'Book Report' Archives

Top

blog

Stories

Crookers on making you dance

By Britt Chester
P.O.S on the benovelence of hackers

By Noah Hubbell
Michael Vincze of the Mowgli's on being a Mowgli

By Tom Murphy
Nunchuck added to Westword Music Showcase

By Dave Herrera
Review + photos: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

By Tom Murphy
Review + photos: Geto Boys at the Summit

By Antonio Valenzuela
Review + photos: DeVotchKa at Red Rocks

By A.H. Goldstein
The ten best concerts to see this week

By Team Backbeat
Oak Tavern and 24K both closed

By Jon Solomon
Hipsterdom and song collide in this musical

By Adam Steininger

Book Report

The ten best music books of 2012

By Samantha Alviani Wed., Dec. 26 2012 at 11:00 AM

Categories: Book Report

Read more about the Boss in Peter Ames Carlin's Bruce.

This year, ambitious new books tackled the lives of music legends from Neil Young to Pete Townshend -- and many of these 2012 releases managed to burst through genres to offer significantly more than the average biography. We at Backbeat explored memoirs, historical surveys, ruminations on philosophy and even self-help to put together our list of the best releases of 2012. You're bound to find something you enjoy in our final favorites.

Tags:

Bruce Springsteen, Common, Dolly Parton, Heart, music 2012, music books 2012, Neil Young, Pete Seeger, Pete Townshend, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Book Report

The Man Who Sold the World is the closest thing to a definitive David Bowie chronicle yet

By Jason Heller Mon., Oct. 1 2012 at 9:30 AM

Categories: Book Report

Peter Doggett's The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s is out now on Harper.

Since David Bowie made his first mark on the world -- and beyond -- with 1969's "Space Oddity," decoding his music has been a prime pastime for his fans. It's also been a cottage industry for music journalists, most of whom have been content to simply rearrange the pieces in the Bowie puzzle. In essence, Peter Doggett does the same thing in The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s. Only he makes a brilliant step beyond mere analysis: He applies Bowie's method and aesthetic to the artist's own life and work.

Granted, the idea isn't Doggett's. The Man Who Sold the World -- a song-by-song breakdown of Bowie's output during "the long '70s" of 1969-80 -- was originally slated to be written by the late Ian MacDonald, who first used this approach in his dissection of the Beatles' songbook, Revolution in the Head. As exhaustive as Revolution is, though, The Man Who Sold the World better utilizes that fragmented format. Bowie, after all, is a man made of fragments, and his catalogue lends itself to loving deconstruction.