David Bowie: A Life

I’m a big Bowie fan, with the records, the T-shirts and a seeming desire to watch every documentary ever made about the man and his work. The first Christmas present my now wife ever bought me was tickets to the V&A exhibition, while for a long time I sang STARMAN every day to my tiny baby daughter. It’s a long story, but even at four weeks old I knew that she loved it too. As such I’m not quite impartial when it comes to this book. Indeed, I’m incredibly bias towards liking it. For a Bowie fan, this oral history is a fantastically deep and immersive experience. Hearing the thoughts and recollections of Bowie himself, as well as those who knew him and sometimes even fans, it’s his story from his childhood right through to his too early death. Probably there are other books that are better for the man’s music, but it is a truly comprehensive guide to his life. But as much as I enjoyed it, as much as I raced through it, there are undoubted flaws. His family for instance, remain distant figures within the text. Yes, we do hear a lot about his late brother who hangs like Banquo’s ghost over him, but his parents remain forever distant. Mentioned frequently, but unknown. Perhaps for his mother that’s understandable as she does seem an emotionally cold presence in her son’s life, but his dad is both portrayed as someone he was close to and – curiously – someone he wasn’t. (To quote some song or other, it’s confusing sometimes.) Undoubtedly, it’s more a problem with the form than anything else: as people’s memories and perceptions differ, and an oral history can’t help but reflect that. But it does make for a frustrating read. (It’s a much more minor point: but his relationship with Paul McCartney seems to throughout the book go from lows to highs without any understanding as to why and how. It’s the tiniest of sub-plots I know, I don’t think thumb waving Macca and The Thin White Duke were natural musical bedfellows, but I found myself tantalised nonetheless) Much like Bowie himself, it’s a book that’s sometimes pretentious, but more often than not is willing to puncture its own pomposity. It reveals a man who is intellectually curious, open to new ideas and generous with those he loved. It also conjures up a man who was capricious, bitchy, easily tired of the people around him and at times quite unpleasant. Even if it’s author clearly adores the man, it’s far from a hagiography. I’m a Bowie fan of old and absolutely adored it. To be fair the only people likely to read this are Bowie fans too and I think you’ll adore it also.

Brilliant tribute to David Bowie and right up there with David Bowie Sings Again. It`s crystal clear that Dylan Jones is a genuine fan & has written a great book about his hero.

A good collection of interviews & a interesting look into Bowie from the people that knew him best as close as a autobiography as you can get

Brought for a present 🎁 they liked it

This was a thoroughly insightful recount of DB rise to fame (a tiny little bit too insightful in some parts) and the highs and lows throughout his career. My earliest memories of Bowie were from the early 80s and, I will admit, I didn't really like him. Turns out this is a period in is career when most thought he was selling out, so maybe I wasn't being too harsh on him. Since his death I have read a few autobiographies and this was without doubt the most enjoyable, probably because it is a 'warts n all' account, turns out he wasn't such a saint in real life after all.

It's an interesting insight into what others thought of Bowie and a bit of what Bowie thought of Bowie. This book is essentially a collection of cut-and-paste items although, admittedly a voluminous one. It's a bit lazy and certainly not the definitive biography.

This is a tour de force by Dylan Jones - he has done a fantastic job of contacting a wide range of people who knew or met Mr Bowie and explaining stuff that remained hazy before. He sheds new light on the Beckenham years 1969-1973. It never made sense to me before how Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory could be created in a staight laced suburbia. But he shows what an pleasant idyll it was - so much so that I paid it a visit - its still a nice place. He also brings alive the 1992-2010 era when he kept a relatively low profile. It turns out he was out meeting loads of artists he admired, wowing them with his presence and generally having the time of his life. My main quibbles are the Bono quotes and Dylan Jones' love of the Station to Station album. Bono takes up several pages of the book, but manages to say almost nothing of interest. While the enormous space given to the turgid, cocaine addled 'Station to Station' album (only two good tracks), while making only single line references to many other albums shows Jones failing to supress his trendier-than-thou tendencies, from his background on ID magazine - ie "I am so hip I don't even think Bowie's most famous albums are his best".

A very good book that lets the people (lots of them) who worked or had dealings with Bowie, tell their stories. For the casual fan its a great read. For the real Bowie Fan it has some fascinating insights but unfortunately is only marred by the usual suspects (Angie, Tony Zanetta, Holly Woodlawn, Dana Gillespie etc) who have changed their stories so many times over the years that it is sometimes quite laughable and sometimes quite insulting to be honest. I like the fact that Jones has left these in as well as the fact that peoples memories are quite vague/suspect over dates, places and times etc. Overall it's a great Bowie Book. Read it through twice in the first week. Just take some of the stories with a pinch of salt as (maybe unknown to Dylan Jones) some of the interviewees are known to be quite bitter and resentful. Overall, well worth the cover price.

Extraordinary, stunning, comprehensive. At the end, you will KNOW David Bowie (and like him). There are about five people (five pages of 540) who dislike/hate David; the vast majority marvel about his intelligence, creativity, kindness, humor, and his great manners. The author was a friend as well as a fan. This would be a better book if it was 200 pages shorter, but EVERY phase of Bowie’s life is covered comprehensively.

Muchísimos datos y curiosidades. Imprescindible sin duda

As Bowie never wrote an autobiography, this has to be the next best thing. Consisting of testimonies, interviews and quotes from probably just about everybody in Bowie's life, rather than a more conventional format. Superb. A must for every Bowie fan.

A brief skim through the book tells me this is going to be a great read

An excellent gift