Like the solitary space traveler in 2001, he may be regressing to the embryonic stage to give birth to himself. Rock accompanied Bowie on tour to the US and the UK, capturing his life both on stage and behind the scenes at the height of his Ziggy Stardust period. Jaynes’ 1976 treatise argued that the brain’s two lobes were once isolated, so early humans “heard” thoughts from one lobe as the voices of gods—it was the sort of compelling crackpot theory that Bowie loved. Alongside the supremely well-read Bob Dylan, David Bowie was probably popular music’s most bookish star. There is so much information to be gleaned here that without even having been at the display I was able to learn more than I had before about the man.

The 15 Best David Bowie Books | Vogue

David Buckley’s unique approach to unravelling the Bowie enigma, via interviews with many of the singer’s closest associates, biography and academic analysis, makes this unrivalled biography a classic for Bowie fans old and new. He was taken with Dadaist artist Richter’s 1964 study, to the point where he nicked whole lines from it for “Up the Hill Backwards. His love of literature had an undeniable influence on his artistic outputs and chameleon career from a young age: reading the works of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac’s On The Road at 15 gave Bowie the impetus to get out of Bromley. During this time Rock documented the rise and descent of Ziggy Stardust, and shot promotional films, album jackets, posters, artwork, videos like Life on Mars and Space Oddity and thousands of photographs.And “Heat,” the closing track of The Next Day, opens with a reference to Spring Snow, the first part of Mishima’s last work, the Sea of Fertility quartet, whose thematic concerns of reincarnation, glamour, decadence, death and transformation are in Bowie’s late albums as well.

Books to read if you love David Bowie - Penguin Books UK Books to read if you love David Bowie - Penguin Books UK

Cann has worked on reissues of Bowie’s back catalogues as well as anniversary releases of his albums. Relocating from Los Angeles to New Mexico for the shoot, he brought hundreds upon hundreds of books with him, a “traveling library” that he ported in cases large enough to hold an amplifier. Ma poiché non è nella mia natura l'adorazione fanatica di alcunché, sinceramente non me ne sono mai occupata. Incredibly intelligent, calm, and filled with ideas, he talked a lot about Alistair Crowley whose esoteric writings he was heavily into at the time.Whether it’s on-stage with The King Bees in the Sixties, off-stage at Haddon Hall in the Seventies, on-stage (again) with Iggy Pop in the Eighties, or back-stage with Morrissey in the Nineties, Steve Pafford, editor of the UK’s ‘Crankin’ Out’ Bowie fan club magazine (PO Box 3268, London NW6 4NH), has unearthed some fascinating pix. In 1972, David Bowie released his groundbreaking album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. While this biography was published a decade before Bowie died—look elsewhere for coverage of his death, his legacy, and his last two albums—this is likely the most insightful critical biography we have, deeply learned about not just the songs, but the albums, the tours, the personas, and the artistic vision. This memoir takes you on a roller-coaster journey through the glory days of pop music, when men wore sequins and pop could truly rock. A really thorough, thoughtful collection of images and thoughts to commemorate the wonderful life and artistry of one of my favorites.

David Bowie Is by Victoria Broackes, Geoffrey Marsh - Waterstones

The following are some books that influenced Bowie’s songwriting, from his early records in the 1960s to his last albums. Accedere e partecipare, se pur anonimamente, a questa enorme quantità di “informazioni” e commenti che stanno circolando da allora tuttavia mi permette di ragionare su questa ossessione e formarne un pensiero. The informed, incisive text and picture captions are also littered with quotes from David himself, compiled from various media interviews conducted over the years, as well as his chats with Crankin’ Out, which appear in print for the very first time.

For mesmerizing, fly-on-the-wall documentation of Bowie’s glitter-clad, glam-rock, his/her Ziggy, nothing beats this. There’s also an exclusive two-page interview with photographer Mick Rock, contributions from ex-manager Ken Pitt, as well as previously unpublished extracts of Crankin’ Out’s interviews with collaborator Tony Visconti, clothes designer Natasha Kornilof and Manish Boy Bob Solly. Introduced by O’Regan and with every single image personally approved by Bowie, this is an intimate view of an icon at the height of his fame. Today marks four years since David Bowie died—two days after his 69th birthday, when he also released his final, monumental album, Blackstar. Both are full of great material – Visconti’s account of Bowie’s first meeting with John Lennon, for example, is a treat – but are inevitably lacking one aspect of Bowie’s life that is central to his whole story: the bond he formed with millions of his fans, and the way he catalysed their fantasies and ambitions in a way that no musician has since.