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Good "Michael" books

It's also repetitive. I found it quite boring, to be honest. There are mentions of Michael, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.
 
Snow White luvs Peter Pan said:
How can people still recommends Cascio's book? Not everything he wrote there' was true and a true friend doesn't spill the beans on the other person's he chose to keep private to make money! Dame Elizabeth was a true friend in all the extension of the word, not Frank Cascio.
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I wonder if you've read it tho? It's been a while since I have, but I remember it as an overall enjoyable read. Especially the beginning, his stories on Michael from when he was still a kid were very sweet. And sure, not everything in there is true, as always you have to take it with a pinch of salt and form your own opinions.

Anyway, it's already been mentioned, but I'd definitely read The King of Style! :kickass:

I don't think I've seen it on anyone's list, but did anyone here read "Remember The Time: Protecting Michael Jackson In His Final Days"?
 
Lil said:
I wonder if you've read it tho? It's been a while since I have, but I remember it as an overall enjoyable read. Especially the beginning, his stories on Michael from when he was still a kid were very sweet. And sure, not everything in there is true, as always you have to take it with a pinch of salt and form your own opinions.

Anyway, it's already been mentioned, but I'd definitely read The King of Style! :kickass:

I don't think I've seen it on anyone's list, but did anyone here read "Remember The Time: Protecting Michael Jackson In His Final Days"?
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Of course! ;)

If you haven't read it, give it a read. Like the Cascio book, many people are against it (for different reasons though), but I personally believe that you should read the book before making any sort of judgement.
 
Here is the list of books I've read:

Great books
  • "Dancing the Dream" by Michael Jackson - the truest book about Michael
  • "Moonwalk" by Michael Jackson - his ghost-written autobiography
  • "You Are Not Alone" by Jermaine Jackson - surprisingly well-written and balanced. Big part of it is about J5/Jacksons era, but gives a new context to the story
  • "My Friend Michael" by Frank Cascio - compliments the previous one well, focuses on the 90s and 00s. An intimate portrait of a close friend.
  • "Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days" by Bill Whitfield, Javon Beard and Tanner Colby - compliments the previous two, a great raw insight into Michael's years of solitude (2006-07) by his bodyguards
  • "King of Style" by Michael Bush - explains Michael Jackson the world icon like no one else. A must-read
  • "Man in the Music" by Joseph Vogel - Michael's creative life during his solo career. A great compassionate story of each album and song's creation.


