How could you not love a book about Bowie?! He's an icon, and Jones did a great job of painting Bowie's life for his fans.

I cried when David Bowie died. This was an interesting book full of interviews with people that knew him. A book best enjoyed while playing Bowie in the background.

Though I learned a fair amount about Bowie by reading this, I felt like I had to take some of the tales with a grain of salt. This biography is done in an oral history style with very little analysis of the interviewee's words done by the author. Everyone has an agenda, and there's not much here that makes note of that. Also, some of the quotes could have done with some editing to get more to the point — there's a lot of "But I was the most special and important, and only I knew him, and here, let me plug what I'm doing" going on. (Not everyone is like that, thankfully.) And wow do the interviewees hate Angie, his first wife. What is said about her implies that they were all just put off by her having ambitions of her own, as though she were somehow not allowed this.

That said, there were still enough interesting bits to keep me reading, and I liked hearing about his later career (though less time is spent on it), as I had fallen off paying attention after Hours until The Next Day came out.

It wasn't love for me, but the book is worth a read for the Bowie die-hards out there who can read between the lines and already know a lot of the context.

Characters were well developed. The plot was intriguing. Loved the descriptiveness of the book. I would like to read more from this author

Some rock performers are successful because they have a spark and are in the right place at the right time. Rock stars are in a different category. They reach the top because underneath their image is a genius that propels them. They are vulnerable to the same insecurities and excesses, but their need to create results in an expression that rises to the top.

Dylan Jones brings out this quality in his book about David Bowie, a rock legend who hit the scene in the 1960s and for decades delivered music, art, film and stage performances through ever-changing personas. David Bowie – A Life is a compilation of interviews and quotes from nearly two hundred people and spans the performer’s career until his death in 2016. It is a terrific view into a complicated and private person.

Born in 1947, David Jones grew up in a suburb of London. His father was an entertainment promoter and introduced his son to many types of music, as did his older brother. He attended art school, formed a band called the Spiders from Mars and, in 1969 had his first hit, “Space Oddity.” He married Angie Barnett in 1970 and they had a son in 1971. Their lives were anything but quiet and domestic, however, as they lived in an apartment in Haddon Hall, a large villa outside London, filled with artists and musicians, including the Spiders, and a place that became an intensely creative and collaborative community.

From the beginning, Bowie reinvented himself many times, adapting personas and performing before larger and larger audiences. Anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s will remember Ziggy Stardust, glam rock, the Thin White Duke, and many other later shifts in image and music. Bowie had his hand in all types of creative expression. He wrote, painted and appeared in several films and also onstage, including a highly praised Broadway performance in The Elephant Man. He continued to create until just before his death and his final music video, “Lazarus,” is widely viewed as the singer’s ultimate goodbye.

Quotes from band members, friends, agents, producers, journalists and random one-time meet-ups give a big picture of a complex person. While often manipulative of the press, Bowie is credited with, through his androgynous persona, making a generation of youth feel comfortable and accepted with their sexuality.

Readers will also learn about the cutthroat business of rock music, about agents, promoters, being on the road, bad feelings about borrowed ideas, as well as how his records were made. Bowie’s vast amount of knowledge reflects an insatiable curiosity in everything that was going on about him and is part of all his music. I especially enjoyed reading about his competitive friendship with Mick Jagger and about his longtime personal assistant and gatekeeper, Coco Schwab.

Bowie had many demons including lifelong feelings of isolation, a family history of schizophrenia, a failed marriage and a cocaine addiction. These factors both contributed to and taxed his creative years. As for the drug addiction, Bowie admitted that what made him quit was his realization that he had become a horrible person. Bowie married supermodel, Iman, in 1992 and they led a quieter life his later years, however, during that time, he surprised his fans with two albums he had written and recorded in secret.

At 554 pages, this comprehensive book is expertly arranged. I took my time and often jumped onto YouTube to re-watch his many music videos and performances. I recommend David Bowie – A Life to anyone who enjoys music biographies and to anyone who likes to know about creative geniuses, for, whether or not you were a Bowie fan, he was one of those. In addition, while readers may never truly know who the real David Jones was, the universal comment from all was that David Bowie was always a charming man to meet.

Dylan Jones has done a really good job of covering Bowie's life and the breadth and depth of interviews gives a good summary of his career.

DAVID BOWIE: A LIFE by Dylan Jones is classified as a biography, but it is not written in the traditional style. The entire life of David Bowie is laid out chronologically, but told in more of an oral history style by people who have been involved in or impacted by Bowie’s life either for a short time or many years.
This book clearly shows that David Bowie was the artist and innovator, while David Jones was the charismatic and flawed human. David Jones was influenced by his schizophrenic older brother and learned at a young age how mental illness can effect a family. He escaped the suburbs of London to live a life of continual self-reinvention, absorption of ideas and a lifelong love of learning and world travel.
The many voices that tell of his life are what make this book different. There are friends who were with him for many years and give their views of what David meant to their lives and careers and there are those voices that feel that they were used for a short time and then discarded. All say that David could turn on his charisma at will and make you feel the center of his world, but he could also cut you to the quick if he was done with you.
The author does not shy away from the sex and drugs of the 60’s and 70’s that were pervasive in the rock and roll culture, but he has people on both sides tell of the abuses and how they perceived them and how some were able to conquer them. It is told in a non-judgmental way. There are personal and professional stories of love for Bowie as well as jealousies. I do wish there were more passages by Bowie himself, but I really believe this book is like his life, it is all about what you experienced and what you personally took away from his music and art.
On a personal note: I saw David Bowie perform on his “Serious Moonlight” tour when he came to the Richfield Coliseum for my birthday many years ago. It was an amazing show with the most charismatic singer I have ever seen in concert. I have followed him through every incarnation and have always loved his voice, lyrics, fashion and smile.
Thanks very much to Crown Publishing and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for and honest review.

