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doomfiction's review against another edition
1.0
This is not the biography you want to read, well, unless you are only interested in what tabloids would write about the man. If you're interested in the brilliant musician, talented actor, and fashion icon side of Bowie, look for a more superior biography. Shouldn't be difficult.
gashlycrumb's review against another edition
1.0
I think this book should be renamed David Bowie's Penis: Where It's Been, What People Think of It, and How It Was Used, a Biography with Bonus Mini-Biography of Iman. The author clearly has zero interest in David Bowie beyond his cocaine-fueled sexcapades era in the 70s and early 80s, and you can tell by the sheer weight of the text focused on this versus the rest of his life. My copy of this book (thankfully from the library, so my wallet does not bemoan my poor judgement as much as my time does) has 271 pages. On page 229, Bowie meets Iman and the next 50 pages are dedicated to that relationship peppered with brief mentions of Bowie's professional, artistic, and/or intellectual accomplishments in the 24 years between the Sound + Vision tour, during which he met Iman, and the publication of this book. There are constant mentions in both the narrative and quoted material about how intelligent Bowie was, and yet what we get is a vapid blow-by-blow of how well hung he was, who he was fucking, and how he manipulated people with his giant junk despite how he was "the epitome of the English gentleman." Wendy Leigh drags us through all the different name changes of Bowie's first born Zowie/Joey/Joe/Duncan, but somehow makes the rather shocking error of referring to Ziggy Stardust's successor as "Aladdin Insane," indicating (to me at least) that the woman has very likely completely missed the point of just about any and everything Bowie has done with that tiny two-letter screw up. All of this is on top of the whiplash of the narrative bouncing back and forth, sometimes months at a time, sometimes decades, to where you really need to already have a fairly good handle on the general timeline of Bowie's career to understand what she's getting at. So, ultimately, Wendy Leigh has managed to take a man who has straddled the music, fashion, film, and literary industries along with being a critical part of the discourse on sexuality in the Western world and whittled him down to simply *who* he straddled. If you want any real insight into Bowie the person, look elsewhere, but if you're looking for a Groupie's Guide to David Bowie, then this is totally the book.
indalauryn's review against another edition
4.0
I started this book on Friday and got into again while I did laundry this morning. It was so fascinating that I decided to try to finish it today, which I did. Leigh does a very good job in framing Bowie's around the mystique he created for himself throughout his career and in doing so shows why he remains such an endearing figure in rock canon. Of course, she goes into detail regarding Bowie's sexual history and in many cases favors this aspect of his life over his music and films. However, she does provide a rather reputable account of Bowie's life from his upbringing in post-WWII England to his life as an elder statesman of rock in New York. It's a bit disappointing that Leigh does not mention Luther Vandross' work in Young Americans or Bowie's collaboration with Trent Reznor. Also, at times, Leigh gets repetitive, which may be a function of the unconventional way in which she has decided to tell the story. Furthermore, the choice of words can be a bit iffy. (Charlie Chaplin was a pedophile, not a "sexual pioneer" as Leigh puts it.) Still, the entire book is engaging and well worth it for longtime David Bowie fans as well as newbies.
ksull95's review against another edition
4.0
Couldn't put it down! A few spelling/grammatical errors here and there that were kind of annoying, but overall a good read. I just wish Wendy Leigh could have stuck with one name for Duncan/Zowie/Joey, or at least transitioned between them better as the switching got a little confusing.
lesliedotcom's review against another edition
A little disappointed-- too much focus on sexcapades and not enough on the art.
cpittman0513's review against another edition
3.0
There were some fun anecdotes in here, but ultimately it relied too much on gossip, and her sources seemed rather suspect.
haudurn's review against another edition
3.0
This is an interesting overview of the life thus far of a spectacular man, however most of the biography is rather superficial.
ttaran's review against another edition
1.0
I am fascinated by David Bowie, but reading this biography was a huge mistake. It is very poorly written. The author presents snippets of Bowie's life without presenting them in sequence, either in terms of time or subject matter. It's more of a list of the people Bowie is known or rumored to have slept with. Just about everyone else that makes it into the book is a caricature and a negative one at that. I hope there is a better Bowie bio out there.
daisii's review
1.0
Disappointing to say the least.
David Bowie is my icon. I have so much admiration and respect for this man, and when he passed away, I was truly devastated (and still am to this day). So the idea of reading a biography about him was awesome, and I was so excited. But this biography did no justice to the man I have so dearly loved since I was a child.
