Joseph Vogel (2)

Joseph Vogel’s extensive book on Prince is very well-researched, based on the extensive bibliography and citations included in this book. As a matter of fact, the last 24% of the book is bibliography and footnotes! This book is well-written, and deals with everything you might want to know about Prince, including his feelings about politics, sex, religion, race, gender, and death. It also goes into depth about Prince’s musical style and how it changed through the years and why. It details each of his works, explaining what was going on in Prince’s life at the time. The author explained Prince’s quirks very well, and I came to understand him better. It even talked about how Prince died. This is the definitive book about Prince. I would highly recommend this book to those who want to learn more about this amazingly-talented man.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.… (altro)

Fans, scholars, and even on-the-fence doubters will find the new book *Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson* by Huffington Post writer Joseph Vogel, not only an enthralling read, but a gateway into a revised and truer perception of one of the most mysterious and massively influential artists of our time. This book is definitely not another run of the mill sensationalist work.

Vogel unfolds this biography in a unique album-by-album mode. He captures fully the cultural vibe of the ‘80s and ‘90s, while analyzing the particularities of Jackson’s creative process from inception to aesthetic fulfillment. It seems the author wishes to reach beyond Jackson’s loyal fan base, and has an even more expansive and restorative intention in mind.

The narrative is revealed through intricately woven stories that are chronologically linked with the creation of Jackson's songs. This odyssey reminds one of a mythic “hero’s journey,” as it evokes the visceral emotion of artistic conquest. Throughout the process, Vogel explicates Jackson’s music, performance art, cinematic short films, and artistic incarnations, as well as exploring his myriad eclectic influences.

The book's success is due, in large part, to a trilogy of strengths the author possesses as an academic scholar and writer on popular culture. Vogel manages to fuse an unflagging penchant for research with an engaging gift of journalistic storytelling. Rarer, however, is the subtle sense of spiritual exegesis he provides. This literary alchemy gives the reader an entirely fresh comprehension of Jackson as a creative artist. It also illuminates the voluminous breadth, depth and influence of his oeuvre.

Vogel allows his reader to experience firsthand the gentle singer-songwriter’s coming of age, his groundbreaking musical prowess, and his emergence as a humanitarian emissary for the disadvantaged and alienated. We are reminded that Jackson (a voracious reader of Emerson) was at heart a transcendental visionary calling for healing the world through compassion, community, and environmental stewardship.

Vogel documents the rich and sundry details offered by a plethora of Jackson’s musical collaborators, technical producers, and artistic associates. These remembrances add surprise and synchronicity to the familiar aspects of his complex life story. Included in this oral history are recollections from musical giants Quincy Jones, Rod Templeton, Teddy Riley, Bruce Swedien, Rodney Jerkins, Buz Kohan, Brad Buxer and many others.

Vogel, a writer on politics and popular culture, is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Rochester, where he emerges out of an academic perspective on the history of literature and the arts. His book credibly positions Jackson amidst a much broader contextual background than many of the apocryphal works by authors who leapt onto the greed-bandwagon following the artist’s death.

It is interesting to note that Vogel began research for this book almost six years ago. This was during a time when Jackson was often treated by publishers and much of the public as a social leper. Vogel wanted to correct what he perceived as a terrible injustice and return the conversation to the genius of Jackson’s art and his transformative cultural import.

Vogel later made a conscious choice to refrain from publishing his material immediately following Jackson’s death. Hence, his biography includes analysis of Jackson’s posthumously released works, as well as reflections on the nature of the artist’s ultimate legacy. Vogel’s insight and rigorous research do much to relieve the ignominy this artist suffered in life from a rapacious media.

This book also includes analysis of Jackson’s posthumously released music, as well as reflections on the nature of the artist’s ultimate legacy. Formulaic tabloid stereotyping and long-standing racial binaries are finally exploded and cast aside. The reader will experience Jackson anew as a fine artist, cultural troubadour, and shamanic performer, because he can now be perceived through a lens that clarifies instead of mystifies.

Perceptive, metaphoric, and humane, Vogel’s Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson is certainly the defining biographical work regarding this artist to date. The revelatory innovation of Jackson’s art, as well as his under reported global initiatives for social justice surely deserve this long over due literary retrospective.

The portfolio of stunning photographs render this volume attractive to appreciators of all art genres. The author has dedicated his book to Jackson’s three children. One imagines they will be grateful, for Vogel offers respect and honor to the father they loved.

Copyrighted ~ Constance Pierce 2011… (altro)