Discover the Top 100 Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

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Title: My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire

Author: Maurice White, Herb Powell

Narrator: Dion Graham

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-13-16

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 115 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

The late Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and charts the rise of his legendary band in this sincere memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today. With a foreword by David Foster.

With its dynamic horns, contrasting vocals, and vivid stage shows, Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the most popular acts of the late 20th century - the band "that changed the sound of black pop" (Rolling Stone) - and its music continues to inspire modern artists including Usher, Jay Z, CeeLo Green, and Outkast. At last the band's founder, Maurice White, shares the story of his success.

White reflects on the great blessings music has brought to his life and the struggles he's endured: his mother leaving him behind in Memphis when he was four; learning to play the drums with Booker T. Jones; moving to Chicago at 18 and later Los Angeles after leaving the Ramsey Lewis Trio; forming EWF, only to have the original group fall apart; working with Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond; his diagnosis of Parkinson's; and his final public performance with the group at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Through it all White credits his faith for his amazing success and guidance in overcoming his many challenges.

My Life with Earth Wind, & Fire is an intimate, moving, and beautiful memoir from a man whose creativity and determination carried him to great success and whose faith enabled him to savor every moment.

Members Reviews:

Maurice--Earth, Wind and Fire

What made the experience of listening to My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire the most enjoyable?

To be able to see the human side of Maurice and EWF.....they are one of the greatest groups of all time!!!!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Maurice White, of course.

What does Dion Graham bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

His voice of experience and expression.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The road traveled for Earth, Wind and Fire

Any additional comments?

Maurice White's story did not disappoint....thanks for the music.

Told in a way to: Keep Your Head (In This Book!!)

This is officially the best audible bio book I've listened to!. Brother Maurice was the definition of a man. I literally couldn't stop listening to his story. AND... I'm going to listen to it again. It's that heavy. Thanks Maurice for the music and the no holds barred look into your life. Extremely well arranged and told. Wow.

To me urban if I was the best band overall

The passing of Maurice White was a big pill to swallow I enjoy all the music that he put us and I enjoy the happiness that or when the fireboard to me God bless Maurice White and God bless his family thank you or wind and fire

Absorbing and enjoyable read.

This is a very revealing account of the life of the great Maurice White, and the building and operating of perhaps the most successful band that recorded and performed at such a high degree of musicality. More than just a story as Mr. White gives us a deep look into the spiritual influences that lead to great popular music with a positive and uplifting message. There are many views and lessons into operations in the music business.

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Title: Good Vibrations

Subtitle: My Life as a Beach Boy

Author: Mike Love, James S. Hirsch

Narrator: Mike Love

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-13-16

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 153 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

Mike Love tells the story of his legendary, raucous, and ultimately triumphant five-decade career as the front man of The Beach Boys, the most popular American band in history - timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of "Good Vibrations".

As a founding member of The Beach Boys, Mike Love has spent an extraordinary 55 years, and counting, as the group's lead singer and one of its principal lyricists. The Beach Boys, from their California roots to their international fame, are a unique American story - one of overnight success and age-defying longevity; of musical genius and reckless self-destruction; of spirituality, betrayal, and forgiveness - and Love is the only band member to be part of it each and every step. His own story has never been fully told, of how a sheet-metal apprentice became the quintessential front man for America's most successful rock band, singing in more than 5,600 concerts in 26 countries.

Love describes the stories behind his lyrics for pop classics such as "Good Vibrations", "California Girls", "Surfin' USA", and "Kokomo", while providing vivid portraits of the turbulent lives of his three gifted cousins, Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. His partnership with Brian has few equals in American pop music, though Mike has carved out a legacy of his own - he co-wrote the lyrics to 11 of the 12 original Beach Boy songs that were top 10 hits while providing the lead vocals on 10 of them. The band's unprecedented durability also provides a glimpse into America's changing cultural mores over the past half century, while Love himself has experienced both the diabolical and the divine - from Charles Manson's "family" threatening his life to Maharishi instilling it with peace. A husband, a father, and an avid environmentalist, Love has written a book that is as rich and layered as the Beach Boy harmonies themselves.

