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¿Quién mató a Michael Jackson?: Como la sociedad crea y destruye ídolos
Michael Jackson died on June 25 2009 in Los Angeles, from of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication (according to Wikipedia). The one-time King of Pop was preparing for one last assault on the mainstream with a proposed 50 night run of shows at the 02 (thereby trumping his arch-rival, Prince, who had just concluded his legendary 21 Nights). His exhaustion, paranoia and general ill-heath were an open secret. He had lived many lives and inhabited many bodies; PT Barnum, Fred Astaire, and Peter Pan in one mortal coil. His death was mourned by hundreds of millions of fans but it was almost as if he had been dead for some time already. And in his death, in vivid technicolor, we relived the dreams, nightmares, fantasies, and perversions that we had all projected on to him as a celebrity for four decades.
Paul Morley's short biographical portrait of Michael Jackson looks at how we turned the most outrageous child star talent of the late 20th century into a monster; how his decline soundtracked the end of Pop and the end of American Imperialism; how his once staggeringly modern and funky music became secondary to the dysfunctional freak show of watching a vulnerable man literally disintegrate. Tender, erudite, and provocative, Morley's monograph documents a tragedy that is so Shakespearean in scale that it obscures the legacy of the last of the great Song and Dance Men. It is poignant and wild, melancholy and obsessive, cannibalising itslef in ever decreasing circles of enquiry. This is a rare piece of pop cultural alchemy that cuts through the myth in a way that only a writer as great as Paul Morley could do.
Paul Morley's short biographical portrait of Michael Jackson looks at how we turned the most outrageous child star talent of the late 20th century into a monster; how his decline soundtracked the end of Pop and the end of American Imperialism; how his once staggeringly modern and funky music became secondary to the dysfunctional freak show of watching a vulnerable man literally disintegrate. Tender, erudite, and provocative, Morley's monograph documents a tragedy that is so Shakespearean in scale that it obscures the legacy of the last of the great Song and Dance Men. It is poignant and wild, melancholy and obsessive, cannibalising itslef in ever decreasing circles of enquiry. This is a rare piece of pop cultural alchemy that cuts through the myth in a way that only a writer as great as Paul Morley could do.
Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
About the author
Paul Morley
33 books75 followersPaul Morley is an English journalist who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications. He has also has been a band manager and promoter, as well as a television presenter.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 2, 2019
I’m usually a great defender of Paul Morley’s writing but my word was this one a whole lot of rambling nothing. Also, very obviously written before Leaving Neverland.
March 22, 2022
‘A book of adjectives’ by Paul Morley
1⭐️
Someone take away this man’s thesaurus please 🙏🏻
I’m sorry but this book was god-awful.
Morley says in the beginning that he didn’t know what to say about Michael after his death if he was asked - this should have been a fantastic hint that he was probably not in a position to write his biography!
What this book is;
Paul Morley’s awfully big adventure with a thesaurus. The day he wrote this book was the day he discovered synonyms & thought to himself ‘I am going to try to write as many words as I can fit into [200 pages]’.
I have never in my life given a book 1 ⭐️ until now. Apparently I was saving this honor for Paul Morley.
And no the rant does not end here. This book is the definition of talking incessantly about absolutely nothing. NOTHING. Its just words on paper. And I am not just being literal.
I am offended on behalf of commas, full-stops, and generally all punctuation known to mankind. This book is where grammar comes to die.
I actually don’t understand what this book is. He berates and belittles everyone who’s ever expressed any feeling about MJ (positive or negative) & ofc calls MJ every positive & negative adjective ever to exist. It feels like an essay about how clever Morley is for not being like everyone else when in fact he has nothing to say & adds nothing to the conversation at all.
This book should be called ‘look how many fancy words I know’.
P.S. 1⭐️ is because Goodreads won’t let me give 0.
1⭐️
Someone take away this man’s thesaurus please 🙏🏻
I’m sorry but this book was god-awful.
Morley says in the beginning that he didn’t know what to say about Michael after his death if he was asked - this should have been a fantastic hint that he was probably not in a position to write his biography!
What this book is;
Paul Morley’s awfully big adventure with a thesaurus. The day he wrote this book was the day he discovered synonyms & thought to himself ‘I am going to try to write as many words as I can fit into [200 pages]’.
I have never in my life given a book 1 ⭐️ until now. Apparently I was saving this honor for Paul Morley.
And no the rant does not end here. This book is the definition of talking incessantly about absolutely nothing. NOTHING. Its just words on paper. And I am not just being literal.
I am offended on behalf of commas, full-stops, and generally all punctuation known to mankind. This book is where grammar comes to die.
I actually don’t understand what this book is. He berates and belittles everyone who’s ever expressed any feeling about MJ (positive or negative) & ofc calls MJ every positive & negative adjective ever to exist. It feels like an essay about how clever Morley is for not being like everyone else when in fact he has nothing to say & adds nothing to the conversation at all.
This book should be called ‘look how many fancy words I know’.
P.S. 1⭐️ is because Goodreads won’t let me give 0.
July 12, 2019
At some point towards the end of the book Paul Morley states: "I have nothing to say about Michael Jackson. There is no actual Michael Jackson to actually say anything about, not in the ways we like to think". Most of this essay stays close to this statement. At times it is very difficult to understand what Mr Morley is talking about. On the inside of the front cover the book is advertised as a biographical portrait, but I would consider that a stretch. There are some interesting passages, especially when the author analyses the obsession of the media, but they aren't consistent enough. This essay is 200 pages long, but it could have easily been half that and have a far better effect.