The book was all over the place. A lot of information is repeated throughout passages and chapters go on with the people interviewed speaking more about themselves rather than David Bowie. Also, it feels like there aren't enough interview passages from Bowie himself, so you never get a good idea of who he was or his view on certain matters. Not the best Bowie book on the market.

A fascinating in depth look at the life of David Bowie as told through interviews with friends, collaborators, admirers and the man himself.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this wonderful book.
I am not a big fan of Bowie but his music shaped my childhood like so many. I was interested to learn more about him, what drove him to be one of the most uniquely driven rockers and find out how he rose to fame. This satisfies the reader curiosity on every level as its told from a documentary standpoint. That gives it a fascinating element as the authors interview people from every time of his life. I found it a blast to the past, interesting and a profound look at a musical icon

Not every character in history lives a life enough to deserve an oral history. David Bowie is someone for whom the format works. I requested the book first thinking it was a conventional biography. Only after I started did I learn it was an oral history, and the format worked perfectly. Two years is just the right time for a biography on David Bowie--not too soon from his passing to feel hurried, yet not too far removed that his effect feels any less strong. I will definitely recommend this book for anyone who is already familiar with Bowie's work, as these interviews and write-ups will fill in a lot of additional info on his life. Someone unfamiliar with him might feel a little left behind, but they should still appreciate the highly personal storytelling of the people in Bowie's life.

I really liked this book and the way it was presented. Hearing about Bowie from the people he knew, the people he worked with, etc., gave it a more personable feel, like you were talking to that person and hearing it from them. Having been a Bowie fan since A Space Oddity, it was good to read this. It made him feel like he was still here. I recommend this!

This was a DNF for me. Could not get engaged. The author didn't connect the interviews and sources to paint an effective portrait. The voice was not effective.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to read this book. The following is my honest review.

I went into this as a lifelong David Bowie fan, and reader of other books about David Bowie. I enjoyed a lot of it, but didn't enjoy a lot of it as well.

I like the idea of a compilation of interviews with people who knew Bowie. The interviews with musicians and other collaborators were especially interesting to me. However, some of the interviews that focused mainly on groupies and sex just seemed like I was reading bad gossip. Not something I'm interested in reading about in this context. It was also a little long for me.

To sum up, it's a solid 3 stars. Right in the middle. It wasn't terrible, but I feel like there are better books about Bowie out there.

One of the worst biographies I have ever read. I've read better stuff about Bowie on Wiki.

Written from interviews, Dylan Jones offers readers less than a biography but more than just a glimpse at the life that was David Bowie. The book is written quite conversationally and I found it interesting and entertaining. It was easy to pick up and put down after reading a few vignettes, which made it an excellent travel choice. I appreciated the variety of memories and anecdotes supplied, however I still feel the need to read more about the man.

An insightful look into David Bowie's life. The biography is structured in the form of interviews, which reminded me a bit of Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. I would recommend this book to fans of David Bowie's music.

Nice biography on David Bowie. Some interesting insight from various people in his life at various times. Did I learn some things about him I did not know? Yes. The book did drag in some places but overall,not a bad read.I am sure Bowie fans will enjoy. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Dylan Jones has presented us with an insightful documentary of David Bowie’s life. What sets this book apart from other rock biographies is the format. Rather than proceeding in an expository fashion, Jones tells Bowie’s story through snippets of interviews with people who knew him, played with him, grew up with him, dated him, and did business with him. It’s a technique used in television documentaries with people who are essentially life witnesses sitting around and musing about someone they once knew. You don’t hear the interviewer’s queries - just the subject’s narratives. As you read through this book which is told in snippets chronologically you can hear these voices literally as if they were all sitting around in a pub, kicking back, and reminiscing. The flip side to this, of course, is that hearing all these narratives starting and stopping makes the book feel quite lengthy.

While I would disagree with the premise that Bowie’s death was a monumental shock to the Music community - the man had lived a full life by then —, his was a singular creative voice always on the edge and I will always remember Bowie closing out the Us Festival 2 in the wasteland of Devore, California.

David Bowie was a rock genius, a legend before his time; counterculture doesn't really explain him. This book's author interviews almost everyone who either knew David, worked with him, wanted to work with him, or knew him since he was a teenager. It's a little long, but the time span covers his entire career, from his first utterance into a microphone to his last beautiful breath on his very last album. If you're a fan, or just curious, a highly recommend this treasure.