Alias David Bowie: A biography - Hardcover

Peter L. Gillman; Leni Gillman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340368063 ISBN 13: 9780340368060

Publisher: Guild, 1986

Synopsis

Traces Bowie's multifaceted career, from his first forays into commercial music to his status as a respected performer, and provides insight into the strange world of rock music and multimedia entertaining

About this title

From School Library Journal:

YA That David Bowie should earn two critical biographies published within a few months is a tribute to his stature as a musician and performer; that both should be quality titles is greater tribute. Unlike many stars of the '60s, Bowie has shown versatility in music, in theater, and in combining the two. The Gillmans delve into the biographical details, the familial influences, career moves, images, and materials. This title offers insight into the enormous pressures of a career musician and the ravages of the drug culture; it provides an honest account and analysis of the good career moves and the bad decisions. Matthew-Walker, on the other hand, has chosen to focus on this theatrical aspect of Bowie's performing style. He provides in-depth historical background as well as analyses of Bowie's musical materials, opening up the broader picture of Bowie's importance in the contemporary arts. He offers a comprehensive view of Bowie artistically, historically, and personally, which gives insight into Bowie's meanings and motivations for his writing and his actions; he also gives a feel for the artistry of Bowie's craft and his flexibility as proven in concert, in writing, and in dramatic roles. Both titles are complementary treatments of Bowie's life as a rock musician, an actor, and a contemporary artist, and both deserve consideration for collections serving students with a strong interest in modern music and performing artists. Rebecca Holt, Episcopal High Sch . , Bellaire
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this unauthorized biography based on extensive interviews with David Bowie's relatives and associates, an English journalist and his wife, a college teacher, explore the world of this enigmatic entertainer. Raised in a poor South London family with a history of mental illness, David Robert Jones was to become an emblem of his time whose fame rivaled that of Elvis Presley and the Beatles. He sang some of the most haunting pop songs of the 1970s and starred in some of the strangest plays and films of the period (The Elephant Man, The Hunger, The Man Who Fell to Earth). Androgynous, Jekyll and Hyde by turns, susceptible to cocaine and paranoia, casting off a series of managers and involved in complex lawsuits, Bowie eventually deserted Britain and America and moved to a house near the Berlin Wall. The Gillmans' formidable research enables them to smash many Bowie myths, but their sympathy for him and his disturbed family is evident, and they deal fairly with his wife, agents and lovers. Still, only obsessed Bowie fans will have the stamina to get all the way through this depressing 500-page odyssey. Photos.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Guild
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0340368063
• ISBN 13: 9780340368060
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1