David Bowie: A Biography

One of the most protean figures in rock music, David Bowie remains, even when lying low, a source of endless fascination to his considerable fanbase. What is the state of his health? Is he working on a new album? Will he tour again? And the story of his life is one of amazing and tireless self re-invention: the sixties musical outsider from Bromley; Ziggy Stardust; Aladdin Sane; the techno-composer in Berlin; the perpetrator of that frightful Tin Machine racket not to mention the distinguished film actor in The Man Who Fell to Earth. But it is fifteen years since the last comprehensive biography, and more than time for a new one. Marc Spitz has now produced just that. Long enough to cover every aspect of Bowie's life, but equally not an oversize product of obsession, this is a readable, quirky, assiduous book that every Bowie fan will want to own, but also one with appeal to the general reader. Spitz's music journalism connections will ensure its coverage in the music press, and the Bowie fanbase will soon spread the word. Marc Spitz is the author of a book about the US West Coast punk scene. He writes for all the major music magazines. He lives in New York.