Customer Reviews

Billy Joel: The Life and Times of an Angry Young Man

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being the ultimate Billy Joel fan, I was a bit disappointed. There's not much new information here, its just a nice collection of old articles that dedicated fans have already read. Although I'm happy someone finally put out a recent bio of billy. Bordowitz seemed to focus the majority on billy's early career, when he was unknown, and how he broke through to fame. It seemed that once it came to around to Greatest Hits 1&2 in the book, Bordowitz just seems to skim through billy's life - only offering a couple paragraphs on each album. I was disappointed with this. He seems not too interested in billy's later/current life.

All in all, the book is a nice summary of past articles and more than not, general information. Alot of the people interviewed are people who knew Billy way back when and played a part in his upcoming career. But it was nice the author noted that many people close to Billy fiercely guard him and can't and wouldn't want to divulge any information about him. So therefore he was left with who he could get. Sure, we'd all like it if billy was interviewed himself, but i've read other places billy isn't keen on the idea of a biography of himself, therefore probably wouldnt oblige when authors come knocking.

One thing I didnt like was for the fact that Bordowitz seemed to be so keen on billy's history of bands, he doesn't mention one word about Mark Rivera, who was touring with billy as early as the bridge tour. He also states that Crystal Talifero was featured on River Of Dreams, and while she was, he never mentioned her first appearing on his Storm Front album and touring with him for the Storm Front tour. Mark and Crystal, along with Dave Rosenthal, were all HUGE parts of Billy's more recent band, yet Bordowitz fails to mention them at all, or once at best.

Also, i would have liked to have seen more words dedicated to billy's history making events such as his USSR tour and historic Yankee Stadium shows. They are mentioned in the book, but seem like an "oh by the way, this also happened..." kind of thought. Especially his Yankee Stadium shows.

Overall, I'd say the book was 'good', - not horrible, not great. Great for an interested fan, but just okay for a die-hard fan.

I find myself scratching my head at the reviews who say there is "nothing new" here. I've been a devout Billy Joel fanatic all my life, and there is a LOT of new info here. One thing that stands out is Billy's attempted suicide: Billy always kind of laughed the incident off, saying he "just went around farting furniture polish. I'd sit on the chair and polish the furniture." The Borowitz book reveals that (a) Billy was admitted to the hospital in a coma; (b) he did not admit himself into a mental health facility (as he long suggested) but was admitted by the authorities; (c) he did not get himself sprung (again, as Billy has suggested) but had to get his then-manager Irwin Mazur to pose as a psychologist(!) to get him out.

And all of this is just the tip of the iceberg. Not to call into question the fans who say they already knew this stuff--but unless you're Billy's sister, you did NOT know all of this. And yes, band members, former managers, and family members were contacted for this book, and many of them--for a change--apparently talked. As of this writing, this is by far the most detailed Billy bio out there.

I've not read other attempts at Billy Joel biographies, so this one definitely contained some interesting facts that I, as a long fan, did not know. It was incredibly difficult, however, to pull those tidbits out from the terrible and often ridiculous prose that is the writing (and editing -- hello typos -- "through" and "thorough" are not the same word!) of this book. The author tries (too hard) to draw parallels where none exist solely for the sake of attempted literary-ness. Commenting on the "McCarthyism" of "Good Night Saigon" (so that he could refer to another song on The Nylon Curtain as having traces of "McCartneyism" -- get it?)? That song is anything but. I especially loved when the author recounted a diatribe Billy made against music industry forces that try to stifle an artist's creativity. Billy apparently said something along the lines of once an artist lets the people who control the money influence the art, then the art begins to stink like a dead horse. The author makes the feeble attempt to say this remark is a passing reference to when Billy's former manager and brother-in-law, Frank Weber, stole money from Billy by, among other things, getting involved in intentionally maiming horses for insurance money. Are you joking? People with money trying to control the artist's decision + dead horse. Um -- clearly the author has never seen The Godfather. Sure, Mr. Bordowitz, that's ALL about an insurance fraud/race horse scam. Good one. Overall, the writing was terrible and VERY repetitive. He frequently used the exact same quote two or three times, sometimes within a span of just a few pages. As I said, where is the editor? I would recommend this book if you want to learn some more details about Billy Joel, but be warned. As a book, it sucks. Big time. (Ultimate irony: Read the last chapter wherein the author recounts how, at one time, Billy had agreed to cooperate with a biography but only if was a respectable author who actually could write. And then the author wonders why it would be that Billy refused to particpate in the writing of this rag. Hmmm. Check the mirror, bub. The writing stinks. Kinda like a dead horse.)

