Me
Written by Elton John
There’s something really comforting for me about the music of Elton John and his musical partner Bernie Taupin, and I became a bit obsessed, again, with their craft during the later stages of this (ongoing) pandemic finally picking up his autobiography to truly learn about the man, the myth, the legend. It didn’t disappoint. In fact, I love him even more for raising my spirits and giving me a laugh during a truly difficult time. The memoir details every aspect of his life, written with raw honesty and a stroke of vulnerability; his talent, fame and level of influence is definitely something to be awestruck by, but it is countered with difficult stories of having parents that weren’t supportive (willfully so). We can’t choose everything that shapes our life, but we can choose a different outlook.
Favourite line: “As everyone knows, fame, especially sudden fame, is a hollow, shallow and dangerous thing, its dark, seductive powers no substitute for true love or real friendship. On the other hand, if you’re a terrible shy person, desperately in need of a confidence boost—someone who spent a lot of their childhood trying to be as invisible as possible so you didn’t provoke one of your mum’s moods or your dad’s rage—I can tell you for a fact that being hailed as the future of rock and roll in the LA Times and feted by a succession of your musical heroes will definitely do the trick.”
George Michael: A Life
Written by James Gavin
George Michael is one of my all-time favourite performers. Literally, not a day goes by in which I’m not humming ‘Careless Whisper’. His voice was beautiful, his musical output timeless. I was saddened when we lost him in 2016 (and appalled when obituaries referred him in headline as the “ex-Wham singer” as he was so much more). This (very) big book reflects on all aspects of his life and the aftermath of his passing including how he met former Wham musical partner Andrew Ridgeley, his solo debut with Grammy-winning album Faith (also what went into one of the most iconic visual aesthetics for a pop star of all time), his feud and subsequent lawsuits against Sony, and, of course, that incident in a Beverly Hills public washroom. The making of the Freedom 90 video is also noted for posterity. Highly recommended.
Favourite line: “I find that most modern pop music is such a narcissistic wankfest of people doing it mainly for money and fame,” he said. “It’s so dumbed-down, just four chords on a loop going around. Chuck it out there and if it doesn’t work, that’s fine; they’ve got twenty other lined up. George’s intention was to craft masterpieces, and for people to hold them in their hearts. He kept rewriting and rewriting, pushing—’That’s not good enough. I’m gonna do it again’”. Even though Michael was just twenty-two when he wrote it, “Last Christmas” bore out Douglas’s view. In December 2018, thirty-three years after its release, that naive confession of holiday loss hit the American Top 40 for the first time.”
Several Short Sentences About Writing
Written by Verlyn Klinkenborg
I love reading books on how to improve one’s verse and connect through the written word. While I’ve heard great things about this one, it wasn’t for me. Not engaging, just pretentious.
Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan
Written by Jake Adelstein
Certainly an interesting angle for a book: real stories about the Yakuza as told by a reporter who worked in Japan and covered their crimes … but as I made my way through the chapters, I found myself disassociating and only begrudgingly finishing it. The author just doesn’t present himself well. I feel a large swath of Tokyo Vice was about building his own legend rather than sharing anything interesting or new about the Japanese underworld. Apparently this was made into a tv series. I may begrudgingly play an episode while I’m vacuuming one day.