Good books
  • "The Michael Jackson Tapes" by Shmuley Boteach - very revealing of Michael, his views on life, motivations. Would have been great if the author saved his judgmental commentary
  • "Honoring The Child Spirit" by Shmuley Boteach - answers the question why Michael was so attached to children. As the previous book, this one is built in the form of conversations with MJ, but thankfully no commentary this time
  • "Defending a King" by Dr. Karen Moriarty - a lot of well-known info with some exclusive tidbits from MJ bodyguards.
  • "In Search of Neverland" by Gloria Berlin - by realtor who helped MJ buy Neverland. Cute picture of MJ of the early 80s
  • "Michael Jackson: Die wahre Geschichte" by Dieter Wiesner - positive, but the story could have been told better. A lot of retelling of the known events, also his whole feud with Michael is completely left out
  • "Conversations In Neverland with Michael Jackson" by Dr. William B. Van Valin - a friend of Michael form early 00s remembers the time they spent together. Short, but actually very revealing of Michael
  • "The Real Comeback: Japan 2006" by Broderick Morris - a story of Michael's visit to Japan in 2006. Reveals his state of mind after the trial
  • "It's all about L.O.V.E." by Brigitte Bloemen, Marina Dobler, Miriam Lohr - stories of fans who followed or met MJ throughout his career. Touching, shows how good he was to his fans
  • "My Family" by Katherine Jackson - a book by the family mama. Has a few nice anecdotes about MJ
  • "The Jacksons" by Joseph Jackson - Joe's version. Balanced, but nothing special. The family didn't have much contact with MJ into adulthood, so their books are not particularly revealing
  • "Jackson Family Values" by Margaret Maldonado - a tell-all by Jermaine's former wife. Very telling of why Michael stands out in the family
  • "A Visual Documentary" by Adrian Grant - chronicles MJ life events day by day.
  • "A life for L.O.V.E.: Michael Jackson stories you should have heard before" by Brigitte Bloemen, Marina Dobler, Miriam Lohr - the first and only book covering Michael's humanitarian life. A collection of touching and often unknown stories from people whom Michael helped
  • "Michael Jackson, Inc." by Zack O'Malley Greenburg - business side of MJ. Tells some inside stories behind Michael's greatest business dealings. But mostly concentrates on known and already well-covered events. Focuses more on execution (usually done by MJ camp) rather than on ideas conceived by Michael
  • "Featuring Michael Jackson: Collected Writings on the King of Pop" by Joseph Vogel - a collection of articles by Joe Vogel. His articles on MJ art are some of the most insightful, informative and profound
  • "Earth Song: Inside the Michael Jackson's Magnum Opus" by Joseph Vogel - a story of the song creation and the analysis of its meaning and significance
  • "Was Michael Jackson Framed?" by Mary Fischer - famous article that looks into the 1993 allegations and explains why it was a set-up
  • "Redemption" by Geraldine Hughes - a story of the conspiracy between Chandler and Rottman to extort money from MJ. Not very well written, but provides important inside information
  • "Michael Jackson Conspiracy" by Aphrodite Jones - the true story of the 2005 trial
  • "The Trials of Michael Jackson" by Lynton Guest - the story of Michael's relationship with Sony, also touches on the 2005 trial. A little bit on the conspiracy side, but paints an impressive panorama of the record industry
  • "For The Record" by Chris Cadman and Craig Halstead - an A-Z list of all known songs MJ participated in, the last release dated 2009.
  • "Michael Jackson The Maestro" by Chris Cadman - similar to the above, but includes all released and some of the media-covered events. Only first volume is available so far
  • "Michael Jackson: The Early Years" and "Michael Jackson: The Solo Years" by Chris Cadman and Craig Halstead - chronological story of Jacksons' and Michael's solo releases during his childhood and adult career. Doesn't have much insight into the creative process, but offers many details around the releases
  • "Thriller: The Musical Life Of Michael Jackson" by Nelson George - provides historical and cultural context and background for the Thriller album
  • "Keep Moving: The Michael Jackson Chronicles" by Armond White - a collection of essays by Armond White who stands out among music critics for his ability to recognize and appreciate MJ's creative evolvement during his lifetime
  • "M Poetica: Michael Jackson's Art of Connection and Defiance" by Willa Stillwater - an interesting analysis of Michael's art and Michael the consummate artist, the Maestro
  • "Behind The Mask: What Michael Jackson's Body Language Told The World" by Craig James Baxter - an attempt to analyze MJ's body language in some of his video interviews. Interesting, although questionable at times
  • "Michael Jackson Style" by Stacey Appel - photobook tracing the evolution of Michael's costume and style through his career. Well-researched, informative and beautiful
  • "Otherness and Power: Michael Jackson and His Media Critics" by Susan Woodward - an analysis of the media critics' reaction to Michael's persona. Interesting, fresh and profound perspective
  • "Michael Jackson Opus" - huge, beautiful photos, some nice stories, but not terribly insightful