Critic Reviews:

"This memoir is a marvelous listening experience.... [Mike Love's] delivery is steady, thoughtful, sincere, and occasionally emotional as well. His mellow tone, while quite slow and deliberate, is reminiscent of the idealized laid-back California lifestyle the Beach Boys sang about." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Worthwhile for Beach Boy fans...narration awful

If you could sum up Good Vibrations in three words, what would they be?

Mike's side explained...

Who was your favorite character and why?

C'mon audible...it's an autobiography...

What didnt you like about Mike Loves performance?

I've often complained when famous people don't do the reading of their memoirs, but this book showed me why some don't.

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Title: Kierkegaard

Subtitle: A Single Life

Author: Stephen Backhouse

Narrator: Tom Parks

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-16

Publisher: Zondervan

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 41 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

Discover a new understanding of Kierkegaard's thought and his life, a story filled with romance, betrayal, humor, and riots.

Kierkegaard, like Einstein and Freud, is one of those geniuses whose ideas permeate the culture and shape our world even when relatively few people have read their works. That lack of familiarity with the real Kierkegaard is about to change.

This lucid new biography by scholar Stephen Backhouse presents the genius as well as the acutely sensitive man behind the brilliant books. Scholarly and accessible, Kierkegaard: A Single Life introduces his many guises - the thinker, the lover, the recluse, the writer, the controversialist - in prose so compelling it reads like a novel.

One chapter examines Kierkegaard's influence on our greatest cultural icons - Kafka, Barth, Bonhoeffer, Camus, and Martin Luther King, Jr., to name only a few. A useful appendix presents an overview of each of Kierkegaard's works for the scholar and lay listener alike.

Members Reviews:

Great!

Best short, contemporary biography of Kierkegaard. The summaries of SK's bibliography at the end are probably handy in the written form, but the main value of the audiobook is for the straight biographical chapters.

Extremely accessible biography and overview!

An extremely helpful, orienting introduction to the man and his writings. Engaging narration too. Highly recommended!

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Title: Ghost Empire

Author: Richard Fidler

Narrator: Richard Fidler

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-02-16

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 32 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

Ghost Empire is a rare treasure - an utterly captivating blend of the historical and the contemporary, realised by a master storyteller.

In 2014, Richard Fidler and his son Joe made a journey to Istanbul. Fired by Richard's passion for the rich history of the dazzling Byzantine Empire - centred around the legendary Constantinople - we are swept into some of the most extraordinary tales in history. The clash of civilisations, the fall of empires, the rise of Christianity, revenge, lust, murder.

Turbulent stories from the past are brought vividly to life at the same time as a father navigates the unfolding changes in his relationship with his son. Ghost Empire is a revelation: a beautifully told ode to a lost civilisation, and a warmly observed father-son adventure far from home.

Members Reviews:

The writer isn't always the best narrator

I was very much looking forward to this book - very, very much - but the outdated gender philosophies around father/son relationships and the narrator's dull and charmless delivery made it impossible to get through chapter one. I'm going to try again in hard copy. Maybe.

Unraveled byzantine history

Very much enjoyed the exploration of an old city. The movement between the contemporary and the past was presented in a way that pulls you in. I have wanted to do something similar but Erdogan and the occasional crack downs give me pause. As does all the rest of the regional chaos. The trip to Roman ruins is on the list and this book upped the desire factor.

Interesting story by a great storyteller

Interesting history of Byzantium combined with a travelogue of Istanbul and Rome. The author is an excellent and captivating storyteller with a great ability to weave a complicated yet easy to follow story. His depiction of the Fourth Crusade is probably the best I've heard and truly captures pointless tragedy of the affair. He doesn't dive into as great of detail on some issues that other histories cover, namely the theological disputes, but that is probably for the better in keeping the story moving. Definitely recommend.

Great presentation

The journalist Fidler does a really wonderful and entertaining presentation both in content and narration. Like an excellent song sung by the songwriter, Fidler imparts emotion at the level the text demands. There may be new things for Byzantine history buffs but mostly is is enjoyable the way he put it together. Everyone who loves history whether you care for Byzantine history or not should listen. It will grab you from the start.

loved it

Richard Fidler is such a compelling narrator. his enthusiasm for the story behind this fascinating place is infectious.

