Dylan Jones has presented us with an insightful documentary of David Bowie’s life. What sets this book apart from other rock biographies is the format. Rather than proceeding in an expository fashion, Jones tells Bowie’s story through snippets of interviews with people who knew him, played with him, grew up with him, dated him, and did business with him. It’s a technique used in television documentaries with people who are essentially life witnesses sitting around and musing about someone they once knew. You don’t hear the interviewer’s queries – just the subject’s narratives. As you read through this book which is told in snippets chronologically you can hear these voices literally as if they were all sitting around in a pub, kicking back, and reminiscing. The flip side to this, of course, is that hearing all these narratives starting and stopping makes the book feel quite lengthy.
While I would disagree with the premise that Bowie’s death was a monumental shock to the Music community – the man had lived a full life by then —, his was a singular creative voice always on the edge and I will always remember Bowie closing out the Us Festival 2 in the wasteland of Devore, California.
Those Crazy Books 