The Many Lives of Elton John

Ponderous and overburdened with unnecessary detail, this biography makes Elton John, one of the most flamboyant performers in rock 'n' roll history, seem flat and uninteresting. Crimp and Burstein ( Hollywood Sisters: Jackie and Joan Collins ) present the already well-chronicled facts of John's career and private life credibly enough but couch them in a style that rarely rises above tabloid commentary. Dead ends abound: there are depictions of hotel rooms (``the seven room, faux Louis XIV suite'') and lengthy descriptions (such as a painful cataloguing of articles John auctioned off at one point) that do nothing to illuminate the subject. Only when John is quoted directly--his bantering on New York's WNEW-FM with deejay Scott Muni, for example--do readers glean intimations of his multifaceted personality. Bright spots--sensitive treatment of John's involvement with AIDS victim Ryan White, John's reaction to John Lennon's death--are not enough to overcome the flaws that affect most of the book. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)