Bowie's Books

The Hundred Literary Heroes Who Changed His Life

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Pub Date 14 Nov 2019 | Archive Date 14 Nov 2019

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Description

'This is the unwritten Bowie book that needed writing' CAITLIN MORAN 


'What is your idea of perfect happiness?'

'Reading.'

'What is the quality you most like in a man?'
'The ability to return books.'


Three years before he died, David Bowie made a list of the one hundred books that had transformed his life – a list that formed something akin to an autobiography. From Madame Bovary to A Clockwork Orange, the Iliad to the Beano, these were the publications that had fuelled his creativity and shaped who he was.

In Bowie’s Books, John O’Connell explores this list in the form of one hundred short essays, each offering a perspective on the man, performer and creator that is Bowie, his work as an artist and the era that he lived in. Bowie's Books is much more than a list of books you should read in your lifetime: it is a unique insight into one of the greatest minds of our times, and an indispensable part of the legacy that Bowie left behind.

'This is the unwritten Bowie book that needed writing' CAITLIN MORAN 


'What is your idea of perfect happiness?'

'Reading.'

'What is the quality you most like in a man?'
'The ability to return...


Advance Praise

'You can only truly know a pop star through his bookshelf. John O'Connell's brilliant, gossipy book gives you a whole new secret David Bowie: the reader. This is the unwritten Bowie book that needed writing' CAITLIN MORAN

A Financial Times pick for 2019

'You can only truly know a pop star through his bookshelf. John O'Connell's brilliant, gossipy book gives you a whole new secret David Bowie: the reader. This is the unwritten Bowie book that needed...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781526605801
PRICE £16.99 (GBP)

Average rating from 53 members


Featured Reviews

This is an interesting idea which is done well. John O’Connell has taken the list which Bowie made of the 100 books which had most influenced him (but not necessarily his favourite books, as O’Connell firmly points out) and has given a brief description of each book, something of its history and a suggestion of how it came to influence David Bowie.

In general, O’Connell does this very well. There is a lengthy introduction in which he describes Bowie’s almost addictive reading habit and relates this to the man and his extraordinary art. He generally (but not quite always, I think) manages to avoid pretentiousness and gives us a good idea of the influence of reading on Bowie himself. I liked this little passage: “This isn’t the story of David Bowie’s life… But it is a look at the tools he used to navigate his life, not to mention a shot in the arm for the unfashionable theory, one that I’ve always liked, that reading makes you a better person.” That gives an idea of the aims of the book and O’Connell’s style, both of which I liked.

The list is extremely eclectic, from Camus to Viz and The Beano and from art and philosophy to thrillers. O’Connell takes each book in the list and relates it to Bowie’s career and personal life. This is a tricky task, necessarily a little speculative in places, and he manages to do it credibly and engagingly. It’s one to dip into rather than read at a sitting, but a couple of sections at a time are rewarding and have suggested several things I may want to read myself.

I did baulk slightly at the end of each section where there is a “Read while listening to...” with suggestions of Bowie tracks. I wouldn’t dream of listening to Bowie while reading anything – it would be an insult to both Bowie and the book. Perhaps “After reading, listen to...” would have been better. This is followed by an Amazon-style “If you liked this, then try...” suggestion which I have to say I found rather patronising.

Minor quibbles aside, this is an interesting, readable book which I can recommend.

(My thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC via NetGalley.)

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This is a great read for all Bowie fans and indeed those of books. It gives a great insight into the literary influences of Bowie, how they affected him and his songwriting. For books lovers, the snippets provide great synopsis for a varied selection of books, it’s a great way of finding your next read. The book has been well researched and well written.

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Quite fun, if inessential, overview of the 100 books David Bowie put out as being most influential on him. Overall, the book has a lightness of tone and generosity that makes it a pleasure to dip into. However, while O'Connell is good on the potential links between individual books and Bowie's life and work, I would have liked more of an overview about what this choice of books says about him. Also I could have done without the 'Read it while listening to' choices (You'd be fed up of 'Without You' before you got very far into 'Herzog', for example) and, as has been pointed out, the 'if you like this, try' suggestions could have been a bit more surprising. There are a few errors (Schoneberg in Berlin has never been mostly Turkish; Germany occupied Czechoslavakia in 1938 not 1939) and he's harsher on 1980s Bowie than he needs to be (even 'Tonight' has a couple of very good songs), anyone who emphasises the greatness of both 'Low' and 'The Laughing Gnome' in a single sentence is OK with me.

