display
Berlin (dpa) - The entry initially irritates.
David Bowie has been dead for almost five years - and in a book that is not an autobiography, he tells his life story in first-person form.
“I'm Major Tom.
I am Ziggy Stardust.
I am the Thin White Duke.
I am an alien.
I am the king of the goblins.
I am the elephant person.
(...) I am the man who carries the weight of the black star on his shoulders. "
The Spanish author Fran Ruiz sums up the artistic stages of one of the greatest icons of pop culture in just five lines: from his breakthrough with the album “David Bowie (Space Oddity)” from 1969 to his various roles in the wild 70s to the monumental farewell work “Blackstar »From 2016. And once you have got used to the personal review of a deceased person (who nevertheless still seems to be very much alive as a legendary figure) - then reading fun and fascination quickly set in.
display
"Bowie.
An Illustrated Life », the biography now also published in German, now in abundance on 168 pages.
Renowned illustrator María Hesse accompanies an unusual portrayal of Bowie with lavish tableaus and many imaginative optical gags.
The sometimes naive looking pictures and the text written with childlike pleasure complement each other well.
«I decided to follow Elvis' example and be born on January 8th.
That night a glowing ball fell from the sky and landed at 40 Stansfield Road in London, »writes the Malaga-born geography and history professor Ruiz about Hesse's striking comet.
Thus begins a biographical game with the myth of the galactic, a musician of the century who is still puzzling today.
Hesse / Ruiz describe their book as the “result of several hours of research” - and Bowie connoisseurs actually experience one or two surprises.
The ambitious goal of the authors: "The reinterpretation of the biography of a person who has always refused to talk about himself".
Her playful handling of the facts is "an intuitive approach to the person David Bowie - and not a deceit on the reader."
Accepted.
display
“Bowie.
An Illustrated Life »is being launched on the market precisely on a day of mourning: January 10, 2021 will mark the fifth anniversary of the shocking death of the 69-year-old pop hero.
In the meantime, in-depth books about the innovative musician and colorful person have appeared (“David Bowie: A Life” by Dylan Jones, 2018), but also magnificent photo books (such as “David Bowie: Icon: The Definitive Photographic Collection” or “A Tribute to David Bowie: The illustrated book », both 2020).
If you are looking for original sounds, you will find it in the “Stardust Interviews: A Life in Conversations” (2018).
For children, “David Bowie: Little People, Big Dreams” by María Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Ana Albero was published in German in March.
And “Bowie: Stardust, ray cannons and daydreams” came out as a graphic novel by pop artist Michael Allred, his wife Laura Allred (color design) and author Steve Horton.
This comic biography focuses on the particularly colorful "Ziggy Stardust" phase of the 1970s and the time around it.
Meanwhile, the German comic artist Reinhard Kleist is working on a two-volume, 300-page Bowie biography in color.
The 50-year-old documents the creation process online.
The attraction of Bowie lies “in his exalted stage personalities, his musical charisma and his sexyness,” writes Kleist about the mammoth project.
A first volume with the working title “David Bowie - Starman” is planned for the end of December 2021, the second (“David Bowie - Low”) for the end of 2023.
display
And then there is also the music.
Dozens of records have been released since Bowie's death in 2016: opulent CD and vinyl box sets, collections of singles, re-releases of well-known albums.
Significant are three shows, probably largely planned by Bowie himself, on phases of his career after the “Ziggy” period - including the “Berlin Years” of the sound researcher (1976 to 1978).
According to the journal "Musikexpress", it is guaranteed that "Bowie worked on other songs until shortly before his death, five of which are even supposed to be available as demos".
However, nothing has yet been heard of a publication of these treasures on the fifth anniversary of his death.
María Hesse / Fran Ruiz: Bowie.
An illustrated life.
Translated by Kristof Hahn.
Heyne Hardcover, Munich.
168 pages, 116 color illustrations, 22.00 euros, ISBN 978-3-453-27302-3
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201224-99-807260 / 2
David Bowie website
Bowie comic by Reinhard Kleist
Bowie.
An illustrated life