June 7, 2024
Me adentré en este libro con la esperanza de encontrar un análisis profundo del ícono musical, pero lo que descubrí fue una crítica mordaz a la sociedad y su relación con las celebridades. El libro, más que un homenaje a Michael Jackson, se convierte en un monólogo extenso del autor, Paul Morley, quien narra su experiencia al enterarse de la muerte del Rey del Pop.
Si bien soy fan de Michael Jackson, la narrativa de Morley no logró cautivarme por completo. Su estilo, aunque erudito y provocativo, se torna un tanto egocéntrico, divagando en reflexiones personales que, en ocasiones, se alejan del tema central.
Sin embargo, reconozco el valor del libro como una crítica social. Morley expone la crueldad de los medios y la voracidad del público por consumir la vida privada de las estrellas. Nos muestra cómo elevamos a estas figuras a pedestales solo para derribarlas con la misma rapidez cuando dejan de ajustarse a nuestras expectativas.
En ese sentido, la muerte de Michael Jackson se convierte en un símbolo de las consecuencias nefastas de la fama. Morley cuestiona si la presión mediática, las acusaciones en su contra y la soledad que conlleva la vida de una celebridad contribuyeron a su trágico final.
A pesar de que el libro no me cautivó por completo, me dejó una sensación de incomodidad y reflexión. Es una lectura que invita a cuestionar nuestra propia relación con las celebridades y la forma en que consumimos sus vidas.
Si bien soy fan de Michael Jackson, la narrativa de Morley no logró cautivarme por completo. Su estilo, aunque erudito y provocativo, se torna un tanto egocéntrico, divagando en reflexiones personales que, en ocasiones, se alejan del tema central.
Sin embargo, reconozco el valor del libro como una crítica social. Morley expone la crueldad de los medios y la voracidad del público por consumir la vida privada de las estrellas. Nos muestra cómo elevamos a estas figuras a pedestales solo para derribarlas con la misma rapidez cuando dejan de ajustarse a nuestras expectativas.
En ese sentido, la muerte de Michael Jackson se convierte en un símbolo de las consecuencias nefastas de la fama. Morley cuestiona si la presión mediática, las acusaciones en su contra y la soledad que conlleva la vida de una celebridad contribuyeron a su trágico final.
A pesar de que el libro no me cautivó por completo, me dejó una sensación de incomodidad y reflexión. Es una lectura que invita a cuestionar nuestra propia relación con las celebridades y la forma en que consumimos sus vidas.
September 24, 2024
El libro ciertamente tiene ideas interesantes, incluso algunas que comparto y los capítulos donde habla de la creación de Off The Wall como de Thriller son muy disfrutables así como la parte donde habla sobre Quincy Jones pero también es un libro lleno de especulaciones del autor, de creencias y no de argumentos, el autor no se toma el tiempo para explicarte las razones por las cuales piensa lo que piensa, solo lo afirma como si fuera un hecho real y otro gran problema es que alarga demasiado sus ideas y se torna muy repetitivo a lo largo de todo el libro.
January 6, 2022
Es un libro muy interesante que te ofrece un análisis diferente de lo que significa ser una estrella al nivel de Michael Jackson y el poder social que ejerce llevar ese título. No obstante, el análisis se volvía repetitivo en algunas partes del libro, lo que a mi parecer tenía un efecto soporífero para continuar.
De todas formas, tiene unas acotaciones acertadas para entender el fenómeno "Michael Jackson" en la cultura popular y ese análisis sociológico que muestra el libro es muy cautivador.
De todas formas, tiene unas acotaciones acertadas para entender el fenómeno "Michael Jackson" en la cultura popular y ese análisis sociológico que muestra el libro es muy cautivador.
January 1, 2024
I always enjoy meandering essays by old school Rock critics, and I thought Paul Morley went some way to working through what Michael Jackson meant to pop culture.
However, it stopped just as he was getting somewhere with his thoughts.
Whether Genius or monster, there’s still a definitive book to be written about Michael Jackson as a cultural zeitgeist.
Bought in Beerwolf Books, Falmouth!
However, it stopped just as he was getting somewhere with his thoughts.
Whether Genius or monster, there’s still a definitive book to be written about Michael Jackson as a cultural zeitgeist.
Bought in Beerwolf Books, Falmouth!
May 16, 2023
Este libro podría haber sido un ensayo. Uno muy bueno, porque tiene reflexiones muy interesantes. Pero se vuelve muy repetitivo y redundante.
September 9, 2019
Nunca había leído a Morley y no me gusto su forma de escribir. Lo que vale la pena son las anécdotas y datos que investiga Morley sobre el papel de Quincy Jones en la fama de Michael Jackson: cuando se conocen, cuando crean el álbum Thriller y la formación profesional de Quincy bajo la tutela de Nadia Boulanger.
May 10, 2020
La verdad, no me gusta como escribe este autor, debidos. Esto me hacía leerlo pero lo dejaba, así me pasó varias veces. Creo que no estaba en el mood correcto para leerlo. Pero lo que dice si te deja algo pensativo, ya que te da un punto de vista que no había considerado. Y el libro en si lo sentí como una platica con un profe.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews