David Bowie: Starman [Hardcover]

Paul Trynka (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2011

"Ziggy Stardust," "Changes," Under Pressure," "Let's Dance," "Fame," "Heroes," and of course, "Starman." These are the classic songs of David Bowie, the artist whose personas are indelibly etched in our pop consciousness alongside his music. He wrote and recorded with everyone from Iggy Pop to Freddie Mercury to John Lennon, sold 136 million albums, has one of the truly great voices, and influenced bands as wide-ranging as Nirvana and Franz Ferdinand.

Paul Trynka illuminates Bowie's seemingly contradictory life and his many reinventions as an artist, offering over 300 new interviews with everyone from classmates to managers to lovers. He reveals Bowie's broad influence on the entertainment world, from movie star to modern-day icon, trend-setter to musical innovator. This book will define Bowie for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"British rock journalist Paul Trynka considers at length the Startling androgyny that made Bowie a defining human being of the 1970s....this book feels close to definitive....many moments in David Bowie: Starman made me lean forward with pleasure. " (The New York Times Dwight Garner )

"British rock journalist Paul Trynka captures seemingly every glitter-god pretension and Lycra outfit, interviewing scores of friends, bandmates and detractors. The result is the most complete and compelling portrait of Bowie's life ever assembled." (Rolling Stone Andy Greene )

With extensive research, a well judged reappraisal of the work, and an impressively nuanced approach to the drives that have motored the many lives of David Bowie, Paul Trynka has delivered a sharp, elegant and convincing volume on the man that brings freshness to a familiar story. (Mojo Mark Paytress )

Truly definitive... Trynka's second successive exemplar of the rock biographer's art. (Classic Rock Ian Fortnam )

Something special...The book includes interviews with those who know Bowie best, from childhood friends to those working most closely with him today....This is a terrific book, and readers will be rushing to relisten to the artist's back catalog. Not to be missed. (Library Journal Bill Baars )

"Rich in observations from the collaborators and lovers [Bowie] burned through with roughly equal ruthlessness, the book is thorough enough to satisfy all but the most obsessive acolyte." (Dallas Morning News Chris Klimek )

"Paul Trynka's new book, BOWIE: STARMAN, ...a deeply researched and closely observed accounting of Bowie's life and career. Sure, there's plenty of sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll anecdotes. But Trynka takes us well beyond all that rock-star stuff and digs deeply into those peculiar confluences of gifted musical personnel and roiling creative juices that have produced Bowie's oeuvre." (Paste Mark Baker )

"Trynka hews to Bowie's own narrative...the author's musical credibility is unquestionable. For the rock fan, pop-culture junkie or curious passerby, there's plenty to be entertained by." (New York Post Maureen Callahan )

"Drawing upon more than 250 new interviews with friends of Bowie and on previously published interviews with Bowie, former Mojo editor affectionately chronicles the life and music of Bowie from his childhood and youth to the high points of his career, his recent heart attack and almost total disappearance from the music scene...Bowie, in Trynka's hands is a man who has never settled for the predictable." (Publisher's Weekly )

About the Author

Paul Trynka was formerly the editor of Mojo magazine (1996-2003). He has also been the editorial director of Q magazine, launch editor of The Guitar Magazine, and editor-in-chief of New Projects at Emap. He is the author of Iggy Pop (Broadway 2007), Portrait of the Blues, and Denim, a history of the fabric. He lives in London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (July 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316032255
• ISBN-13: 978-0316032254
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.8 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars 500 pages long and yet it's missing so much February 6, 2012

By Invisible Pedestrian

Format:Hardcover

Paul Trynka put together a very long, detailed biography of David Bowie (without speaking to the artists of course) and it still doesn't really get the job done despite the length.
In close to 500 pages I learned very little (or nothing at all) about some very important things in David Bowie's legendary career.
Want to know how the infamous, ground-breaking video for "Ashes To Ashes" was done in 1980 and who came up with the ideas? Not here. Want to learn about how Bowie landed the role in Labyrinth in 1986 which was largely panned by critics but became a hit anyway and still has a large following, and was put together by Jim Henson of Muppets fame? Or about the music Bowie did for it? Not here.
What about the bizarre, yet beautiful collaboration with Bing Crosby on "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy" in 1977? Barely a mention. Really? The collaboration on the hit single "This Is Not America" with the Pat Metheny Group in 1985? Nope-not even mentioned.
How about getting Pete Townshend to lay down the guitar solo on "Slow Burn" in 2002? Nope! Or singing on Adrian Belew's 1990 hit "Pretty Pink Rose"? Of course not.
Not even a word about the controversial cover art of the Diamond Dogs album! How is this possible? Or David's appearance on SNL in 1979 and so on.
But if you want to know what his nanny from the 70's had to say or some friends he hasn't seen in 40 years, this is the book for you. There's even some quotes attributed to nobody at all.
Trynka also annoyingly puts his opinions on the music throughout which should not be done. He has a seperate section for that in the back of the book, so why inject yourself in the narrative?
I still can't completely condemn the book as there are patches of good info and it is detailed (focusing way too much on the 60's). But flaws galore, some pretentious writing and not mentioning so many events was disappointing to say the least. No way this book is 5 stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Journalistic Account of Bowie's life January 18, 2012

By MT57

Format:Hardcover

I can't bring myself to assign 5 stars to a straightforward biography about a rock star but this is a good journalistic review of Bowie's life. By "journalistic", I mean a style that is chronological, well sourced, focused on the subject, striving for a balanced presentation that, net net, is modestly sympathetic without being fawning (although there are one or two passages which could be described as fawning), and relatively crisp (although it is pretty hefty) with not much psychoanalysis, sociology, musical analysis or authorial intrusion.

Bowie and his family do not seem to have actively cooperated in it but the author appears to have quite a number of sources who talk on the record.

He has a nice balance about what to focus on and what to glide over, and the chapter leading up to the release of Ziggy Stardust was excellent, conveying the professional excitement and pleasure of numerous participants who recognized, as they made it, that they were working on a breakthrough in their field.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Done August 23, 2011

By J. Cherry

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Covers the bases. Includes detailed roots inspection. Writer was an editor of Mojo--gives him cred in my book. Concentrates density where it counts, on the Ziggy. Recommended read.