OK books
  • "The Magic And The Madness" by J. R. Taraborrelli - the fullest biography with a lot of inside information (but also a good number of unverified rumors). Author is sympathetic to Michael, but doesn't really "get" him, so the book presents his version of MJ
  • "Remember the Time" by Theresa J. Gonsalves - letters to Michael from a fan who knew him personally. Actually a warm and pleasant read, but some of it is fiction mixed with the truth (like the hot sex in a car), so gets an "OK".
  • "An Agoraphobic's Guide to Hollywood" by Darlene Craviotto - a screen-writer who worked with Michael on the story for Peter Pan" movie he was going to do with Steven Spielberg. She doesn't really get Michael either, but the story itself is interesting.
  • "Will You Be My Friend" by Michael Jacobshagen - a short story by a guy who briefly knew MJ in the 90s. Positive, but insider fans say some of it is made up
  • "In the studio with Michael Jackson" by Bruce Swedien - positive, but very technical, repetitive and not much information on Michael's work in studio
  • "The Lost Boy" by Kit Culkin - Macaulay's father tells about his family friendship with MJ. He is a quite cynical dude though
  • "Growing up in the Jackson Family" by La Toya Jackson - has stories of growing up with MJ, by the end begins to resemble a spy novel
  • "Starting Over" by La Toya Jackson - second autobiography, positive and loving to Michael, but with drama and conspiracy overflow
  • "What Really Happened To Michael Jackson" by Leonard Rowe - half of the book is about Rowe's own affairs, the second half is about "This Is It". Positive to MJ, but heavily into rasist-based conspiracy theory.
  • "Michael Jackson American Master" by C Mecca - book-praise to Michael, approved by Michael. But imo, it doesn't add much to the conversation about his life and legacy
  • "The Complete Story of the King of Pop" by Lisa D. Campbell - a full MJ bio. Factual, detailed, but describes only publicly known events, contains no insight, and is quite boring.
  • "The King of Pop's Darkest Hour" by Lisa D. Campbell - a detailed chronology of the events around the '93 allegations. Factual, truthful, but boring to read
  • "On Michael Jackson" by Margo Jefferson - an attempt to analyze MJ and his art. The author is not very knowledgable about MJ, so a lot of her constructs, while interesting, are detached from reality
  • "Michael Jackson: Exceptional artist or Genius? Points to Consider" by Franck Vidiella - a consideration whether Michael was a true genius or just a very talented artist
  • "Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream" by Dave Marsh - a '83 critical work attempting to analyze Michael's career. Interesting at times, at times based on assumptions and speculation. The author is a disappointed fan
  • "New Beginnings: The Parallel of Two Icons Barack Obama and Michael Jackson" by Allen Shay - tells the stories of MJ and Obama, but doesn't actually draw any parallels. Positive, but extremely boring


Bad books
  • "Untouchable" by Randall Sullivan - actually good in some parts, but terrible in others. The author doesn't understand what Michael was all about and uses many questionable sources. The result - lots of factual errors, skewed picture
  • "Unmasked" by Ian Halperin - a wild mixture of facts, fiction and author's speculations. Has little to do with the real MJ
  • "The Man Behind the Mask" by Bob Jones and Stacey Brown - the revenge book of a bitter dismissed employee. Very biased
  • "Goodbye Billie Jean: The Meaning of Michael Jackson" by Lorette C. Luzajic - a collection of essays on MJ released shortly after his death. For the most part, ignorant and judgmental
  • "The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson" by Mark Fisher - similar to the above, but here the authors of articles are mostly music critics. There are a couple of articles with interesting perspective, the rest ranges from bad to offensive.
  • "Michael Jackson: Grasping the Spectacle by Christopher R. Smit - similar to the above, but with a pretension to have a scholar discussion. But it actually doesn't add anything of significance to the discourse


Other autobiographies that mention Michael:
  • "Listen Out loud" by Ron Weisner - generally OK, but with factual errors, bitterness and "I was the only person who could have saved MJ" delusion
  • "Howling at the Moon" by Walter Yetnikoff - good, gives a good understanding of how Michael was treated by his record label
  • "Hitmaker: The Man and His Music" by Tommy Mottola - haven't read this one in full, only summary of the MJ part. Gives Mottola's perspective on his conflict with Michael in 2001
  • "There Goes Gravity" by Lisa Robinson - OK. A journalist who knew MJ in his youth. Sweet memories form the past, but not understanding and judgmental of his later life choices
  • "Coreyography" by Corey Feldman - good story of Corey and Michael's friendship and falling out
 
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Spyce said:
Of course! ;)

If you haven't read it, give it a read. Like the Cascio book, many people are against it (for different reasons though), but I personally believe that you should read the book before making any sort of judgement.
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Exactly :) that's why I was wondering if Snow white actually read the Cascio book
 
I need to re read some parts to remember better, it's on Jetzi. The reasons I'm against the book are because even though there are indeed enjoyable anecdotes, the reasons Michael turned to their friendship were having a sense of family he never knew with his parents and siblings, getting away from his fame and having some privacy. Frank had no right reveal those details/anecdotes Michael himself chose to keep private, I doubt he'd like his friends, relatives and employees writing a tell-all book about the things he fought to keep for himself in his lifetime. He exaggerated Michael's alleged drug use in the later years specially, diminished his friendship with Liz Taylor like saying the Cascios were closer to him and we know she never betrayed him and was there for him when he needed her the most. He was opinionated about the marriage to LMP when he barely saw them. If it's missing another detail I skipped, let me know.
 
Visual Documentary and The Magic & the madness are very good books. Other interesting book is "Michael Jackson" by Danny Faux.