For me, the period of time from "Turnstiles" to "Nylon Curtain" was the ultimate Billy Joel. He was in his element and his trials and tribulations with his first wife Elizabeth were reflected in his art. Joel is as much tin pan alley as he is a rocker. (Among his many influences were Ray Charles, The Beatles, Procol Harum, Hendrix, Traffic, etc) This book reflects on Joel well but it is not a balanced portrait. I suspect the truth maybe between the two biographies. Joel has been burned so many times that he has a deep mistrust of outsiders and I suppose thats intertwined with his relationships with the opposite sex. Joel has been oft quoted as saying "Why would anyone want to read about me?" He definitely is an interesting enigma wrapped up in a riddle but these books wont peel past those layers. That being said, Bordowitz does a good job of cobbling together the early years and the infamous "suicide" attempt. The level of detail is appropriate up until the "Innocent Man" era. At that point, Bordowitz steps on the gas pedal and we are fast forwarded to about 2004. All things being equal though, this a good attempt but not the last word by any means. I suspect Joel still has the profound ability to create great work in any idiom. His is driven by his passion for those he loves (Listen to "Lullabye" or "Downeaster Alexa") and equal parts insanity ("I go to Extremes") and these are the hallmarks of most great composers. If anything, Joel wears his heart on his sleeve and we have admired him for it.

I think that if someone is researching rock music, this is a good resource and has some of the people who took part in Billy's early years, but if you're looking for the definitive bio on Billy Joel, the writer mentions that the people close to him have either signed nondisclosure agreements or have nothing bad to say about him, as well as Billy not feeling that his life story is worth writing about (and that the book would have to be a great novel that makes for a read for people who don't know who he is), more likely the real reason is that he's too guarded due to being burned over the years by people (which is covered).

The writer seems to depend heavily on existing interviews because he seems to only be able to interview a very small handful of people. I don't think the writer exploited Billy as badly as he could have, even though drug using, the car crashes and women problems are brought up. But putting it in perspective that a lot of it took place in the "free" 60s and 70s, it is stil l tamer compared to what has been written about the Beatles, Elvis(one of the Memphis Mafia worked with Billy), and Led Zeppelin (Billy Joel: Hammer of the Keys?). But without the bandmembers, family, and ex-wives, we're left with existing interviews and allegations.

Again, the good parts in the book are more about Billy's years growing up on Long Island, playing the clubs and finding his way into fame and fortune than once he made it, the discography info, and some of the things he did prior to "Piano Man".

This biography of Billy Joel is the best one I've ever seen of Billy. It's also the only one I've ever seen. Bordowitz has put together a decent, though not definitive, look at Billy Joel's career by splicing together interviews with ex-associates of BJ's, articles from other magazines, and a few of BJ's TV interviews. To say that the sources are thin would be an understatement. Bordowitz also makes a few glaring chronological errors that should've been edited out. He refers to 1981 as the end of the Reagan Years in the White House, when really it was just the beginning. He also refers to Axl Rose as an early 1980's contemporary of Billy's.

For all of this book's faults it's still interesting. It is a quick read and will tide over fans of Billy Joel until the autobiography comes out. That'll probably happen when Billy is ready to get married a 4th time. Maybe in three years.

As a life long Billy Joel fan, I was very excited to read this book. However, I found little if no new information on Billy Joel. In fact, the book seemed to be a compilation of material that was already out there. The author interviewed nobody in the true inner circle of Billy Joel. No bad memmbers, no ex wives etc.

If you have followed the career of the singer, the reader won't find out anything new in this book. For the newcomer to Billy Joel's work, it is a detailed, if not always factual, chronology of the singer's life. The fact that Billy did not endorse this book, combined with several stretches in the author's vivid imagination, will leave faithful fans feeling like they either just read an extended article in the National Enquirer or need to take a shower.

I was glad to see a book about Billy Joel. It was about time! Content would be a 3.5 stars to me. While Hank admits it was difficult to get people to spill the beans on Billy's more recent life information, the information provided on the early days was quite good. Information on his beginnings and Levittown were very interesting. As the previous reviewer stated, some of my favorite events and people appeared as an afterthought. Crystal and Mark were hardly mentioned. Crystal sings Billy's high notes now - certainly she should be more to the story. Yankee Stadium was a huge event. The DVD had more insight to it than the book. The book also failed to illustrate Billy's stage presence and performing antics that make his shows worth every penny we pay to see them. I think Hank was more interested in dirt than the whole story and when he could not get the dirt, he passed on the story. The book is still a worthwhile read if you are a fan. Could have been better.

I bought this book imagining it would be another authorized biography, withou many surprises.
It amazed me when I read the book and found how rich in details and deepness of Billy Joel's life it is.
A rare item that is not easily found.
I'm in total awe.
To tell you the truth in less than a month I've read this book twice.
Congratulations to Mr. Hank Bordowitz for a wonderful, patient and inspired work.