author's writing style. It was at least fairly clear and unobtrusive, which is exactly what one wants to see in any good piece of journalism or biography. Except in this case, the writing also had such a let's-just-get-it-done-and-over-with sort of tone, it came across as lifelessly dry and impersonal even when the author was recounting how Bowie impacted him on a personal level, and left me without a single memorable sentence except when ...more
Do we need another biography on David Bowie? Well, frankly yes! There is one other great biography on Bowie by David Buckley called "Strange Fascination." That one is good because Buckley went out of the way to interview all of Bowie's past and present musicians.
What is totally fab about Marc Spitz's biography is his research on the early teenage and career years of David. He also tracked down Bowie's first major manager and supporter Kenneth Pitt, who gives great insi...more
What is totally fab about Marc Spitz's biography is his research on the early teenage and career years of David. He also tracked down Bowie's first major manager and supporter Kenneth Pitt, who gives great insi...more
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I'm changing my review of this book. I stayed up way too late for too many nights reading this book but I could not put it down. Marc Spitz did an amazing job writing this book, I can't imagine the work he put into it. It is very detailed. I think the reason I was so compelled was because Bowie's rise to stardom was during my childhood and Bowie's music was played loud and often in my father's house (as was Pink Floyd and the Eagles). I was completely taken by Bowie back then and even today as I...more
I've read a few bios of Bowie and I always find them fascinating. Bowie is famous for re-inventing himself constantly and this bio does a good job of sketching out the various phases in his career. It seemed to rely a bit too much on the obvious touchstones and anecdotes of his life, so there wasn't much new in the book. Even so, it was an enjoyable read and it got me enthralled once again in Bowie's creativity and constant searching for the new.
As the author points out several time...more
As the author points out several time...more
I liked it because I like Bowie, but I didn't learn much more than a Wikipedia scan would've told me. The biggest advantage Spitz has over other biographers is that he wrote his after theirs, so he has the '90s and '00s to include, but then he doesn't do much with that time period, either. He just says "I didn't know anything about Iman before this book, turns out she did some stuff" about Bowie's iconic supermodel wife, and "I sure wish he'd make some more albums" about Bowi...more
I'm not really a big fan of biographies, which I think is kind of what bothered me while reading it, but of course I adore anything Bowie related and the novel really was able to keep my interest most of the time.
It was pretty easy to put down, probably because I already knew where everything was leading to but it was very well worded and painted a great portrait of the star.
I did learn a great deal more about Bowie than I could have elsewhere but as a whole I don't think that it tha...more
It was pretty easy to put down, probably because I already knew where everything was leading to but it was very well worded and painted a great portrait of the star.
I did learn a great deal more about Bowie than I could have elsewhere but as a whole I don't think that it tha...more
Katie Glanz
rated it
Recommends it for:
Any hardcore Bowie fan
Recommended to Katie by:
My Daddy!
Shelves:
music
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Incredibly detailed, well-written, and thoroughly researched bio. This is a must-read for Bowie fans, but probably overkill in the details for the casual Bowie fan. (It took me several months to finish this book, not for lack of interest but because it was so detailed that I could only read a little bit at a time. I was 3/4 to the end of the book and the sequence of chronological events had only reached 1980!)
Everything that I learned about Bowie was fascinating to me, including...more
Everything that I learned about Bowie was fascinating to me, including...more
There has arguably never been a more sexually charged performer in the history of rock than David Bowie. When he first appeared on the world stage, Bowie was shrouded in an image of sexual ambiguity as well as being seen to promote an image of bi-sexuality. Yet, according to Spitz's biography, ultimately, nothing could have been further from the truth.
Spitz details the musical career of Bowie, that was admittedly flagging until his reemergence on RCA in the Hunky Dory/Ziggy Stardust era (...more
Spitz details the musical career of Bowie, that was admittedly flagging until his reemergence on RCA in the Hunky Dory/Ziggy Stardust era (...more
Interesting book (given the subject). It's a bit difficult to follow unless you are already very familiar with some of the people Spitz refers to. He tends to go backwards and forward in time to make a point and it gets very confusing. I wish someone would have paid more attention to the editing since there are a lot of grammatical errors which is kind of annoying. While you don't get a very straight forward "this happened, then this" type biography, I thought it was very cool and inte...more
One of the better written biographies I've read. Marc Spitz has done Bowie justice with his thorough research and careful writing. This is an excellent explanation and chronology of Bowie's constant reinventions that was a treat to read. Spitz admits he is a Bowie fan, and uses that to the books advantage by inserting some cautiously placed personal opinion and reflection that humanizes the narrative of the super-human that was Ziggy Stardust
As far as biographies go, this one is a bit of a stinker. I rather dislike the superfan position this book is written from. Marc Spitz basically just pieced together excerpts from all the other Bowie biographies and called it his own. There is nothing new in this book, and no quotes, dialogue, anything from Bowie himself. It's all hearsay. Mr.Spitz, go back to doing what you're good at... drugs.