Thanks morinen for the info :)
 
Spyce said:
Thank you morinen for this wonderful list! :)

'Behind The Mask' is being currently offered for free on Amazon to download to yourKindle or Kindle App - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LAMGDY. Its a good time to read it for anybody who wants to.
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Thanks Spyce!

Here is another Kindle book about MJ that is free today. I haven't read it yet so I don't know how good it is.

That Wonder in My Youth: Michael Jackson and Childhood

http://www.amazon.com/That-Wonder-My-Youth-Childhood-ebook/dp/B00MR5EN3Q
 
Spyce said:
Thank you morinen for this wonderful list! :)

'Behind The Mask' is being currently offered for free on Amazon to download to yourKindle or Kindle App - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LAMGDY. Its a good time to read it for anybody who wants to.
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It is available in Jetzi too
http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books-jetzi-03/btm/btm0a.html

I think it is better if fans do not download it from amazon because it leave indication that it is wanted book, when in fact it is book that Bob J wrote with Stacy Brown. We all know SB is scavenger and thats all I can say about him. All he writes is only good for use as toilet paper.
 
Bubs said:
It is available in Jetzi too
http://jetzi-mjvideo.com/books-jetzi-03/btm/btm0a.html

I think it is better if fans do not download it from amazon because it leave indication that it is wanted book, when in fact it is book that Bob J wrote with Stacy Brown. We all know SB is scavenger and thats all I can say about him. All he writes is only good for use as toilet paper.
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That's "The Man Behind the Mask," Spyce linked to "Behind the Mask," the body language analysis book. I'm not very fond of that one either, but for different reasons. It's not a negative, malicious book like the James/Brown book.
 
SoCav said:
That's "The Man Behind the Mask," Spyce linked to "Behind the Mask," the body language analysis book. I'm not very fond of that one either, but for different reasons. It's not a negative, malicious book like the James/Brown book.
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Oh I see. The names of the books are nearly the same so I thought Spyce was talking about Bob J SB book:bugeyed
Thanks for correction.
 
I've just finished reading Rowe's "What Really Happened to Michael Jackson" book - and thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was. I would not dismiss it as just conspiracy theories - it is not at all far fetched what great lengths people will go through to perpetuate institutionalize racism, especially in the music industry, and Michael Jackson talked about it himself. People thought Michael was kidding - he SO was not kidding! It's real. I do think he was repetitious, but I felt his frustration about this very real problem. If you want to know exactly what Mike was talking about when he was speaking out against Sony and music industry giants in general, check out that book. Yes, Rowe presents his personal experience with it for half of the book before he gets to his experience with Michael specifically - but reading that part wasn't just about boasting his affairs, but giving context to his history with the Jacksons as well as his history with the industry, which in turn, gives weight to his perspective of the business dealings with AEG.

And the best part of the book, although its difficult to get through because its often jargony, is his analysis of the AEG contract from a concert promoter's POV. I STILL think people underestimate what mess Michael was pushed in. You don't need an actual gun to head to be pressured into doing something. There is a such thing as financial enslavement and that was EXACTLY what AEG was doing. It is all in the contract.
 
And to answer someone else's question, I REALLY enjoyed book the bodyguards recently put out, and would say to pick it up.

as far as my comment about Sullivan's book. Yes, I know that there are tabloid stories and things of that nature, but I never got the impression that Sullivan was trying to pass these things off as fact. I think that Sullivan set out to write a complete book on the life of Michael Jackson, which as we all know, the tabloids and rumors where a HUGE part (sadly) of MJ's life. So I understood why Sullivan thought it was necessary to include some of those things. There were some things in the book I completely dismissed, but then there were other parts I really enjoyed. It's not a "must have" by any means.. But if you can except that the tabloids were a part of MJ's life, and dismiss the things you know are untrue, the book isn't that bad. Which is all I was trying to say.
 
