Madonna.

by Andrew Morton

At the age of forty-three, with a career that spans two decades and ranges from the scandalous to the transcendent, Madonna is a bigger phenomenon than ever. But who is the private woman behind the public image? Andrew Morton, whose #1 New York Times bestsellers about Princess Diana and Monica Lewinsky have proved his ability to gain access to insiders who won't talk to anyone else, answers that question in this decidedly unauthorized biography. Morton's extensive, in-depth interviews with members of Madonna's inner circle - lovers, friends (even as far back as school friends), and business connections, many of whom have never spoken before now - allow him to go behind the carefully constructed myths to unmask the real Madonna. Andrew Morton is able to make startling revelations, among them the real story of Madonna's family background; the events behind the violent attack that changed her views on sex and men; her relationships with Michael Jackson, Prince, John F. Kennedy Jr., Vanilla Ice, and other rock and Hollywood stars; the mystery man she wanted to marry; and the darkest days of her career when she threatened to quit show business. From motherless child to wife and mother, from "boy toy" to fiercely independent diva, Madonna is one of the most remarkable women of our time.

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Celebrity, Audiobook, Autobiography

Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Andrew David Morton (born 1953) is one of the world's best-known biographers and a leading authority on modern celebrity. His groundbreaking biography Diana: Her True Story was a #1 New York Times bestseller, as was Monica's Story, an authorized biography of Monica Lewinsky, and Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography. The winner of numerous awards, including Author of the Year, his other New York Times bestsellers include unauthorized biographies of Madonna and Angelina Jolie, as well as William & Catherine: Their Story. A former British Fleet Street tabloid journalist,he studied history at the University of Sussex. He lives in London.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/andrew...

Reviews

[Dana Tuss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. obviously 15 years have gone by since it was published but still probably holds up well. It’s been a few years since I’ve thought about Madonna but she was a big part of growing up. I wouldn’t say I idolized her or wanted to be her but she had some great songs and always seemed to me to live her life on her terms — for better or worse it seems from this.

[Ma. Lalaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an unauthorized biography of the icon. I picked it up because of her strong persona. And since 2014 is my brave year, it is perfect read for January.

Madonna is idolized by Myrene or Maps Academia who is a bass guitarist I adore. I imagined she read this so I hope to do the same. Gaya-gaya lang.

The book trace back the history of her ancestor particularly her father. Her mother died early on when she was five years old. Her passion to dancing taught her discipline and make her ambitious. I like how people perceive her. Very driven by fame to the point of exhaustion. She is also lucky because she works hard at finding luck.

I did not know that she is straight A student and a cheerleader in her school days. She almost finished her dance degree in University of Michigan but her impatience as well as following her mentor advise she went to New York. The big apple did not welcome her well. But she had big plans and after all she discover she can also sing and entertain people not only by just dancing but by stripping. Sexy is the image she embrace and a taboo at that time. Gays, bisexuals and blacks adore her. Her first single even portrays her as a black woman.

The stories might be magnified because they want the masses to speculate, to clamor for more and to prove she is special. She works on the magic of others. A lot of people are drawn to her because she is very passionate on her art. She wants people to remember her. Her legacy is inevitable.

[Kitt-e-kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning few chapters are slow cause it talks about her italian family ancestors and how her parents met. When Madonna was born the chapters were most interesting. This is written by hear-say and by people she knew so not sure how much is really true. From all the documentaries I've read about Madonna they all seem to be the same about her character as a hard, street smart, star driven no matter how many people she used and hurt in the business to get noticed. I've always been a big fan of hers and see why she's always been a strong driven woman that did it all by doing it herself to become famous. The book goes thru out her life up to being married to Guy Ritchie. The last few chapters gets slow again when she is married to Guy Ritchie and her Kabalah lifestyle.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely dreadful. He gets good stories from people who once knew Madonna, but blows any shred of credibility by getting simple facts wrong. One such glaring error is Morton repeatedly referring to the movie Shanghai Surprise as Shanghai Express. Shanghai Express is a Marlene Dietrich movie from 1932, 26 years before Madonna was even born. These aren't obscure facts, they can very easily be found on any fan-run Madonna website. As interesting as some of the stories are, any book that has quite obviously not had even the slightest bit of fact checking simply is not credible. 20 minutes on Google would have saved this book.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth look at the carefully constructed making of an icon, what drove her outrageous behavior and her insatiable hunger for fame. No surprise at her rumored illuminati affiliations because her need for adulation and love seemed to have broken her moral/ethical compass, but I do give her tremendous credit for her exemplary work ethic, her shrewd business sense, her strength as a woman, her musical genius, being a visionary, for pushing creative boundaries and for being am amazing icon especially in the 80's and 90's when we knew her as "Madonna"; a time when music defined our culture and we had the "larger than life" personas like Michael and Janet, Whitney, etc.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 2001 title may be too older for people interested in the Madonna of the last decade, but it is fine for me. I was mostly interested it it was actually true she was from Rochester, Michigan (she is) and what her earliest music days were like: she gave up a promising universigty start dancing on the stage in order to live the gutter life playing drums in a punk band at CBGB's. I dig that. However, her trodding over friendships to climb the ladder and shallow approach to her sex life belittled her in my eyes

