Freddie Mercury : An Intimate Memoir by the Man Who Knew Him Best [Paperback]

Peter Freestone (Author), David Evans (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2000

The bizarre story of Freddie Mercury's life and death by the man who was his personal assistant for the last 12 years of his life. Peter Freestone lived with the superstar in London, Munich and New York and was with him when he died. This is the most intimate account of Freddie Mercury's life ever written.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The myth of Mercury's debauched private life is well and truly debunked by the man who was there throughout the toothsome showman's later years in this affectionate portrait...' Q --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Omnibus Press (February 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 071198042X
• ISBN-13: 978-0711980426
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,458,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Twelve Years -- 1979-2001, July 24, 2002

By 

David R. Lorenz (Auburn, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freddie Mercury : An Intimate Memoir by the Man Who Knew Him Best (Paperback)

I will say, on the one hand, I am not a "die-hard" Queen fan, nor am I a "die-hard" Freddie Mercury fan. On the other hand, I do enjoy Queen's music.
The intent on buying this book, as in any biography, is to learn about the birth, career, and so on of the person in which the biography is based. That is not the case for this book.

At first, I was a bit dissapointed to discover that I would not learn about Freddie's birth, childhood, his early carrer, the founding of Queen as a band, as well as the birth of Queen's successes.

The book opens in 1979. That is when the author, Peter Freestone, began working for Queen; his original job was to make all the costume changes ready, during Queen's concert performances. His job descriptions, and responsibilities increased as time went on, and he began working solely for Freddie, himself.
'I was Freddie's chief cook and bottle washer, waiter, butler, secretary, cleaner..and agony aunt',writes Peter Freestone (quoting from the back cover, to give an insight as to the various responsibilities he had while employed by Mercury.)
'I travelled the world with him, I was with him at the highs and came through the lows...I acted as his bodyguard when needed and in the end, of course, I was one of his nurses.'

This is, indeed as the title states, an intimate look at the man who is Freddie Mercury, written by someone who became one of Freddie's closest, most trusted friends.
But, it only covers the 12 years that Freestone knew, and worked for him.
The last 2 chapters are especially touching. Peter Freestone was there when Freddie passed away, in 1991, and he shares a very personal account of the goings on before, during, and after his death.

What I learned, and appreciated about this intimate memoir, was how generous, and giving Freddie was. He was a loyal friend. He treated those who worked for him as close friends.

This book was excellent reading, for what it was; and what it was, was an intimate portrait, getting to know Freddie Mercury on a personal level (kinda like getting a backstage pass, so to speak), learning things that would be, otherwise private.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant Memories of Freddie Mercury..., June 20, 2001

By 

rosemarie jean odom (Frisco, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freddie Mercury : An Intimate Memoir by the Man Who Knew Him Best (Paperback)

I truely enjoyed reading this book. I have, for many years been a Freddie Mercury fan and great admirer of his music. I was very apprehensive about buying this book, as most often books as such are rarely kind to the individual whom they are written about. But I felt that this book characterized Freddie Mercury more as a "person" rather than this huge "rock star" (which he was) and gave some delightful and colorfull insight into his daily life. The book is filled with many stories and incidents that depict his life style more in terms of his love of music, the band, his friends, his home and his cats. There are stories demonstrating his sensitive character, as well as his over all kindness and generousity. The fact that he was gay is secondary in this book, but it was not ignored either. If you are a Freddie Mercury fan I know you will enjoy this book very much. The photo section in the book is good...but for Freddie Mercury fans there are never enough pictures.

I myself have reread my book several times and enjoy it just as much each time, sometimes reading something I missed before. Peter Freestone remembered his friend kindly.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The man behind the music, January 17, 2003

By 

karinam78 "Karina" (Darwin, NT Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freddie Mercury : An Intimate Memoir by the Man Who Knew Him Best (Paperback)

I have been a long time fan of Freddie's and when someone bought this for me I was thrilled and yet scared. Scared because I have tried on Many occasions to read biographies and failed miserably. Luckily this book was really well done and the topic was close to my heart.

The biography is written by a man who obviously loved Freddie and was very close to him in life and affected immenly by his personality. The book covers who Freddie really was to his friends, family and fans. It covers several albums and inspiration behind the music. It also covers his very sad sickness and I must admit I cried quite a bit.

I only have one qualm about this book and this is the time line as it jumps around quite a bit. But it is still followable and you can piece it together.

However in the end I was left feeling like I really did know Freddie and it gave me a warm feeling inside. Now when I listen to his music it brings back parts of the book to me and helps me build a better picture of the artist that Freddie really was.