^^ Sullivan did try to pass on a lot of tabloid rumours as true. Moreover, he was way too uncritical towards his sources. Eg. he took everything that crooks like Marc Schaffel and Howard Mann told him at face value when if he had done a little basic research he could have spotted very obvious lies in what they said.
 
jtabbott8 said:
I think that Sullivan set out to write a complete book on the life of Michael Jackson, which as we all know, the tabloids and rumors where a HUGE part (sadly) of MJ's life. So I understood why Sullivan thought it was necessary to include some of those things.
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How can a "complete" book on the life of Michael Jackson not talk about his art??? (I'm not counting the instance where Sullivan said that he got bored after Thriller.) Michael's work sure was a much bigger part of his life than tabloids, yet from this book you don't get such impression at all.
 
morinen;4041338 said:
How can a "complete" book on the life of Michael Jackson not talk about his art??? (I'm not counting the instance where Sullivan said that he got bored after Thriller.) Michael's work sure was a much bigger part of his life than tabloids, yet from this book you don't get such impression at all.
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Well.. you're right. However, this is a book written by a journalist, not a musicologist. I never viewed this as a book on Michael's art. But rather a biography. So yes, maybe I shouldn't have said "the complete book on MJ's life" but I would say, like Taraborrelli's, Sullivan sets out to write a biography, not analyze MJ's work. Don't get me wrong, I completely and totally can see how fans can be turned off by this book. There are books out there that focus on mainly MJ's art (Man in the Music, Featuring MJ, American Master,Michael Jackson INC,King of Style,Dangerous 33 1/1, etc) and then there are more biographical type books (The Magic, The Madness, Untouchable, Remember the Time, My Friend Michael, etc) Like I said before, I can totally see where some fans may be turned off by Sullivan's book. But in my opinion, for the most part, Sullivan speaks about MJ in a positive way. I think Kirkus Reviews of the books says it best. “Sullivan reveals a man who was not the pedophilic, transgendered, transracial freak the media thought he was, but a highly intelligent and sensitive perfectionist, more self-aware—and ashamed—of his surgically altered looks than the public ever knew. . . . Sullivan’s sensitive portrait of [Jackson] is a good start toward explaining and rehabilitating a lonely genius who was poorly understood in his lifetime.”

When reading Sullivan's book you just have to realize that Sullivan IS a journalist, so the book will no delve into Michael's art, or his creative process, etc.. But tell a story of a misunderstood, and lonely genius. His triumphs, his trials, his life.
 
^ Michael was an artist. So musicologist or not, you cannot write a credible biography of him completely ignoring his art. And even stating you are not interested in it... If all you focus on is the tabloid rumours in MJ's life then it becomes just another tabloid book. And you have to see this is exactly the mentality that reduces MJ to tabloid fodder instead of an artist whose art is to be taken seriously.

BTW, Sullivan worked for Rolling Stone so the "he's a journalist not a musicologist" excuse does not really work for him.
 
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Ok I've read "Behind The Mask: What Michael Jackson’s Body Language Had To Tell The World" (I'm on a role going through these books lol)

And actually...I wasn't that impressed at all lol I was expecting some deep analysis I guess, but I've seen better analysis of MJ's body language on fan blogs to be honest. It didn't really give insights that I didn't already know about MJ (yes, he gets uncomfortable and tense during interviews :p Not really rocket science).

Most of it just seemed like common sense to me. Yes, duh, when MJ's eyes go wide he's expressing this thing called SURPRISE and DISBELIEF. :p

I think the book is more for skeptics since the goal is to show that MJ was innocent of child abuse due to his body language, but I have to say - even if I placed myself in the shoes of a skeptic, i don't think I would have come away from that book thinking MJ was innocent - or feeling any better about his innocence. Because, as noted earlier in the book, body language means different things, in different situations, and might not be consistent. So when she caught something that didn't really fit in her pattern of what she thought MJ might do (but may appear to skeptics that MJ was lying or contradict the argument that he was innocent), she'd brush it off as it just Michael being Michael and it doesn't mean anything... without much explanation.

Not to mention her analysis of LWMJ which of course focused on MJ lying about Blanket's mother and plastic surgery, which - to any skeptic - would beg the question "well if he lied about that, then he could have lied about this." Even if that argument is illogical, they make it all the time. :p So I'm honestly actually surprised this was like a #1 best seller. Maybe I'm wrong and it did some good to change people's minds. But for the most part it just read to me like she was just telling me what happened in the interviews she analyzed....which got repetitive and boring since I've already seen them. And then the little analysis she did offer...was shaky at best.
 
^ Body language analysis can pretty subjective as far as I'm concerned. I would definitely not base my argument of MJ's innocence on body language analysis. I'd base it on researching and analyzing the facts of the actual cases.

