David Bowie: Starman

Drawing upon more than 250 new interviews with friends of Bowie and on previously published interviews with Bowie, former Mojo editor affectionately chronicles the life and music of Bowie from his childhood and youth to the high points of his career, his recent heart attack and almost total disappearance from the music scene. By the time he was 11, Bowie's charm was developed, a trait that brought him the breaks and opportunities that his ever-active mind learned to exploit. Bowie emerges from Trynka's portrait as a less than consummate musician and more an ambitious individual who knew how to get exactly what he wanted from those around him. From the growling guitars of "Suffragette City" and the driving dance beats of "Young Americans" to the stuttering syncopation of "Fame" and the Beatles-like riffs of "Changes," Bowie, in Trynka's hands, is a man who has never settled for the predictable. The lack of any new interviews with Bowie, however, gives the biography the feel of a hagiography. (July)