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book when it came out, and I really thought the writer was kissing Madges ass throughout. I was only 18 when I read this and I was a little naive but I was really curious to understand the childhood of Madonna then. After finishing the book I just felt like the writer really wanted to please his subject and not say anything negative. Almost 10 years later I read her brothers biography on his relationship with Madonna and I realized that even though Christophers Ciccones bio is less professionally written he's a lot more honest in how complicated his sister is.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since falling in love with Madonna's music a few months ago, I felt the need to read up on her life. Andrew Morton writes very clearly and with just enough detail, and his British perspective made the book all the more interesting. He makes you fall in love with, pity, and sometimes despise Madonna. Since she is so out-there and versatile in her work, the range of emotions and viewpoints this book presents is appropriate. The con to the book is that it was published in the early 2000s so I think a sequel is in order.

[Tory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a well written biography. The chronology was difficult to follow with the author reaching ahead in time to draw a connection - I prefer reaching back and reminding me of pertinent connections. I disagree with some who felt the author was too infatuated with Madonna to tell it like it is. In fact, he's quite critical of her hypocrisy and other fallibilities (most notably her acting). I enjoyed learning about Madonna's psychological make-up and some of the stories behind her songs, as well as how hard she worked to become a star.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book, lots of stuff I'd never heard before. Unfortunately, I've never been a big Madonna fan. I'd hoped maybe this audiobook would change my mind, but it didn't. She just seems so slutty and finding out more about how she'd do just about anything to become famous and stay there only convinced me my first impression was spot on. I'm sad she lost her mother so young and I'm sure that has influenced her choices greatly. Still, one would think you'd want to make your mama proud, not cringe.

[Savita Ch-isb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend this book because I like Madonna every much. She is pretty and sexy. She is good at dancing, singing, photographing, and painting. She live her life tough before she has become a superstar. Even her mom was dead when she was young however, she has so much spirit which lead her to one of the most famous singer in the world. however, I don't her religion life style because she did the abortion for 4 times in her life. You should read it if you want to know more about her secret life!

[Lena Tumasyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very introsective, deep look at Madonna's background, particularly her family, her upbringing, and what caused her to be the woman and superstar that she is. It's very interesting. The author had great quotes from interview and the book was organized very well. It ends at the time that she married Guy Ritchie and released her "Music" album. This is a very interesting biography. I really enjoyed listening to it on Audiobook :-)

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Madonna's story just isn't that interesting. She is apparently a very hard worker, and I respect that. Sean Penn evidently is quite a loon, not that that surprises anyone.

Andrew Morton is an ATROCIOUS writer. He constantly uses the passive tense and words that don't exist ("insanitary" instead of "unsanitary," among many others) and fails to make subjects and verbs agree. *shudder*

[Penelope · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very good at all. So contrived and forced. You'd think that Madonna's life would lend the reader some inspiration. But this book is just pure speculation and projection. Maybe some facts thrown in here and there. The only good part of the book are the pictures. She truly is a beautiful, cool and talented woman.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The style of writing was very verbose. Find some sentences repetitive. I finished the book and didn't really feel that I knew anything new about Madonna. I didn't like in some instances where the author wrote more about the history of the times than of Madonna herself. Could have saved himself some paragraphs of writing.

[Giuseppe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Morton's a scuzzball, which isn't to say the book didn't hold my interest. However, he comes across as a real loser who's really just looking to trash people, both subtlety and overtly. It's good trash reading. I will say, though, the true story of Madonna will only be known if she ever decides to tell all.

[Dna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Morton is no J. Randy Taraborrelli, but he's capable of digging up a tidbit or two. There's not much about Madonna's publicity-approved image we don't know about and what we don't know isn't truly accessible to unauthorized biographers. Also, Madonna won't be interesting enough for a real biography until her fame starts to collapse in on itself. I look forward to that day.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

How Madonna became Madonna has long been intriguing to me ever since I was able to recognize her type. The book has some great bits where her personality is manifested, but it has too much fluff to receive any more hearts than I gave.

[christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

i kept losing track of how many people madonna slept with. but it really made me want to travel to detroit.

[Tara Cerrone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Madge.

[Candace Whitney Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haa. A guilty pleasure for sure. Madonna is a surprising chameleon, even admirably so. Very entertaining and the worthwhile while playing trivial pursuit. :)

[Danielle LaPresta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course it was amazing...it's about Madonna!
It's been a while since I read it though...maybe I should re-read it.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Madonna. If you do too, read it.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boooooooriiiiiiiinnnnnggggg!

[Westyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

She's amazing but this was so loaded with detail that it felt impersonal.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skimmed it. Rather read it from her. Book is 11 yrs old. I wouldn't recommend.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fluff. I thought the parts about her and Sean Penn were interesting. It ends in 2001 with her living happily every ever with Guy Ritchie...so yeah.

[☯Lilbookworm☮ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable, in depth and insightful.

[Teeny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing to see here.

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not the fun, trashy read I thought it would be. I felt like I was slogging through a really long, terribly edited Wikipedia article.