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Title: Stanley Kubrick and Me

Subtitle: Thirty Years at His Side

Author: Emilio D'Alessandro, Filippo Ulivieri, Simon Marsh - translator

Narrator: Stephen Hoye

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-29-16

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 58 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

This intimate portrait by his former personal assistant and confidante reveals the man behind the legendary filmmaker - for the first time.

Stanley Kubrick, the director of a string of timeless movies from Lolita and Dr. Strangelove to A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, and others, has always been depicted by the media as the Howard Hughes of filmmakers, a weird artist obsessed with his work and privacy to the point of madness. But who was he really? Emilio D'Alessandro lets us see. A former Formula Ford driver who was a minicab chauffeur in London during the Swinging Sixties, he took a job driving a giant phallus through the city that became his introduction to the director. Honest, reliable, and ready to take on any task, Emilio found his way into Kubrick's neurotic, obsessive heart. He became his personal assistant, his right-hand man and confidant, working for him from A Clockwork Orange until Kubrick's death in 1999.

Emilio was the silent guy in the room when the script for The Shining was discussed. He still has the coat Jack Nicholson used in the movie. He was an extra on the set of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's last movie. He knew all the actors and producers Kubrick worked with; he observed firsthand Kubrick's working methods, down to the smallest detail. Making no claim of expertise in cinematography, but with plenty of anecdotes, he offers a completely fresh perspective on the artist and a warm, affecting portrait of a generous, kind, caring man who was a perfectionist in work and life.

Members Reviews:

Revelatory

I really enjoyed this memoir about one of my favorite directors. This book touched me by channeling a range of emotions throughout the story. The most it did was give me tremendous insights on a reclusive genius. If you think youd be interested in learning more about Stanley Kubrick, you should listen to this book.

This title was well written and well performed so it falls on your ears pleasantly.

R.I.P. Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick's unfinished masterpiece: Horrible Bosses

Where does Stanley Kubrick and Me rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

This is one of the better audible books I've purchased, as I wasn't anticipating the level of emotional involvement that came from the bond between Emilio and Kubrick. As an overall tale, it's very interesting if only to know the in's and out's of a life of director, but if one is already a Kubrick fan, then I'd say this is a must because it fleshes Kubrick out as a three-dimensional, complex character: An animal lover that treated his employees like slaves at times, a warm and affectionate man that wanted control in nearly every facet of his life, a complete perfectionist that could be completely messy and absent-minded.

What did you like best about this story?

This is one of the best stories of brotherly love I've ever encountered. Even if you are not a fan of Kubrick, the slow and sure unfoldment of the unbreakable bond between Stanley and Emilio is utterly absorbing.

That said, the frustrating part was how Kubrick acted as a boss: manipulative, petulant, absurdly unfair while demanding extreme hours and dedication from his team around him.

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Title: Porcelain

Subtitle: A Memoir

Author: Moby

Narrator: Moby

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-17-16

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 363 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

From one of the most interesting and iconic musicians of our time, a piercingly tender, funny, and harrowing account of the path from suburban poverty and alienation to a life of beauty, squalor, and unlikely success out of the NYC club scene of the late '80s and '90s.

There were many reasons Moby was never going to make it as a DJ and musician in the New York club scene. This was the New York of Palladium; of Mars, Limelight, and Twilo; of unchecked, drug-fueled hedonism in pumping clubs where dance music was still largely underground, popular chiefly among working-class African Americans and Latinos. And then there was Moby - not just a poor, skinny white kid from Connecticut but a devout Christian, a vegan, and a teetotaler. He would learn what it was to be spat on, to live on almost nothing. But it was perhaps the last good time for an artist to live on nothing in New York City: the age of AIDS and crack but also of a defiantly festive cultural underworld.

Not without drama, he found his way. But success was not uncomplicated; it led to wretched, if in hindsight sometimes hilarious, excess and proved all too fleeting. And so by the end of the decade, Moby contemplated an end in his career and elsewhere in his life and put that emotion into what he assumed would be his swan song, his good-bye to all that, the album that would in fact be the beginning of an astonishing new phase: the multimillion-selling Play.

