On Bowie audiobook

I'm writing this review on January 1, 2017, the dawn of a new year. I'm writing this with both middle fingers raised to 2016, one of the shittiest and most fucking awful years on record. Personally, 2016 was the year I lost my father-in-law to liver cancer. I had to watch a wonderfully kind, loving, funny, intelligent man with a crazy work ethic (he was a truck mechanic and he was working two weeks prior to dying quietly in hospice) and the wisdom of a demigod wither away and crush the spirits of my wife and mother-in-law, dying a week before Christmas. I will never have the pleasure of building a deck or putting up a tub surround or changing my oil again with him. We will never again have the pleasure of talking for hours about our favorite science fiction novels or bad 1950s grade-B horror films that we loved or our shared admiration of Kurt Vonnegut, Katy Perry videos, and Japanese cuisine. I will miss him terribly.This past year was also the year that a fascist orange moron with yellow hair won the presidential election. I will never call Trump my president. He is an embarrassment, a national joke, a nightmare, and a piece of shit. He is the Asshole to end all Assholes, and I honestly fantasize that something awful will happen to him, Mike Pence, and Trump's entire Cabinet sometime before the 20th. Something juicy, like a pack of rabid wolves or a meteor shower right in the middle of Trump's getaway, Mar-a-Lago. It can take his whole worthless family, too, for all I care. I don't---and won't---apologize for this.This past year was the year that Aleppo was bombed; millions of children were killed; the Russians hacked the United States; the Zika virus hit; kids in Flint, MI got lead poisoning from tap water; oil pipelines threatened to wipe out ancient Sioux burial grounds in ND; and global climate change got real, but nobody---including our President or anyone else in Washington, D.C.---gave a shit because they were too worried about transgenders raping our children. This past year was the year that Black Lives Mattered but, ultimately, didn't.This past year was the year that so many beloved celebrities passed away---Alan Rickman, Carrie Fisher, George Michael, to name a few---long before their time.This past year was the year Bowie died.So, fuck you, 2016. I hope you are rotting in hell for all eternity. I hope you are gagging on Satan's cock. I hope Antonin Scalia is dropping trou and dumping Cleveland steamers all over your face, you stupid, stupid, stupid excuse for a year.Okay, that's enough… Thanks for letting me vent.Anyway, Rob Sheffield's little 197-page book "On Bowie" is a beautifully-written love letter to Bowie and his legacy of awesome music. Sheffield, a music critic and contributing editor of Rolling Stone, focuses on the evolution of Bowie's music, starting with his forgettable Brit-pop roots to his sci-fi hippy resurrection with "Space Odyssey" and the heavy metal period of "The Man Who Sold the World" to his revolutionary experimental phase and brilliant collaboration with Brian Eno on "Low" to his brief but successful foray into mainstream with "Let's Dance" to his relatively dead period with the forgettable "Tin Machine" to his Iman-inspired resurrection with "Earthling" to his surprise last album "Blackstar".Bowie fans know the first time they fell in love with Bowie. They could tell you which album and which song it was that they had the revelation that Bowie was a musical god, in much the same way that born-again Christians know the exact moment that they were saved.I have that moment, and I don't necessarily have a problem with sharing it, but I'm keeping it to myself because I want that for myself, that shared moment I had with Bowie, for all time.

ORIGINALLY POSTED: https://bibliomantics.com/2016/08/01/...I’m going to be honest, this book destroyed me. I’m talking almost crying in public levels here. Part love letter to David Bowie, part biography, part music criticism, Sheffield’s book taught me even more about Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke and all the iterations of David Jones in a mere 200 pages. Get ready to binge on Bowie tunes after reading! You know, more than usual.

A love letter from a fan to fans. I devoured this the moment it arrived. It was written in the immediate aftermath of The Dame's death. It was still raw for Sheffield when he wrote it and reading it brought me back to that time in January when I couldn't stop crying. He nails the sense of shock and how Bowie's music changed after his death. He also captures how the music and its meaning changed throughout Sheffield's life. I have adored Bowie from the moment I bought my first record (Station to Station, the day it went on sale). I have bought ever album since and, while I have sometimes been disappointed (ironically with "Never Let Me Down"), I have never been bored and have never loved Bowie less. Bowie is, and remains, the soundtrack of my life.I have read all the Bowie books and most are junk. This one finally gets it. If you are not already a fan, this book is not for you. The biography is tiny and there are no explanations as to why Bowie is great or meant so much. You either already know or need to find out for yourself.

