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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Simply written- thoroughly engaging. I read this biography in record time!
I enjoyed it most when he wasn't listing every single person he came into contact with- the names are important to someone, but dozens at a time was a bit tedious.
Local interest for me also as he started out in Seattle.
I enjoyed it most when he wasn't listing every single person he came into contact with- the names are important to someone, but dozens at a time was a bit tedious.
Local interest for me also as he started out in Seattle.
I didn't know much about him prior to this book. Wow, what an amazing path his life took! He pretty much personifies the American Dream; he is like a Horatio Alger character come to life. It is honestly startling to see where he started to where he has ended up. Of course, as with any success story, luck and timing play a role as well as hard work, determination and talent. Also charm. QJ seems like an extremely charming man.
QJ had the full package of intellect, talent, "grit" and laser focused drive. Combine that with the luck of meeting the right people at the right time and being in the right place at the right time....and hello astounding long term success and great wealth.
It was a bit funny after a while, how many famous people he ended up connecting with. From befriending Ray Charles while both were in their mid teens, going to college with Clint Eastwood, hanging out with a young Marlon Brando who was in his first Broadway play, meeting a young Malcolm X fresh out of prison in the early 50's, meeting Aretha Franklin as a 12 year old gospel singer at her Dad's church... the list goes on and on. He discovered Oprah, made Michael Jackson a solo star, became besties with Frank Sinatra(they never signed contracts, it was all done with a handshake!), vacationed with Steven Spielberg, got robbed by a junkie Charlie Bird Parker, had Dinah Washington cook him grits, made Will Smith famous by casting him in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Alex Haley lived with him in his guest room while writing Roots.....man, it just goes on and on.
That "on and on" in terms of talking about people got old. At times it could be like one of those Academy Award speeches where they are thanking the postman, their first grade teacher, their hairdresser etc. QJ would list literally every single person he worked with on a project which I guess helps to explain his success - he doesn't forget people- but it can be repetitive and dull reading lists of people multiple times in a book.
QJ was both very self-reflective and stunningly obtuse about himself. We all are at times, though, I think. He mentions feeling guilty and upset about his poor parenting. I think he does realize what he did wrong but doesn't grasp the depth of how fucked up it truly was at times, especially with his only son, Snoopy. How heartbreaking it was, when at 14 neither parent wanted him. How devastating for him. QJ mentions that as the biggest mistake in his life & I think it was. It's amazing his son turned out ok after his crazy childhood with a drug addicted mom and absentee dad.
I think QJ was most obtuse about his relationships with woman. What a horndog he was! Eeewww. A real grade A jerk to women. Constantly cheating on them, playing them against each other, neglecting them, lying to them. He has some serious mommy issues, as the phrase goes. He is aware enough to see the irony of a guy like him ending up with 6 gorgeous daughters. He certainly had a nightmare mother/child relationship with his schizophrenic mother. That scene at the beginning of the book, when he visits his mom at the psychiatric hospital - wow. It was like out of a horror movie. I think his promiscuity is definitely because of that lack of maternal love he got as a child.
I'm glad I got this at the library. I leaned a lot about the American music industry of the twentieth century.
QJ had the full package of intellect, talent, "grit" and laser focused drive. Combine that with the luck of meeting the right people at the right time and being in the right place at the right time....and hello astounding long term success and great wealth.
It was a bit funny after a while, how many famous people he ended up connecting with. From befriending Ray Charles while both were in their mid teens, going to college with Clint Eastwood, hanging out with a young Marlon Brando who was in his first Broadway play, meeting a young Malcolm X fresh out of prison in the early 50's, meeting Aretha Franklin as a 12 year old gospel singer at her Dad's church... the list goes on and on. He discovered Oprah, made Michael Jackson a solo star, became besties with Frank Sinatra(they never signed contracts, it was all done with a handshake!), vacationed with Steven Spielberg, got robbed by a junkie Charlie Bird Parker, had Dinah Washington cook him grits, made Will Smith famous by casting him in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Alex Haley lived with him in his guest room while writing Roots.....man, it just goes on and on.
That "on and on" in terms of talking about people got old. At times it could be like one of those Academy Award speeches where they are thanking the postman, their first grade teacher, their hairdresser etc. QJ would list literally every single person he worked with on a project which I guess helps to explain his success - he doesn't forget people- but it can be repetitive and dull reading lists of people multiple times in a book.
QJ was both very self-reflective and stunningly obtuse about himself. We all are at times, though, I think. He mentions feeling guilty and upset about his poor parenting. I think he does realize what he did wrong but doesn't grasp the depth of how fucked up it truly was at times, especially with his only son, Snoopy. How heartbreaking it was, when at 14 neither parent wanted him. How devastating for him. QJ mentions that as the biggest mistake in his life & I think it was. It's amazing his son turned out ok after his crazy childhood with a drug addicted mom and absentee dad.
I think QJ was most obtuse about his relationships with woman. What a horndog he was! Eeewww. A real grade A jerk to women. Constantly cheating on them, playing them against each other, neglecting them, lying to them. He has some serious mommy issues, as the phrase goes. He is aware enough to see the irony of a guy like him ending up with 6 gorgeous daughters. He certainly had a nightmare mother/child relationship with his schizophrenic mother. That scene at the beginning of the book, when he visits his mom at the psychiatric hospital - wow. It was like out of a horror movie. I think his promiscuity is definitely because of that lack of maternal love he got as a child.
I'm glad I got this at the library. I leaned a lot about the American music industry of the twentieth century.