Madonna - Softcover

Lucy O'Brien

3.65

452 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552153613 ISBN 13: 9780552153614

Publisher: Corgi, 2008

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Material Girl. Immaculate sexpot. Kabbalah enthusiast. British mum.
She has defied categorization for three decades and remained one of our greatest living pop icons

Madonna: Like an Icon is a groundbreaking biography that finally solves the mystery at the heart of Madonna's chameleonlike existence. Extensively researched and perceptively written by journalist Lucy O'Brien, it explores the complex personality and legendary drive that has made Madonna the most famous female pop artist of our time. O'Brien draws upon scores of interviews with producers, musicians, collaborators, lovers, and friends—many of whom have never spoken so candidly—to examine Madonna's fascinating life. From her mother's premature death to her dynamic arrival on the New York club scene to her training for Evita and beyond, every stage of her life is illuminated.

Unlike any previous Madonna biographer, O'Brien deconstructs the stereotypes that have plagued the star, whether it was being labeled a self-indulgent siren for her book Sex or criticized for exploiting her celebrity status to adopt baby David in 2006.

O'Brien provides an incisive portrayal, from Madonna's early days dancing at gay clubs in Detroit to the producers and musicians she both alienated and amazed in her uncompromising quest to seize on the next cultural wave.

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About the Author:

Music critic Lucy O'Brien has contributed to many publications, including the Sunday Times (London), Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and Q. The author of She Bop and She Bop II, as well as acclaimed biographies of Dusty Springfield and Annie Lennox, O'Brien lives in London and teaches at Westminster University and the University of London's Goldsmiths College.

From Booklist:

The Material Girl is respectfully, if not fawningly, limned by O'Brien in this lengthy bio undertaken without benefit of the subject's input. Fascinated by Madonna's media mastery, O'Brien considers her music-video, live-performance, photographic (remember Sex?), thespian, and other coups, inadvertently (perhaps) making the point that as singer, she's a heckuva dancer. Snide shots from reviewers aside, Madonna has made a lot of stuff in a variety of media. O'Brien seems to have covered it all to create a portrait of a driven, committed artiste of the highest order. Nary a negative word is spewed, but since by now most folks know how they feel about Madonna, hard judgments and artistic evaluations may be beside the point. Nonfans may avoid the book, but ardent followers who have either forgotten or sublimated, say, Desperately Seeking Susan will boost circulation at virtually any library. For kicking back and remembering when Madonna was cutting-edge, and not just in the worlds of kabbalah and kiddie lit, this is the ticket. Tribby, Mike

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