At once bighearted and remorseless in its excavation of a lost world, Porcelain is both a chronicle of a city and a time and a deeply intimate exploration of finding one's place during the most gloriously anxious period in life, when you're on your own, betting on yourself, but have no idea how the story ends, and so you live with the honest dread that you're one false step from being thrown out on your face. Moby's voice resonates with honesty, wit, and above all an unshakable passion for his music that steered him through some very rough seas.

Porcelain is about making it, losing it, loving it, and hating it. It's about finding your people, your place, thinking you've lost them both, and then somehow, when you think it's over, from a place of well-earned despair, creating a masterpiece.

As a portrait of the young artist, Porcelain is a masterpiece in its own right, fit for the short list of musicians' memoirs that capture not just a scene but an age and something timeless about the human condition. Push "play".

Members Reviews:

Such a great listen

I hated finishing this book what a super well written and interesting book... Get it its awesome!

Fantastic!

Having known nothing about Moby before getting this book I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I even got my wife to listen to it on a long trip and we were laughing as we drove.

Loved it!

I was a big fan of Moby as a teen in the early 90s. i loved the accounts of his life growing up and through that time. Very well written. Some of his analogies had me cracking up.

Moby awkwardly talks about himself having sex too much

I just wanted him to stop talking about how he had sex. They weren't interesting sex stories nor meaningful to him...they were just simply repetitive anecdotes that he had had sex. Really strange.

Total surprise ! Loved it !

One of the best audiobooks I have listened to . Thanks to Sulmon Rushdi who recommended this on NY times .

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Title: Her Again

Subtitle: Becoming Meryl Streep

Author: Michael Schulman

Narrator: Eliza Foss

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-26-16

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 170 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

A portrait of a woman, an era, and a profession: the first thoroughly researched biography of Meryl Streep - the "Iron Lady" of acting, nominated for 19 Oscars and winner of three - that explores her beginnings as a young woman of the 1970s grappling with love, feminism, and her astonishing talent.

In 1975, Meryl Streep, a promising young graduate of the Yale School of Drama, was finding her place in the New York theater scene. Burning with talent and ambition, she was like dozens of aspiring actors of the time - a 20-something beauty who rode her bike everywhere, kept a diary, napped before performances, and stayed out late "talking about acting with actors in actors' bars". Yet Meryl stood apart from her peers. In her first season in New York, she won attention-getting parts in back-to-back Broadway plays, a Tony Award nomination, and two roles in Shakespeare in the Park productions. Even then, people said, "Her. Again."

Her Again is an intimate look at the artistic coming of age of the greatest actress of her generation, from the homecoming float at her suburban New Jersey high school through her early days on the stage at Vassar College and the Yale School of Drama during its golden years to her star-making roles in The Deer Hunter, Manhattan, and Kramer vs. Kramer. New Yorker contributor Michael Schulman brings into focus Meryl's heady rise to stardom on the New York stage; her passionate, tragically short-lived love affair with fellow actor John Cazale; her marriage to sculptor Don Gummer; and her evolution as a young woman of the 1970s wrestling with changing ideas of feminism, marriage, love, and sacrifice.

This captivating story of the making of one of the most revered artistic careers of our time reveals a gifted young woman coming into her extraordinary talents at a time of immense transformation, offering a rare glimpse into the life of the actress long before she became an icon.

Members Reviews:

Curiously Devoid Of Any Personal Details

This book is the oddest thing: a purported biography with literally NO information on its subject that the reader could not discover on his own simply by reading every Wikipedia entry and magazine article ever written about her. I suppose this is what's to be expected from an unauthorized biography (Streep wrote to the author when she first heard about the project, advising him not to write the book), but I pre-ordered it on the supposition that SOMEONE (or preferably many someones) close to Streep would have been interviewed and provided some interesting, never-before-told stories and insights. If any friends, family, former lovers or rivals DID talk to the author, you'd never know it from this book-length magazine article masquerading as biography.