WHO EDITED THIS MESS???? I did not know a lot about David Bowie before starting this biography, and I've gotta say, I learned a lot about him. I appreciate his music more and I think he seems sort of sweet. The writer, Marc Spitz, REALLY needed a better editor, though. I wanted to read a bio about Bowie, but Spitz gave me the life story of Bowie, plus everyone he ever came into contact with. (Even the witch who was supposed to cleanse Bowie of his demons - did I really need to know her back...more
A fascinating and comprehensive look at one of my long term idols. I loved enriching the story by pulling up clips of referenced interviews and performances on YouTube. Skip the author's autobiographical notes.
It was good, a pretty comprehensive history about how Bowie became who he was and evolved over time. Unauthorized biographies are always difficult because you don't have the person's consent and have to rely on people who aren't really close to him for interviews. Can't wait until he pens one himself. A new one by someone else is coming out in July. Whenever I read multiple books about the same person, it's always interesting to see how much is fresh vs. redundant, if you come away learning anyt...more
Like the author said, this book's for anyone who gets goosebumps when they hear the fade-in drumbeat on 'Five Years'. Wonderful and informative even for those who've read tons about Bowie.
I'll go into more detail elsewhere, but it was a very readable bio. I learned a few things I didn't know, which is good. The author includes his own memories of the singer, which gives good perspective. I thought he was very generous to Angie, smoothing out a good deal of the stigma that other biographies have applied to her (much of it well-deserved, IMO). Though I'm saddened by Spitz's conjecture that we may not see any more tours or new material, he has a point that after 45 years of producti...more
Amazing without being too hack. I especially liked the song-by-song breakdowns for each album. The only complaint is that things jump a little quickly from the end of pre-Berlin era to the Berlin era, but I can understand why. HIGHLY recommended.
The author is clearly obsessed with David Bowie, and full of himself. But if you can put up with him shamelessly sucking up and occasionally stopping to masturbate his own ego, this is an interesting and informative book. It would probably mean a lot more to a hardcore fan than it did to me, since I knew virtually nothing about Bowie before reading this, and there's a lot of random trivia, the kinds of things I would love to know about my favorite musicians.
I think that Spitz does a really good job of showcasing Bowie's career from it's humble beginnings up to the late 1970s. He meticulously details every influence that Bowie drew from, using interviews from his friends and supporters to add colourful commentary to an already outrageous story of success out of obscurity. The book kind of tapers off after discussing Bowie's Berlin trilogy, however, leaving the reader with very few details about the production of his later studio albums, relationsh...more
It took me far too long to slog through this book. This is the first Bowie book I have read. I read a fair amount of non-fiction and biographies and I read this immediately after the tome that is "Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited". Spitz needed a better editor. I feel like he wasted a lot of pages writing bio info on accessory characters in the Bowie story. I am not convinced a compelling biography about a living icon can be written without interaction with the icon.
eBook- Once again, I saw an interesting 400+ page $20+ book at Barnes and Noble; so I downloaded to my Nook and started to read. Very well researched and documented biography (a genre I don't read much these days) but really needs some editing. The "stream of consciousness" chapter introductions and the song by song album reviews got dull quickly, but the 300 pages or so of Bowie's life were fascinating, objective, and interesting to read. Spitz is a very good writer in need of an ...more
The fact that David Bowie consumed nothing but whole milk, green and red peppers and cocaine for an entire year and this photo are really all you need to know about "Bowie;" http://flavorwire.com/198217/vintage-pho...
He is clearly from a super-race of demigods and deserves nothing but worship. He was also pretty frickin' awesome in "Zoolander."
He is clearly from a super-race of demigods and deserves nothing but worship. He was also pretty frickin' awesome in "Zoolander."
I enjoyed reading the book, but agree with reviewers that the author's style left something to be desired.
While some biographies are very dry and lay the facts out quite plainly, Spitz has taken a someone already fascinating, and presented him in a way that is conversational, engaging, and enjoyable. His interjections about his own life experiences with Bowie's career are a welcome rest stop throughout, and his tone make it sound more like a casual chat about someone interesting, scattered with interview quotes from the likes of Angie Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux, and more. A lovely and entertaining read.
It just didn't grab me and for me at least, Spitz gives too much credit to Bowie. I guess I was looking for something with a more balanced account of Bowie's life and career.
Kind of lightweight.
i thought this book would be more interesting -- it's BOWIE, man.
It took me a lot longer to get through this biography than most. I thought for sure, a book about someone like David Bowie would be an interesting read. I think the problem here lies in the author. I never felt engrossed in the story, not in Bowie's beginnings and not in the conclusion which summed up the last decade. Spitz's look at a man he idolizes seems to be lacking heart, and while that may have been intentional, I think the results suffer for it.
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Marc Spitz is a former senior writer at Spin magazine. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Maxim, Blender, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Nylon and the New York Post. Spitz is the co-author (with Brendan Mullen) of the 2001 LA punk oral history We Got The Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk. He has authored two novels, How Soon is Never (2003) and Too Much, Too Late (2006), as w...more
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