While much of what’s been published in the wake of Michael Jackson’s untimely death has been in the spirit of exploitation rather than earnest assessment, a reissued work by Adrian Grant once again serves as the benchmark resource on the King of Pop to date.
Originally published in 1994, Michael Jackson: A Visual Documentary – 1958-2009 – The Official Tribute Edition includes supplementary material covering the intervening years, culminating with coverage of Jackson’s public memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The book’s first forty or so pages skim through his childhood and formative years in the Jackson 5, marking pertinent milestones and professional achievements. The bulk of the book, though, concentrates on Jackson's solo career (post-Off The Wall) and the realities of his life within that time.
A feast for fans, the book is loaded with photos and information depicted in meticulous (sometimes day-to-day) detail. While authorized by Jackson in its prior publication, the accounts offered here aren’t of a typical, hero-worship sort. In fact, much care has been taken by the author to render a straightforward and evenhanded treatment, including accounts of Jackson’s various tribulations and controversies.
Barring the eventual publication of an authoritative biography in more narrative form, Michael Jackson: A Visual Documentary is at this point the most definitive chronicle of the late superstar’s life and career published anywhere.Michael Jackson The Visual Documentary
I'm trying to find quality books about Michael Jackson and this looks to be one of them. Unfortunately, I'm afraid there may be more trashy books about him in the months and years to come.