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Title: Waylon

Subtitle: Tales of My Outlaw Dad

Author: David Thomas - contributor, Terry Jennings

Narrator: Christopher Ryan Grant

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-19-16

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 105 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

From the foreword by Ken Mansfield:

"There are many stories about Waylon...the family man, the creative genius man, the quiet man, the king-of-the-six-day-roar man, the uncommon man, the legendary man, the bad-ass man.... They are all in this book."

In a signed copy of his autobiography, Texas-born country "outlaw" icon Waylon Jennings penned a personal note to his son Terry: "I did my best. Now it's your turn." Two decades later, Terry Jennings finally completes the true story of his father's remarkable, unvarnished life with Waylon: Tales of My Outlaw Dad.

Born when Waylon was only 19, Terry came of age just as Waylon's career hit the stratosphere with hits like "I've Always Been Crazy" and "Good Hearted Woman", one of his famous Willie Nelson duets. Terry dropped out of high school and joined his dad on tour, and the two became more like brothers than father and son. On the road they toured with legends like Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Jessi Colter, Waylon's fourth and final wife. Together father and son led a hard-partying lifestyle centered around music, women, and drugs.

Waylon's success - critical acclaim, best-selling albums, sold-out tours, and even TV stardom on The Dukes of Hazzard - was at times eclipsed by his demons, three divorces, crippling debt, and a depression that Terry traces to the premature death of Buddy Holly. (Waylon was supposed to be on Holly and Ritchie Valens' doomed flight.) Through it all Terry worked on the touring crew, helped manage Waylon's career, and became one of his father's closest confidants. Debunking myths and sharing incredible never-before-told stories, this book is a son's loving and strikingly honest portrait of his father, "the greatest outlaw country musician to grace this earth" and an unlikely but devoted family man. Waylon: Tales of My Outlaw Dad will resonate for generations of fans.

Critic Reviews:

"This book is a terrific tribute, from a son to his father." (Willie Nelson)

"I'm so excited about Terry's new book." (Dolly Parton)

Members Reviews:

"My Favorite Outlaw"

I have been a fan of Waylon Jennings since my parents took me to see "Nashville Rebel" when I was a child. I abandoned country music as an adolescent in the 1970s but returned to it when I watched Waylon perform at a show (probably the CMAs or something) at the peak of the Outlaw excitement with the album Wanted! The Outlaws. This book by Waylon's first born son, Terry, is a wonderful insider look at the legendary country singer. Terry stayed close with his father long after his parents divorced and even worked for years as part of Waylon's stage crew.

This book chronicles Waylon's beginning humble origins in West Texas to his start with Buddy Holly and his narrow avoidance of sharing Holly's tragic fate to the drug and sex filled debauchery of his glory days as one of country music's biggest acts. It's hard not to be simultaneously awed by the musician and horrified by his excesses which amazingly didn't kill him. It's very easy to imagine Waylon sharing the same kind of early demise that befell Elvis Presley--both consumed amphetamines and cocaine with voracious appetites.

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Title: Peggy Guggenheim

Subtitle: The Shock of the Modern

Author: Francine Prose

Narrator: Carrington MacDuffie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-14-16

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

A spirited portrait of the colorful, irrepressible, and iconoclastic American collector who fearlessly advanced the cause of modern art.

One of 20th-century America's most influential patrons of the arts, Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) brought to wide public attention the work of such modern masters as Jackson Pollock and Man Ray. In her time there was no stronger advocate for the groundbreaking and the avant-garde. Her midtown gallery was the acknowledged center of the postwar New York art scene, and her museum on the Grand Canal in Venice remains one of the world's great collections of modern art. Yet as renowned as she was for the art and artists she so tirelessly championed, Guggenheim was equally famous for her unconventional personal life and for her ironic, playful desire to shock.

Acclaimed best-selling author Francine Prose offers a listen of Guggenheim's life that will enthrall enthusiasts of 21st-century art as well as anyone interested in American and European culture and the interrelationships between them. The lively and insightful narrative follows Guggenheim through virtually every aspect of her extraordinary life, from her unique collecting habits and paradigm-changing discoveries to her celebrity friendships, failed marriages, and scandalous affairs. Prose delivers a colorful portrait of a defiantly uncompromising woman who maintained a powerful upper hand in a male-dominated world. She also explores the ways in which Guggenheim's image was filtered through the lens of insidious anti-Semitism.