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I was a big Bowie fan back in the early seventies, a time when I was in my teens and he was releasing what to me remain his most iconic albums: Hunky Dory & Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. He was fresh, his voice just a little off and his lyrics somewhat strange but always conveying a story. I wasn’t quite so enamoured with the albums that followed but in 1983 he released Let’s Dance in which a re-invented Bowie produced a collection of tracks that everyone I knew loved and played to death. And he would, of course, continue to re-invent himself, as he always had – often when I wasn’t watching.

But what of the man? I knew surprisingly little of him really, and I certainly hadn’t perceived him to be a voracious reader. I suppose his lyrics had to come from somewhere; something had to be feeding his mind, planting seeds for the many varied stories he told in his songs. Bowie is described an an autodidact, who struggled with formal education but spent a lifetime self-educating. So it turns out he was a huge reader, reading constantly including sometimes from a library of circa 1500 books he often carted around with him when he travelled. This book provides a list of the one hundred books he considered most important and influential (note – these are not necessarily the books he most enjoyed).

There’s a real mix here. I recognised quite a few but there are only two books (plus one magazine and one comic) that I can actually claim to have read. There are about half a dozen books I’ve sometimes planned to read but haven’t gotten around to yet (by authors such Hitchens, Martin Amis, DeLillo and Capote), quite a few I really don’t fancy and a fair few more I’d never heard of. There’s a good sprinkling of science fiction, a little philosophy, some poetry and much of the rest is an eclectic mix of the avant-garde and the obscure. Getting on for a third of the books were written before he was born.

The author tries to explain in what way each book was significant for Bowie, what he took from it or how his discovery of the text tied in to a particular song he wrote (for example the phrase homo superior in ‘Oh! You Pretty Thing’ was scavenged from Olaf Stapledon’s science fiction novel Odd John). There’s also a thread of autobiographical commentary running through the piece, so we learn quite a bit about Bowie’s development as a person and as an artist as we make our way through the list of books. In fact, I found one if the most interesting elements to be how the books seemed to help shape the man and that the changes wrought duly steered him towards an ever more off-centre collection of books.

I didn’t find myself wishing to rush out and grab many titles listed here but I did find it a fascinating study of this chameleon of a man.

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If you love David Bowie then you will love this book. If gives you an insight into David Bowie’s love & taste for literature. Books that have influenced him and some books that he enjoyed.
As a huge Bowie fan I throughly enjoyed this book.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for gifting me this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

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David Bowie was not only one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century but also a fine actor, painter and art collector. Perhaps less well known was his love of books and that when on tour he would ensure that he would be accompanied by a travelling bookcase. Here John O'Connell narrates and examines the list that Bowie made three years before his death listing the one hundred most influential books that he read as opposed to the most enjoyable.

It is indeed an eclectic collection that includes fiction, non fiction, poetry and comics. There are some choices that you might expect, Camus, Kerouac and Colin Wilson for instance but others perhaps less so. (Evelyn Waugh for example). Certain themes proliferate including Weimar Germany, Stalinist Russia, the history of popular music and art. The content of each choice is described and also how it influenced and related to Bowie whether at the time of reading or later.

At the end of each selection there is a choice of Bowie's music to accompany when reading and a further reading suggestion. Not only will it appeal to fans of Bowie but also to that other genre (which would include myself as a fan) being books about books. Clive James, Nick Hornby and Susan Hill immediately come to mind as authors of such books. This is was an entertaining and educational read and will I'm sure spur many to seek out titles listed here. Recommended for Bowie and non Bowie fans alike.

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A fascinating read delving into a great variety of some of Bowie's favourite books. From classics to the unknown (at least to me), the links from these books to his life are so interesting, plus a great way to find out about your next read! An eclectic selection of literature and very well written by O'Connell.

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This is exactly the type of book a literature and music nerd like me thrives off! The addition of what Bowie song to listen to whilst reading he book/comic/magazine is a lovely touch - shows how well-researched and lovingly written the book is. I'm going to buy this book for my Bowie-obsessed dad, he'll love it.

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This is a very simple idea, very cleverly executed and I loved it. If you rate David Bowie, or if you love reading about books, or even better both, then this is the book for you. John O'Connell has taken the list of the 100 most influential books released shortly after Bowie's death and weaved them into the story of his life. He ties the books to when it was likely Bowie was reading them, who may have recommended them, how they may have influenced Bowie's writing and the author also explains the background of the books themselves. There are excerpts from Bowie's writing to show how the various books made an impact on him and pieces from interviews when he talks about the books.

This is a diverse and eclectic list and starts from when Bowie was young and getting ideas from his older brother through to the latter parts of his life when he was putting ideas together and working through concepts on his own. This is high level stuff and very enlightening about the man Bowie was. The author finishes each little section on the chosen book with a further reading suggestion and a link to Bowie's music to listen to when reading it.