Rob Sheffield writes about music exactly how I want to read about music: as a fan, as an educated fan, one with an encyclopedic knowledge of music as well as a clear understanding of how importance its both cultural and emotional resonances are. His Bowie book did not disappoint: while realizing the impossibility of trying to separate his own life from his understanding of Bowie's career, his explanations for it all go well beyond his own emotional response. Great stuff here.

Simply stated, I could not put this book down. Author Rob Sheffield is one of the most engaging music writers working today and his stylish look at the life and work of the late David Bowie is one of the finest creative tributes I've read in the months since he passed away. Sheffield offers an appropriately prismatic view on Bowie's life, weaving personal narrative in with reported facts, legends and a healthy dose of hyperbole about the artist's career. I picked it up at a glance and never set it down. This book isn't there to teach the small details. It's there to bring to life the broad creative swatch cut over decades of reinvention.My only problem may be that the book is light on pictures. Actually, there are four similarly staged shots of Bowie from different eras. With such a paltry number, why bother including them at all?Don't let that defer you though. If you want Bowie pictures, go to the internet. Search: BOWIE, DAVID. Otherwise, read this book.www.well-lightedetcetera.com

Rob Sheffield is a master of awakening nostalgia in the reader without being schmaltzy. His taste in music is so approachable and unpretentious, as is his writing. I wish he would write this book a million times over about every artist that I love. Points because it's Bowie, but mostly Rob gets all the points himself with his refreshing and beautiful style. Cannot wait for the Beatles book!

Being a huge Bowie fan I was shocked and saddened by his Unexpected death in January. I also have enjoyed Sheffield's previous books so when I saw this came out I knew I had to read it!I think it's fair to say that Sheffield is the ultimate Bowie fanboy , which means that he has a deep understanding of Bowie's career. He also has the musical background as a journalist to be able to put things into perspective, which she does very well in this book.He captures how Bowie connected to his fans extremely well. He was astute at a young age it seems. I don't think I've ever heard somebody describe how Bowie made people feel in such a honest way.Sheffield was several years older than me but had similar musical tastes , so I feel I understood his cultural references quite well. I do wonder if somebody was either an older or younger Bowie fan if these would simply pass over their head or not ring true to them. Sheffield has a way of cleverly mixing lyrics into his writing which I love, but I think some people might find a little too precious after a while.The strength of the book lies in the first two thirds and I think as the book (as Bowie's career) went along it lost the plot a little bit. that is the only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5.No matter. This was a quick and enjoyable read. I think anybody who is missing Bowie we'll find something for themselves in this , particularly if they are of a certain age.

This is a terrific book from music writer Rob Sheffield. He approaches Bowie's career as a fan, not as a critic. For those of us who admired and loved Bowie's music, but might not have been aficionados of his every musical and cultural nuance, this book hits the sweet spot. It never dives into minutiae or feels heavy handed. It's like coffee with a Bowie fan who wants to share a fair assessment of his hits and misses, his humanity and his struggles. The book, chaptered by albums and eras, takes us from his early days as David Jones to his passing in 2016 and the luminous "Lazarus" that capped off his career. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for an introduction to Bowie, or a high-level appreciation of his life and artistry. If you know the lyrics and session players for every album from "Low" to "Never Let Me Down", this might be a deep enough dive for you, but you'll appreciate Sheffield's honesty, respect, and awareness of Bowie and his impact on our culture.

I rarely give 5 stars to books, so you know I loved this one. Not a bio, not even quite a critical history. The publicity calls it a "meditation" on the life and career of David Bowie, and that is a perfect description. It reads like a long Rolling Stone article from the 70s and that's meant as a compliment, since 70s Rolling Stone music writing is the peak of the genre. Sheffield writes about the man, his music, his successes and failures, his strengths and flaws, and never loses sight of the fans. I don't necessarily agree with his critical judgments ("Station to Station" as the best Bowie song?) but I loved reading this and didn't want it to end. Now I'll immerse myself in Bowie music for the next week at least (as I did the week Bowie died), and maybe I'll even give Scary Monsters another try.

Sheffield delivers a heartfelt memorial to Bowie. It includes some history, lots of personal opinions and even more good writing.