A review by violetturtledove
Ziggyology: A Brief History Of Ziggy Stardust by Simon Goddard

funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I own and have read a fair few books on Bowie, but this is really like no other Bowie book. It's not a casual fans introduction,  more one for the Bowie fan who has read everything else. 

It's original and with a huge scope - earlier chapters start with the big bang and work through such varied topics as feudal Japan, classical music, science, literature, war ... basically everything that happened in the world with the slightest bearing on the creation of Ziggy Stardust.

It's told in a very descriptive, almost poetic style, capturing the magic and glamour of the subject. It does take a certain amount of creative license with describing how certain things played out/ what people were thinking,  but it is really well done. 

As well as influences on Ziggy, the author makes sure to note those he influenced, although its not always immediately obvious who he's talking about (a snaggle-toothed boy called John, or the daughter of a Mr Ciccone). There are also some hilarious descriptions of other musicians - Herman's Hermits as 'a Lancashire hot-pot of guitars and teeth' or Tyrannosaurus Rex as sounding like 'a Hare Krishna playing nursery rhymes on a ukulele being pursued by a frantically clopping pantomime horse'.

So it's a quite unusual take, but quite fitting,  and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's also a very thorough reference section at the end.