Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009 (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
It was 1983, I was living in Denver, when I turned on the TV and started watching the Motown 25 Special. The Jackson 5 (now adults)had just finished performing when Michael Jackson announced that he loves those old songs but now he wanted to perform a new song, Billie Jean. I was totally stunned by his performance. He looked so different than the last time I had seen him as a child performing with the Jackson 5. I had never seen such an amazing performance. Because of this one performance, I have tried to follow his performances ever since.As the author, Randy Taraborrelli, records in his book, only two other national TV appearances have ever delivered pop music stardom and the other 2 were the Beatles and Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show. However, Michael Jackson was the only one who did the singing and the dancing. Fred Astaire, whose dance videos Jackson frequently watched, phoned Jackson the day after that performance and told him that he was one hell of a dancer. "A great mover." He said, "you really put them on their asses last night. You're an angry dancer. I'm the same way." He was surprised that a person who dances with such anger would have such a soft voice. Gene Kelly frequently visited Jackson after the performance to talk shop. I think of Jackson as a very passionate performer.Who better to write a biography of Michael Jackson than Randy Tarborrelli who was enamored of all things Motown since he was a young boy. (The author is white.) He first interviewed Jackson when Jackson was 10 years old. He was able to write as a fan, a reporter, and a critic. He has written various other biographies and he is a news consultant for CBS news, so his book seemed more credible than other books I've written on the same topic. This was not the sensational, speculative type biography but one that spanned all of Jackson's life and appeared to be honest reporting. The chapters were short and although the book was over 700 pages long, it was a page turner. While reading the book I found myself having many different opinions of Jackson: a narcissist, irresponsible, strange, bizarre, unreasonable, sweet, shy, kind, product of a dysfunctional family, maddening and on and on. I thought it was irresponsible that he had so many resources available and although he worked so hard to perfect his artistry, he did not, until later in his life, use those resources to try to help himself personally. Jackson's Thriller album has outsold any other album in history. He wanted every album he recorded after Thriller to be more successful and he was disappointed in himself they weren't. Like myself, a fan of his performances, who wanted each performance to better his Motown Special performance. Most people probably see his cosmetic surgery as crippling as though he couldn't be honest about his looks. So too he was never honest about himself as perhaps he was crippled by a dysfunctional family and early celebrity. Dance on, Michael Jackson, may you rest finally in peace.
J. Randy Taraborrelli does an amazing job when it comes to providing information about MJ's world without sounding too opinionated (like most other writers unfortunately do when it comes to books about Michael Jackson). As a huge fan, I'm always eager to know more about the strange and mesmerizing world that was Michael's. Taraborrelli gathers his sources, which seem very well spread-out when it comes to Michael's timeline (interviews and stories from when he first started out as a child star during Motown up until the horrid days of that destructive trial in 2005). I found myself laughing at times, crying, and feeling sorrowful for this man and what he went through.My heart goes out to Michael Jackson, God rest his soul. He is honestly in my opinion, the most misunderstood entertainer that has ever lived. The poor man. I pray he is in a better place. I am a firm believer in his innocence when it comes to those ridiculous child molestation accusations and it's terribly sad to see how it all played out for him especially in the end. How can one not feel sorry for this guy?I recommend this book to anyone whose curious about the life, success and tragedy of Michael Jackson, the King of Music (and I say King of Music because he evidently influenced many artists of modern culture that exist in all various genres of music. There are not only pop stars who quote this man as a major influence to their artistry, but also many bands, rappers, country artists and even entertainers outside the music industry, such as magicians like David Blaine or actors like Seth Green... the list goes on).Read this book with an open mind. Not everything in it can be entirely true of course. Maybe to an extent. It's almost like a "he said, she said," type of concept where the author gathers many voices, strings them together and attempts to write out a story of ones life. Of course, no one may truly know the full and detailed life of Michael Jackson let alone the way he truly felt or what he really believed. But through his actions it's obvious he had a brilliant mind. A man who cared for many people through organizations and foundations that tried to make a difference in healing this world and making it a better place. A true humanitarian at heart this man really was.Rest in peace Michael Jackson.
What do You think about Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009 (2009)?
Before I even read this book I had glanced over it a few times while looking for more books about MJ to read. I usually passed it by because it just didn't look like it would be that great. (Look at me, judging a book by its cover haha) Anywho, the way I just so happened to actually want to read this book is because I was in local bookstore and saw the book sitting on the shelf. It was huge! (I read the updated copy of the book that added MJ's final years). I hadn't realized how ginormous the book was and I was automatically drawn to it. (I love big books). So I figured, eh..why not? The book was half priced anyway so it wouldn't be like if I ended up not liking it that I would have wasted a fortune. I thought it was a steal. So I got it, and skipped through most of the beginning chapters of the book about the family's upbringing in Indiana, etc. I've read so much about it that I feel like I know enough lol but even still, I still had much to read from where I started. What sells a book, a story, an author to me is how fast that can glue my undivided attention wherever I start reading. That is exactly what happened when I started reading this book. I absolutely could not put it down and I carried it literally EVERYWHERE with me. This behemoth of a book lol I'm a huge MJ fan and I loved the idea that I was possibly learning new things about him and his life. I had very little background on the author. I remembered him from his appearance in a documentary that also stared MJ's close friend frank Cascio. As for Taraborelli, I distinctly remember his remarks on when he mentioned how MJ got upset with him because of what he said about when he and Lisa Marie got married and Taraborelli joked that they were registered at Toys R Us. That was low lol but as low as it was I laughed at what he said. I have my own thoughts on their marriage, that's all I will say. Anyway, I didn't really know what to feel about Taraborelli due to that because on the one hand he seemed like a nice guy that MJ possibly trusted but on the other, I'm not sure. The book settled all that for me tho. I almost cried at the end. I'll definitely read again and again that's for sure, and the next time I'll read it from cover to cover! #RIPMJ #Moonwalker #RemembertheChildren #L.O.V.E
—Jasmine
Greatest Entertainer EverA fan of the late great Michael Jackson, I opened this book wide-eyed with interest. A massive read, it was also hard to put down. However, I'm somewhat torn. While informative, I question the credibility and its accuracy of some of what was written. As an author Taraborrelli's narrative is well written, flows easily, and it's apparent that he had an "inside" look. Some of the book appears to be based in truth, while other parts are questionable and opinionated. That said, I don't think we'll ever get an accurate account of Michael's life. As a biography, over all I enjoyed it and recommend to others as long as you read with an open mind and aren't looking for concrete truths. Reviewed by: Jada 3.5
—OOSA
the guy claims to have been a friend of MJ, but we all know what MJ thought of reporters. the book is rather thick with bible type paper, and smells strongly of ink which is not pleasant. there were a few things in the book that was news to me, but not much else. tends to run on and on or repeats alot of the same stuff. was really just reading it to get to the *updated* end... but still nothing here to make me want to recommend the book. the author is very sympathetic to joseph jackson, which i find suspicious. he also has all these 'conversations' that you know are made up. i was hoping for some financial information, but the book barely mentions that stuff. lot's of typo errors get very annoying too. wasn't there an editor? i was like "who the hell is paula anka?" and then at the end of the book there is about 50 pages of thank yous, which just adds to the weight and smell of the thing.
—Andrew Stansbury-Cecil
