Bowie: Loving The Alien [Paperback]

Christopher Sandford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1998

Based on interviews with family members, colleagues, lovers, and the previously silent William Burroughs, this unsparing yet evenhanded biography guides the reader through the many personas, crises, and musical metamorphoses of David Bowie—also known as Davy Jones, the Laughing Gnome, Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, a drug-addled grandfather of punk, actor, art aficionado, political activist, one of rock's most resonant icons, and a totem of modern pop culture. Nowhere else is the man and musician so convincingly deconstructed and so compellingly humanized.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rock legend David Bowie, famed for his chameleonlike personality changes both onstage and off, once said that he "couldn't decide whether I was writing the characters or the characters were writing me." Similarly, the characters populating this biography?Bowie's own numerous personalities, his endless succession of lovers and myriad musicians and sycophants?seem to have overwhelmed its author. Sandford, author of Sting: Demolition Man (Forecasts, Oct. 13), has done his research: the book is packed with quotes and reminiscences from practically everyone who ever worked?or slept?with Bowie. A weak narrative structure makes it difficult to sort through the wealth of information, but the details of Bowie's ascent from a middle-class start through the years of drug and sex orgies to his current incarnation as happy hubby of a supermodel, painter and rock's elder statesman are engaging. Bowie's perpetual reinvention of his stage persona set the standard for the pop idols who followed him in their efforts to keep the attention of a fickle public. His private life, in all its decadent glory, set trends, too, making him an example of how to live the rock star life and come out alive. Nevertheless, this book loses steam once Bowie's '70s escapades subside, as Sandford doesn't have much insight into what the aging star has left to offer.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Christopher Sandford, the biographer of Mick Jagger, Kurt Cobain, and Sting, is also the author of Bowie: Loving the Alien and Clapton: Edge of Darkness. He has reviewed and written about rock music for more than twenty years, for theTimes of London and other publications, and his books have been published in more than a dozen countries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Revised edition (August 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306808544
• ISBN-13: 978-0306808548
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,315,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better detailed and explained than any of the rest!, July 11, 2000

By 

Brian - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bowie: Loving The Alien (Paperback)

When I bought this book, I figured I knew just about everything I needed to know about David Bowie. I knew all of his albums, his wives, favorite albums, all about his fellow musical friends (Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, etc.), the movie he has starred in, and so on. As a matter of fact, I came close to not buying the book at all. But boy am I glad I did. Loving The Alien is the by far the most down to the earth, well explained, and best researched Bowie biography out there today. I'm surprised that the author, Christopher Sanford was able to convince William Burroughs to talk to him. What sets this biography apart from the rest is that it presents the information in a factual matter but also with a twist of Sanford's opinion mixed in. I found the reading very interesting and I finally realized that I knew hardly anything about the exciting and unique David Bowie.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly comprehensive biography of Bowie., September 15, 2000

By 

"johnthirdearl" (Lynnwood, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bowie: Loving The Alien (Paperback)

Christopher Sandford has done an admirable job of writing a biography on one of rock's more elusive icons, David Bowie. Having read most of the other biographies on Bowie in and out of print, I'd have to rank this one second best next to Peter Gillman's "Alias David Bowie." Gillman's biography has better photos and a superior in-depth account of Bowie's youth, but Sandford's is more up-to-date.

In "Loving the Alien," Sandford discusses Bowie's rumored schizophrenia, a trait he apparently inherited from his mother's side. (Previous biographers have argued that if this is a fact, it serves to explain the many stage-personas Bowie adopted during the '70's: Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Thin White Duke, etc. Curiously enough, Sandford seems uninterested in this theory.) Bowie's half-brother, Terry Burns, clearly suffered from the mental illness, which led him to take his own life in 1985. The song "Width of a Circle" is supposed to be about Bowie's own battles with schizophrenia (or possibly Burns', depending on which biography you read). Whether or not it ever seriously affected him, Bowie seems to have conquered it by his mid-30's.

Bowie also befriended many other rock stars and celebrities during the '70's. At one time, he was even friends with Elizabeth Taylor and Oona Chaplin (the latter's family even falsely predicted that Bowie would marry her).

Sandford's biography is probably the most well-written one yet on Bowie, as well as the most current. Strongly recommended for Bowie fans wishing to know more about the man.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is the best biography of David Bowie ever., June 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bowie: Loving The Alien (Paperback)

I have read a lot about David Bowie, because I'm a huge fan, and I believe that this is the best biography written about him. It goes into such detail, you can't believe that it's all true. I actually ended up highlighting parts that were so interesting, I would reffer to in conversations. I highly recommend this book. It will change anyone's life.