I found this fascinating on so many levels. The reason Bowie chooses certain books, the obvious and obscure ways they influenced his lyrics and his subtle dedication to his learning that followed him throughout his life. There is something here for any fan of David Bowie and if it encourages people to pick up "The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" or Camus' "The Outsider" or Angela Carter or Sarah Waters, then Bowie has left an amazing legacy.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

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I really enjoyed reading this and getting such an amazing insight into the mind of David Bowie. I think this is a really important book to show how a love of reading can fuel creativity in all areas.

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A really interesting idea into what helped form a legend, as a fan of reading and the man this is a wonderfully inspiring read about a hero of mine. A well researched and written book, showing how these influenced him, his life and his song writing, wonderful

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

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A must-read for Bowie Fans. I feel it undiscovered more about David Jones the man, than David Bowie the star. I like David Bowie but I'm not a huge fan so maybe I learned more because of this. Not only about Bowie (the unmade 1984 musical, his Berlin years), I hadn't known the background of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an honest review.

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An exegesis of that list Bowie made of the hundred books which influenced him the most, and one which at its best has some lovely and insightful turns of phrase, really bringing out their interconnections. Of Berlin Alexanderplatz's protagonist, say: "Biberkopf is Shakespeare's unaccommodated man, out on an existential limb – the kind of man Bowie flirted with becoming on the heaviest of his heavy nights out. But he could never quite get there. There was always someone around to step in and pull him out of the mire." And for the books I don't know at all, the potted introductions to the likes of A Grave For A Dolphin and Infants Of The Spring are very informative.

Elsewhere, it's less sure-footed, sometimes just stating the bleeding obvious (eg on A Clockwork Orange), and elsewhere verging on outright wrong. For instance, it traces the notion of 'homo superior' back to Odd John, which is fine, and then talks about it being everywhere as a notion in the sixties that there was a hidden elect who oversaw human development and diffused knowledge, which is also fine. But then quotes Lovecraft in a list of examples, which...well, you can twist that around and see how it works, but if you don't already know Lovecraft's stuff, that passage could give you a very odd idea of it. Or when addressing Day Of The Locust, which is contrasted with West's mate Fitzgerald, who we're told only addressed Hollywood's upper echelons in The Last Tycoon, not the bottom-feeders who interested West. Well, true as far as it goes, but by failing to note the existence of the Pat Hobby stories, also deeply misleading. As for the notion that Burgess' Earthly Powers is a book which physically has to be read on Kindle...well, I never knew the old stereotype of Bowie fans as limp-wristed was intended so literally. Basically, you will learn something from this, but fundamentally it's a loo book. Although considered as such, not a bad one. Even within that category, mind, I could probably have done without the occasional cartoons.

(Netgalley ARC)

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A lovely book that is equal parts an insight into a music legend and some of the greatest books of all time. The links between the two are very deftly done (the song choice to accompany each essay is a very nice touch!). Even the most ardant Bowie fan or literature nerd would find something new and interesting in this book. It's well researched though, perhaps, a little bit simplistic in its literature studies at times. However, as an insight into the expanse of Bowie's life and career, it's a novel and interesting way of approaching it.

It's an enjoyable read but not necessarily one you would keep returning to. It would make a great gift for someone who is interested in either literature or music, however, and most definitely deserving of a read.

Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy in return for an honest review.

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A great insight into Bowie as a person. It was really interested in learning more about books that shaped his art and in turn have shaped pop culture.

Thank you to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for an e-arc copy.

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A great insight into the mind and what makes him the man he was.

His influences and life directions derived from this, that makes the person whole.

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An interesting read and a great insight into David Bowie. This book has obviously been well researched and well thought out.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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In 2013 there was an exhibition of David Bowie's life which included the list, which he wrote, of the 100 books which influenced his life. John O'Connell has taken this list and added commentary on each of the books in turn to make a very readable book in it's own right.

What an extraordinary project and what a fascinating list. The books vary from fictional accounts, generally from highly esteemed authors to non fictional books, often relating to art or music. Sometimes the author comments mostly on the book and sometimes on the time or place and how the book may have influenced Bowie. I was interested in how the author was credible in bringing this together - there is a short biography at the end which explains that he was senior editor at Time Out magazine and has also written for UK broadsheets, mainly as a literary critic. I would have liked there to be some sort of summary at the end with the author talking about his process researching and writing the book. Sadly this isn't included, but there is a very impressive selected bibliography which hints at the extent of the research required.

I liked the illustrations throughout and I liked the recommendations of songs to listen to alongside each chapter. I read the kindle edition, but feel it would be much better in hardback - a coffee table book to pick up regularly and dip into.

Thankyou to Netgalley for an early copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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