Though, of course, there are instances of body language that can be very telling. For example that footage of a deposition from around 1995-96 that was leaked by a tabloid where he is unexpectedly asked about the allegations by the opposing lawyer. And MJ becomes totally stiff and shakes his head heavily in disbelief, covers his face with his hands etc. It's really as if even the thought of molesting a child is just way too uncomfortable and shocking to him and he shakes his head in disbelief at those questions. That scene, for example, was very telling to me about this guy not being able to molest a child. Even the thought is shocking and unbearable to him. That's very clear in his body language there, IMO. But like I said, I would not base my argument of his innocence on something like that. It's just a personal impression I have, but we have better arguments for his innocence.

ETA: I mean this video: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=84b_1246742467
 
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respect77 said:
^ Michael was an artist. So musicologist or not, you cannot write a credible biography of him completely ignoring his art. And even stating you are not interested in it... If all you focus on is the tabloid rumours in MJ's life then it becomes just another tabloid book. And you have to see this is exactly the mentality that reduces MJ to tabloid fodder instead of an artist whose art is to be taken seriously.

BTW, Sullivan worked for Rolling Stone so the "he's a journalist not a musicologist" excuse does not really work for him.
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Everything that you are saying is true.. It's not my favorite book on MJ (not even close) but I don't hate it.
And I guess that's all I was really trying to say. I look it it the same way I look at Taraborelli's book.

ps: I hope everyone knows I'm not "arguing" or trying to imply that Sullivan's book is the greatest thing ever. I'm just simply saying that I don't hate it, and for the most part, enjoy most of it.
 
^ Body language analysis can pretty subjective as far as I'm concerned. I would definitely not base my argument of MJ's innocence on body language analysis. I'd base it on researching and analyzing the facts of the actual cases.
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^^ same here. But I figure for skeptics who rely on their "gut" more about if someone is telling the truth or not, it might be insightful perspective to have. Especially considering that I haven't heard any body language experts use this theory in defense of MJ (and there were plenty body language experts over the years that always had SOMETHING to say about MJ).

Though I do admit thought that some of the basic concepts of body language made me notice things about MJ myself that was not brought out in the book - mostly cuz as i was "following along" with the book and looking at some of the footage of these interviews, I was paying attention more to what his tone and body was saying. And I think it would have been far more interesting to compare the 93 statement with the 03 statement in regards to the allegations. Because just in tone and intention, the differences were extremely interesting. MJ was less sad and more "FU, FU, and oh btw FU" in the 03 statement lol

Also the difference between MJ's demeanor in the oprah interview in comparison to LWMJ, lots of things are the same, and mirrored each other, but I think there are very interesting differences in how MJ had "grown up" so to speak (which is ironic given the fact that the whole special focused on how he hadn't "grown up" lol). You can tell he was a lot more sure of himself and more apt to take authority on things than he was back in 93. Just kinda cool to see back to back. Just some thoughts!

Though, of course, there are instances of body language that can be very telling. For example that footage of a deposition from around 1995-96 that was leaked by a tabloid where he is unexpectedly asked about the allegations by the opposing lawyer. And MJ becomes totally stiff and shakes his head heavily in disbelief, covers his face with his hands etc. It's really as if even the thought of molesting a child is just way too uncomfortable and shocking to him and he shakes his head in disbelief at those questions. That scene, for example, was very telling to me about this guy not being able to molest a child. Even the thought is shocking and unbearable to him. That's very clear in his body language there, IMO. But like I said, I would not base my argument of his innocence on something like that. It's just a personal impression I have, but we have better arguments for his innocence.

ETA: I mean this video: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=84b_1246742467
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Oh yeah, the book goes into this footage actually. But yeah, it didn't really tell me anything that I couldn't infer myself by just looking at it. There is a good point that perhaps someone might take solace in the fact that MJ would show more signs of fear than surprise and anger if he were guilty. Or he'd make more of an attempt to mask his emotions. But eh. I think thats just so obvious to me, but maybe because I already know he's innocent.
 
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Everybody should get Man In The Music, it features great behind the scenes storys, and analyzes about every album track.
 
morinen said:
OK books

•"The Magic And The Madness" by J. R. Taraborrelli - the fullest biography with a lot of inside information (but also a good number of unverified rumors). Author is sympathetic to Michael, but doesn't really "get" him, so the book presents his version of MJ
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Great list of books - so noticeable that almost all the books in your 'great' list were published after mj's death.

