Fred Schruers
Autor von Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography
Über den Autor
Fred Schruers enjoyed a successful high-profile career as a writer at Rolling Stone, chronicling an impressive body of musicians and actors. His writing has also appeared in Premiere, Entertainment Weekly, Men's Journal, GQ, the Los Angeles Times, and Columbia Journalism Review.
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- 3.8
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I admit to a heavy bit of intrigue when it comes to musicians' biographies. A big part of that attraction is learning whether the person, and the songs he/she wrote, match my preformed opinion. I want to understand the minds that created those songs I've grown up with. Sometimes I'm horribly wrong and, equally, horrified, to the point where I don't even want to listen to that music anymore. Other times, I find that the songs and the public persona match up almost perfectly with the real person. This latter is the case with Billy Joel. His music is likable, insightful, sometimes fun, and sometimes a little dark. And so, it appears, is he. It turns out that this alignment is largely because his songs are often mini biographies.
This book is arranged extremely well, and the writing flows in an easy, conversational style. We start before Billy began, with his Jewish grandparents in Nazi-occupied Europe. Fortunately for them, and later for us, they are among the lucky ones to have escaped a fate for which there are no words.
This book covers everything, from Joel's childhood to his girlfriends, wives, music, touring, financial problems, and, of course, his touring life. We're given a nice balance throughout. There isn't a lot of sensationalism here. The author doesn't attempt to exploit Joel's personal life, and Joel doesn't appear to give us much at which to point criticizing fingers. And, really, how many of us could survive such scrutiny with our own private lives?
I found this book to be a fascinating journey, as much for Joel's life and career as for the portrait it paints of this moment in music history.
*The publisher provided me with a copy of this book, via Blogging For Books, in exchange for my honest review.*… (mehr)