Members Reviews:

A view into an important art patron.

I knew little to nothing about Peggy Guggenheim before reading this book. It is an interesting read, very readable and I now have a sense, I think, of this woman's fascination with art and artists but even more, her dedication to keeping art alive in times that, had it not been for her, we would be missing very important works. She acquired and protected them and made them available for us to appreciate today. While much of her life is depicted as chaotic and scandalous, I'm finding myself grateful to her for her purposeful acquisitions. Whether or not the book is factual regarding her personal life, we have bits and pieces of fact that we may be able to dig up to verify or not, while the art is fact that lives on without question. And rather than be repulsed by what may be deemed bad behavior on her part, it makes it all the more awe-inspiring that she did so much that is beneficial to us all. The book offered all of that and seems to have been quite thoroughly researched. We are even given a view into the fragility of her self-concept that, on the face of things, it is often easier to think of the wealthy as impervious to self-doubt. That the story of her life could have the broader implications of the human condition, the good, the bad and the ugly, is quite an art in itself.

Not an easy job to write a book about a very complex figure.

I would assume that the task of writing a biography requires an interest in and sympathy for the lead character. Prose does a fine job of allowing Peggy to come through and yet not be especially "attractive " with or without her botched nose job. It was a tumultuous time in the world and in the Art world with Peggy often at the center of the action.

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Title: Kill 'Em and Leave

Subtitle: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul

Author: James McBride

Narrator: Dominic Hoffman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 04-05-16

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 125 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

National Book Award winner James McBride goes in search of the "real" James Brown - and his surprising journey illuminates not only our understanding of the Godfather of Soul but the ways in which our cultural heritage has been shaped by Brown's legacy.

A product of the complicated history of the American South, James Brown was a cultural shape-shifter who arguably had the greatest influence on American popular music of any artist. Brown was long a figure of fascination for James McBride, a professional musician as well as a writer. When McBride receives a tip that promises to uncover the man behind the myth, he follows a trail that reveals the personal, musical, and societal influences that created this immensely troubled, misunderstood, and complicated soul genius.

James McBride is one of the most distinctive and electric voices in American literature today, and in Kill 'Em and Leave he uncovers a story that helps to explain Brown's legacy: the cultural landscape of America today.

Critic Reviews:

"Dominic Hoffman's performance is fantastic as he grooves and funks to the material.... His accents and pacing deftly capture each individual who was part of Brown's life." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

always in view / never understood

? do you find james brown's music unforgettable

? do the sad stories of his life seem incomplete

? are you willing to speculate about his true nature

if so, james mc bride has a terrific book for you

brown was a fastidious, pessimistic and driven man

he then hid those qualities in a public life of explosive music

the idea of being truly known, by his fans or anyone, terrified him

his music and stage performances were, for him, a reliable shield

mc bride, almost like an archaeologist, has many layers to get through

the truth about brown is often implied or shaded rather than stated

the most reliable references are almost always subtle or oblique

connecting these disparate dots requires mc bride's best effort and insight

as i listen to james brown's music now, mc bride's book comes to mind

his observations and conclusions amplify its' energy and meaning

i'd recommend this sly, speculative book to any true james brown fan

A Captivating Narrative of a Complex Man

First off, I usually do not write reviews but because of McBride's fluid narrative of Mr. James Brown, I was compelled to do so.

I grew up in the 1960s in NY and Mr. Brown's music had my friends jumping to his unabashed funk. He epitomized Blackness in a brash, and proudly unapologetic way.

Years later I would hear the stories of abuse of women, his band members, etc. I would also relocate to South Carolina, which McBride nailed in his descriptions of its resident's attitude and posture on race and status. McBride and the audio narrator do an Excellent job in conveying what possibly made Mr. Brown the complex man he was. From the insightful interviews, history and environment, Mr. Brown's story is one of survival. Right, wrong, and crazy, but non the less on his own terms.

Brilliant, compelling, profound, funny, sad, great

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely.