Bowie: Loving The Alien

by Christopher Sandford

Based on interviews with family members, colleagues, lovers, and the previously silent William Burroughs, this unsparing yet evenhanded biography guides the reader through the many personas, crises, and musical metamorphoses of David Bowie—also known as Davy Jones, the Laughing Gnome, Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, a drug-addled grandfather of punk, actor, art aficionado, political activist, one of rock's most resonant icons, and a totem of modern pop culture. Nowhere else is the man and musician so convincingly deconstructed and so compellingly humanized.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Christopher Sandford has published acclaimed biographies of Kurt Cobain, Steve McQueen, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, and Roman Polanski. He has worked as a film and music writer and reviewer for over 20 years and frequently contributes to newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. Rolling Stone has called him "the preeminent author in his field today."

His latest project, MASTERS OF MYSTERY (forthcoming November 2011, Palgrave Macmillan) explores Arthur Conan Doyle's and Harry Houdini's incredible friendship and fascination with Spiritualism.

Reviews

[Chris O'leary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly thin reporting, a gossipy tone, a taste for anonymous sources (lots of "friends" quoted saying generally bitchy things here), and very dated. That said, there are the occasional good interviews, and Sandford had connections with some of Bowie's labels, resulting in a few scoops. but definitely a second-tier bio.

[Chrysta · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far this is much more like reading a head swelling review of his music than a biography with the exception that I now believe David Bowie to be more of a collector of other people's good ideas instead of an innovative musical genius. It has also been pointed out numerous times how he is both incurably cold and detached as a lover and completely unstable emotionality and prone to elaborate fits of crying and rage (at least in his massively drug induced years). I'm halfway though it and can't pick it up for fear that I will never be able to listen to him music again... so sad.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a huge Bowie fan I really wanted to love this book but as other people have already noted, it reads like more of a lengthy (and haughty) opinion piece on his music than a biography. I also found huge portions of it to be repetitive. Yes, he was an "iceman", yes he borrowed (and improved on) other people's artistic concepts, yes he constantly strove to reinvent his image but do we really need to be hammered over the head with constant reminders?

[Raquel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had the feeling I was reading a haughty, never-ending and repetitive review of Bowie's music sprinkled with tiny bits of bitchy gossip from (unquoted) sources. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[Picueta · Rating 1 out of 5]

TODO MAL.

No entiendo como hay gente que dedica una parte sustancial de su vida a ver entrevistas, leer e informarse sobre alguien del cual no tiene ni una palabra buena que decir. Al autor no le parece nada bien de lo que Bowie hace en ningún momento. Todas las críticas son negativas y todas las fuentes hablan fatal de él.

El libro, ya en las primeras páginas, entra en descalificativos hacia Bowie como "loca" o "marica" además de usar mil veces la palabra "camp" en un tono, evidentemente, nada halagador. Eso ya, sin entrar en todos los datos que están mal que se cuentan a pares.

La traducción tampoco ayuda lo más mínimo. De hecho en bastantes ocasiones llaman Davis a David y algunas expresiones son literales, lo cual hace que pierda el poco sentido que ya traían en un principio. Además de todo lo anterior el libro peca de repetitivo y su redacción es muy caótica avanza y retrocede en el tiempo como le viene en gana, haciendo que la lectura sea pesadísima.

El único placer que me ha provocado esta lectura es el hecho de pensar en quemar el libro. O, simplemente, guardarlo por si algún día me puedo topar con el dichoso autor de esta sobrerana mierda y estampárselo en la cara.

Si tenéis pensado adquirir algo de Bowie, no os gastéis el dinero en este libro. Buenamente, podéis comprar un par de sus discos o un vinilo por el mismo precio y disfrutarlo muchísimo más. Incluso podéis gastar ese dinero en papel higiénico, que os aseguro que estará mil veces mejor empleado.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read, but not sure how accurate it is. some of the book could have used a bit more editing and the fact that the author refers to the pixies as a "hardcore band" makes me wonder what other musical errors may be in the book that i missed.

[Tony King · Rating 4 out of 5]

must read

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book felt so negative and critical, it felt like the biographer actually, to some extent, disliked his subject. It was full of gossip and made up from a lot of negative comments from people who have been let down or spurned by Bowie. Yes, I am sure Bowie was no angel and I’m sure some of the negative comments may well be true but it seemed like rather than have a balanced and interesting view Sandford was intent on running Bowie down, at times his repetition of the negative points got too much. The book had a few interesting revelations and it is clear Sandford has spent some time on his research, however I am sure there are many much more credible biographies out there so my advice would be to give this one a miss.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you're a huge bowie fan, you should definitely read it. it's very descriptive and particular about his career and important moments throughout it. if you like bowie but aren't exactly taken by him, you would probably have difficulty reading it as it's very precise and lengthy about tours, studio time and relationships that may not hold much interest to a lot of people.

it wasn't an easy book to read. it took me a while to work though. it's not a book you can breeze through, if you want to read it properly and understand what and where and who is in and out, you need to concentrate otherwise you end up getting lost.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this back in High School during my obsessive "I'm Angel Stardust and Ziggy is my father and Bowie is God" days... haha!! Still am a huge fan of Bowie and this book really opened my eyes to many things he did. some inspirational, some i frown upon... but all in all but put me more in awe of the man that is David Bowie... he is just phenomenal..he created so many amazing pieces and his lyrics... omg...

will continue...

[Max Rebo]

La vida de un tipo como Bowie da para un libro plagado de sexo, drogas y r'n'r, todo ello en cantidades ingentes. Christopher Sandford lo relata sin tapujos, aunque su escritura es caótica por momentos. La traducción española lo empeora más. Un poco más de profundidad en el análisis de los discos hubiera estado bien.

[Sashko Liutyj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Одна з айкращих біографій ДБ. Передусім тому, що написана у художньому стилі, без традиційної сухості фактів, другорядні персонажі не затримаються більше, ніж на один абзац, все чітко і лаконічно.
Єдине, що мало. Занадто мало.

[Randall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up before David Bowie's death and I finished it this month. I liked that it talked about his music but was gossipy and straight forward about his life. It only continued into the 90's so it would have been good to read about his life after 1997.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best Bowie biography I've bought from Borders.

[Jenny Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought it in an airport bookstore... never finished the whole thing. Bowie is a bit too dynamic for my taste.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of info and seems well researched. Some people don't like it because there is too much talk of albums. of course there is, Bowie made over 20 records! I found the stories behind the album's and songs to be very interesting and makes me listen to these songs differently now.

The only thing I didn't like was at times the book jumped around or repeated things and it was hard to fully understand the timeline.