While some biographies are very dry and lay the facts out quite plainly, Spitz has taken a someone already fascinating, and presented him in a way that is conversational, engaging, and enjoyable. His interjections about his own life experiences with Bowie's career are a welcome rest stop throughout, and his tone make it sound more like a casual chat about someone interesting, scattered with interview quotes from the likes of Angie Bowie, Siouxsie Sioux, and more. A lovely and entertaining read.

I didn't know anything about David Bowie, and now I know something about David Bowie.

I think I did an okay job of not annoying my husband with Daily Bowie Facts, but it wasn't a great job, because . . . well . . . David Bowie was David Bowie and I am who I am.

I can't really speak to the quality of the book, but I would call it a fairly readable survey that doesn't get too deep into anything before it rolls along the lengthy road of Bowie's career. The author injects little pieces of his life into the narrative (appropriately set apart) to demonstrate the effects of Bowie on a person.

Also, if you have a toddler, a fun game is to play "Find the Bowie" with the pictures. "Generally," you will condescend to him, "only one Bowie is permitted per image." Then, you will turn the page and find a photograph with three Bowies in it. You will decline to explain mirrors and optics to your three-year-old, hoping instead that he doesn't notice.

Spitz wears his fandom on his sleeve here, with periodic italicized sections that explicitly address Bowie's influence on his own life. I appreciate that he isn't pretending total objectivity, and he does a fine job recounting the remarkable trajectory of Bowie's life and career. There's not much insight into Bowie's mind or character, however - perhaps fitting for an artist traditionally pegged as an enigmatic chameleon. Still, I was left wanting more, although this may say more about my insatiable Bowie fixation than Spitz's book.

This sweeping adventure into the life of one of the oddest creators of the 20th Century is a brilliant read inside the mind of a man who kept the world at arms length while creating infinite worlds in his music and other avenues of art. There is some information and times in his life that I wish Spitz would have spent more time on (only one page is devoted to Bowie’s infamous Nazi salute and fascination with fascism, which is skimmed and needs to be addressed more thoroughly), but overall the book is an exciting read and has made me fall in love with both the very human David, and the stellar creationist, Bowie.

A textbook example of why journalists tend to make bad novelists. I was also clearly not the "intended audience" for this biography. I'll love David forever, but this was a real chore to read.

Great book. The only reason I didn't finish it is because it is a library book with holds on it and I couldn't keep it out longer. The best thing about this book is that it has given me a new appreciation for Bowie's music.

It took me a lot longer to get through this biography than most. I thought for sure, a book about someone like David Bowie would be an interesting read. I think the problem here lies in the author. I never felt engrossed in the story, not in Bowie's beginnings and not in the conclusion which summed up the last decade. Spitz's look at a man he idolizes seems to be lacking heart, and while that may have been intentional, I think the results suffer for it.

As opposed to other David Bowie biographies that I've read, this book discussed Bowie's influences and the music world throughout time. Marc Spitz gives the reader a taste of the musical environment at the time, which greatly enriched Bowie's story and helped show why his music was so revolutionary. This was an excellent biography.