Bowie Book Reviews

Last night I finished reading Bowie: The Pitt Report by Kenneth Pitt. I think this was the most interesting of the Bowie books I’ve read so far. Not the most informative–it only covers a couple of years in the late 60s before Bowie became famous–but fascinating because of the personalities involved and because the author knew Bowie so intimately.

In later years Pitt was criticized for being an ineffectual manager and for trying to turn Bowie into an “all-around light entertainer,” so much of the book is taken up with his attempts to refute that. He chronicles the work he did to promote Bowie in meticulous detail–industry people he contacted, letters and promos he sent, performances he organized. After reading this it’s impossible to deny that Pitt worked his ass off for Bowie–perhaps Pitt was looking in the wrong places, or perhaps Bowie’s work just wasn’t quite star-quality material yet. But what makes the story interesting is not so much the long lists of performance dates and industry contacts as the fact that Kenneth Pitt was clearly head over heels in love with David Bowie.

( The Pitt Report )

Here is a quick round-up of the other Bowie books I've read so far:

( Alias David Bowie )

( Strange Fascination )

( The Complete David Bowie )

( Moonage Daydream: The Life & Times of Ziggy Stardust )

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.

*sigh*

I swear to god, you’d think I’m trying to choose the most random and obscure things to obsess over.

*goes back to sitting in the corner babbling to myself about David Bowie and Francis Crawford of Lymond*

Current Mood: lonely & lonely

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.