Author:Dylan Jones
** Shortlisted for the NME Best Music Book Award 2018 **
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
A HERALD BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN IRISH INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR
'The definitive book on Bowie' The Times
Drawn from a series of conversations between David Bowie and Dylan Jones across three decades, together with over 180 interviews with friends, rivals, lovers, and collaborators - some of whom have never before spoken about their relationship with Bowie - this oral history is an intimate portrait of a remarkable rise to stardom and one of the most fascinating lives of our time.
Profoundly shaped by his relationship with his schizophrenic half-brother Terry, Bowie was a man of intense relationships that often came to abrupt ends. He was a social creature, equally comfortable partying with John Lennon and dining with Frank Sinatra, and in Dylan Jones's telling - by turns insightful and salacious - we see as intimate a portrait as could possibly be drawn.
Including illuminating, never-before-seen material from Bowie himself, drawn from a series of Jones’s interviews with him across three decades, DAVID BOWIE is an epic, unforgettable cocktail-party conversation about a man whose enigmatic shapeshifting and irrepressible creativity produced one of the most sprawling, fascinating lives of our time.
***NOW REVISED AND EXPANDED***
The definitive book on Bowie
—— The TimesDylan Jones made absolutely the right decision to frame his superb life of David Bowie as a multi-voiced oral biography. David Bowie: A Life suits the shape-shifting, beguiling, enigmatic complexities of its subject perfectly. It’s hard to imagine
anything that will do Bowie better justice
Jones constructs an oral-history mosaic that will engage even those whose lives
were not changed by the appearance of Ziggy Stardust on Top of the Pops in 1972
The best book on David Bowie you’ll ever need or read.
—— Irish Independent, BOOKS OF THE YEARWorthy of the Starman … Of all the volumes to appear since Bowie’s death, this is the most useful: an oral history that brings together the most incisive reminiscences and memorials
—— Evening StandardDylan Jones has excavated the cacophony of voices that make up a life and curated a phenomenal portrait of the artist from childhood to the final days. The witnesses who comprise this oral biography animate the pages like characters in a non-fiction novel. Damn nigh peerless.
—— David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas
Studded with shiny nuggets
The perfect present for music mums and dads
—— Daily MirrorFunny, enlightening, gossipy’
—— The HeraldSparks with admiration and grievances, lust and envy
—— Sunday TelegraphEngrossing
—— Mail on SundayThere have been many books about David Bowie ... but Dylan Jones's is among the best
—— ObserverThe definitive account of the great man’s life, in the words of those who knew him best … lively, funny and warm – and the story, even the well-known bits, still staggers and amazes. It’s a brilliant story, and it is tremendously well-told here
—— EsquireA magisterial compilation of startling insights
—— The OldieOne of the most colourful and intimate portraits yet painted of Bowie
—— VogueA vivid catalogue of anecdote, opinion, gossip and memoir
—— Telegraph MagazineThere is literally no better way to spend your time than by reading about the late, great, beautiful and brilliant David Bowie, brought to you by fellow superfan and GQ editor Dylan Jones
—— TatlerThis oral history is by far the best … It’s gossipy, fascinating stuff
—— The SunThe perfect accompaniment to roaring fires and languid winter evenings, this book
guarantees to see any man through the festive period
A must-have for Bowie fans
—— Daily MirrorRevelatory and surprising – perfect for the Ziggy completist
—— New York MagazineBeguiling … the fabulosity of Bowie’s life and times lends itself extraordinarily well
to the oral history form
An affectionate, sometimes surprising, always fascinating picture of a Star Man in the real world
—— STELLA magazineOf all the volumes to appear since Bowie’s death last year, this is perhaps the most useful
—— i paperA treat for enthusiasts […] it bulges with essential and telling Spinal Tappish gossip
—— GuardianAn intimate, detailed and gossip-spangled survey of the life of the great enigma
—— Strong Words magazineThere are sixty-two and a half million books written about David Bowie; this is the one that has been unanimously praised. Indeed, David Bowie: A life might be the only one that you really need.
—— Loud and Quiet MagazineYou can go to any page and read something really interesting. It’s the only book about another artist that I’ve really enjoyed.
—— Chris Difford , Daily Express