It does surprise me though when fans claim jrt was sympathetic to mj. I don't see this at all, except perhaps relative to someone like victor guittarez or maureen orth. I see no empathy just misplaced pity, no respect for mj as a person or as an artist, and i just see any 'support' he might have given to mj in public eg during 93 allegations, just a way of getting future interviews and exclusives from mj's camp. By posing as mj's 'friend' and as a supporter as opposed to a 'hater', his books did far more damage to mj's image then other more overtly negatively biased authors.

Jrt claimed mj was not respected as an artist - he lacked humanity apparently. I'm sure the outpouring of grief and adulation after mj's death must have really taken jrt by surprise, seeing he said he believed mj wd just be remembered for child molestation.
Maybe one of the reasons MJ was not respected by the public and the music industry is because the masses sensed in him the lack of two essential qualities possessed by artists such as Bruce Springstein, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Elvis Presley: humour and humanity.
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^He wrote the above in his biog because mj didn't sweep the grammys in 89 with bad. Can't imagine prince getting the same writeup when he didn't win big at award ceremonies.

Jrt also stated that mj wrote most of the songs on bad because of his newfound interest in music publishing and the $millions generated in royalties to the songwriter. Basically mj wrote his album because he wanted the moolah, not to express himself artistically and creatively but just to increase his dollar take. And this is the author who is seen by fans and non fans as a sympathetic and pro mj biographer. I even rate sullivan higher than this guy, jrt's only plus points is that he has an index and is chronological.
 
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^ I agree about JRT and I also agree that his book is especially dangerous because it's portrayed as objective and unbiased, even "sympathetic to MJ", when in fact it's far from it. It's enough to note that haters often use stories from this book to support their stance that MJ was a pedophile. That tells it all. I mean when fans recommend this book as a good book do they actually realize that JRT suggests and puts out innuendo in it that MJ might have been "in love with" certain young boys, for example? Do they realize that JRT more than likely used Evan Chandler's narrative for the 1993 allegations part? He's doing it in a subtle, sneaky way, I guess that's why even many fans do not spot it, but it's there. And neutral readers do not necessarily come away from this book being convinced MJ was not a child molester - in actuality JRT plants enough number of innuendos to lead clueless non-fans think just the opposite.
 
Bonnie Blue said:
^He wrote the above in his biog because mj didn't sweep the grammys in 89 with bad. Can't imagine prince getting the same writeup when he didn't win big at award ceremonies.
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That's what I mean when I say he didn't "get" MJ (Michael actually possessed both qualities). He didn't know him well and sure wasn't his "friend," and yes, he is biased just like many media people. Yet, I didn't get a feeling of cheep sensationalism from his book like I got from Halperin or, at times, Sullivan. There is a lot of doubtful info there, yes, and a lot of his own conclusions. His tone has a bit of irony and superiority - that's how he writes about all his subjects (judging from his E.T. bio too), but I felt he genuinely liked Michael. Even though he questioned some things and didn't understand some things.

As to what non-fans gather from it... I guess every person will interpret any book according their own views anyway. JRT's was the first book which I read (after Moonwalk), and I found it fascinating. Maybe that was because I didn't know much then. It made me sympathize with Michael, but never made me question his innocence. So I guess what one sees is in the eye of the beholder.
 
^Jrt was one of the first things i read too about mj, just after the orth vanity fair articles - it's a miracle i carried on wanting to learn about mj. However i had seen the unauthorised interview on youtube (the one in 83ish and he's in the backgarden of hayvenhurst) and i just cdn't relate the man in the film to the guy i had just read about so knew something was amiss. I havesn't read any of jrt's other biogs, i just find him a bit of a trashy shallow writer - better suited to writing about a katy perry/justin beiber rather than a mj, so don't know how he treats his other subjects but usually you find with proper biographers they develop an understanding and fondness for their subjects and i found that totally missing with jrt. Just a (completely misplaced) superiority as you say and this need to belittle.

Morinen - you began discussing weisner's book in a thread some time ago but stopped. I was really enjoying it so had been hoping you wd carry on. If you were too busy to do it then that's fine, but hope you didn't stop because you felt people weren't interested. I really don't like weisner, but am interested in the period of time around the bashir interview and after.
 
Ah, Wiesner... Some people came there with yawns and comments "nothing new," so that discouraged me a little from continuing making summaries. But it's a lame excuse, it's still valuable even if not perfectly written, so I will continue. Let me dig up that thread.
 
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