Let's start this off by saying I have NO problem with sex. I have no problem with reading things that are erotic. And I know that sex was quite a significant part of David's life, and I was expecting it to be talked about in this book. However, there was so much more to him as a person than just his sex life, and I got none of it while reading. When reading a biography, you're looking for a story about the person's life and upbringing, their inner circles, their creative processes, their struggle to success, etc. etc. What this biography brought to the table was nothing more than "who slept with whom... every person that met David fell in love with him... his romances with people are what helped him garner attention to his art... he had no real friendships, only rumoured affairs... oh, and in case you didn't catch the first 70 times it's been mentioned, Bowie had a big you-know-what...". It was exhausting, and if I'm being honest, quite insulting to David Bowie himself. I don't know if he ever read this particular book while he was alive, but I truly believe he would have hated it. And he also would have hated that even though he was alive when this was written, this author never bothered to look to him for an interview or any insight into the things she was writing. He would have hated how his entire life and career was boiled down to all of his rumoured love interests over the years. That all of his genuine relationships and friendships that he must have had with the people around him turned into "Were they sleeping together?" Did he have a very active sex life? Yes, everyone who knew him agrees with that. Is it possible that some of the rumours about him and certain people were actually true? Surely, there were so many rumours and so many people that it's nearly impossible that absolutely none of them really happened. But if these things are the only thing about him that you are inspired to write about, then you are a bad writer. As a reader, I'm telling you that I don't give two shits about how well endowed he was, I care about how his life influenced his art and how the people closest to him viewed him as a person. I care about who he was, not who he did. He was the embodiment of art and creativity and prosperity and hard work, so you cannot tell me that his love-life was more pressing and more interesting that you needed to write an entire book about it. And I would have no problem if that is what this book was marketed as: a tale and re-telling of his sexcapades and all of the rumours that surrounded him throughout his life. But that isn't what this book is marketed as. Yes, it says "an erotic journey" on the front, but as a whole, it's meant to be a biography of his life and career. The author skimmed over everything that didn't include a sexual interest and never went into detail about what makes him him. A better title would be "Bowie: A Bedroom Biography".
And the writing itself was just simply poor as well. It read to me as more of a tabloid article than a professional biography. It felt cheap, sleazy, incredibly shallow. There was no real content. I would rather believe that Wendy Leigh runs a gossip blog than writes actual books.
David Bowie is my icon. I have so much admiration and respect for this man, and when he passed away, I was truly devastated (and still am to this day). So the idea of reading a biography about him was awesome, and I was so excited. But this biography did no justice to the man I have so dearly loved since I was a child.
Let's start this off by saying I have NO problem with sex. I have no problem with reading things that are erotic. And I know that sex was quite a significant part of David's life, and I was expecting it to be talked about in this book. However, there was so much more to him as a person than just his sex life, and I got none of it while reading. When reading a biography, you're looking for a story about the person's life and upbringing, their inner circles, their creative processes, their struggle to success, etc. etc. What this biography brought to the table was nothing more than "who slept with whom... every person that met David fell in love with him... his romances with people are what helped him garner attention to his art... he had no real friendships, only rumoured affairs... oh, and in case you didn't catch the first 70 times it's been mentioned, Bowie had a big you-know-what...". It was exhausting, and if I'm being honest, quite insulting to David Bowie himself. I don't know if he ever read this particular book while he was alive, but I truly believe he would have hated it. And he also would have hated that even though he was alive when this was written, this author never bothered to look to him for an interview or any insight into the things she was writing. He would have hated how his entire life and career was boiled down to all of his rumoured love interests over the years. That all of his genuine relationships and friendships that he must have had with the people around him turned into "Were they sleeping together?" Did he have a very active sex life? Yes, everyone who knew him agrees with that. Is it possible that some of the rumours about him and certain people were actually true? Surely, there were so many rumours and so many people that it's nearly impossible that absolutely none of them really happened. But if these things are the only thing about him that you are inspired to write about, then you are a bad writer. As a reader, I'm telling you that I don't give two shits about how well endowed he was, I care about how his life influenced his art and how the people closest to him viewed him as a person. I care about who he was, not who he did. He was the embodiment of art and creativity and prosperity and hard work, so you cannot tell me that his love-life was more pressing and more interesting that you needed to write an entire book about it. And I would have no problem if that is what this book was marketed as: a tale and re-telling of his sexcapades and all of the rumours that surrounded him throughout his life. But that isn't what this book is marketed as. Yes, it says "an erotic journey" on the front, but as a whole, it's meant to be a biography of his life and career. The author skimmed over everything that didn't include a sexual interest and never went into detail about what makes him him. A better title would be "Bowie: A Bedroom Biography".
And the writing itself was just simply poor as well. It read to me as more of a tabloid article than a professional biography. It felt cheap, sleazy, incredibly shallow. There was no real content. I would rather believe that Wendy Leigh runs a gossip blog than writes actual books.
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