Bowie

An illustrator and graphic designer, MarÍa Hesse is the author of Frida Kahlo: An Illustrated Life.Fran Ruiz is a professor of geography and history, and his writing regularly appears in the magazine Cultural Use Manual.Ned Sublette is a musicologist and the author of four previous books.

• IntroductionTimelineAbsolute beginnersLiftoffHazy cosmic jiveThe side effects of the cocaineStanding by the wallPut a bullet in my brain and it makes all the papersDancing with the big boysA heart for the tin manWorld wide BowieNever get oldI can’t give everything awayDiscographyBibliographyAcknowledgments

While Bowie portrayed many larger-than-life characters in his music, this book attempts to turn Bowie himself into a similarly superhuman character, adding a few extra dashes of magic, wonder and awe into his already stunning life as an artist. (Paste Magazine) [A] beautifully illustrated book of [Bowie's] life-not a 'graphic biography' but something more imaginative. (Shepherd Express) [Bowie's] fabulous ink and watercolor portraits…borrow elements of religious iconography to portray Bowie with heart and nerves exposed, wrapped in rainbows, or sprouting plant life. The art reflects a man consumed with himself as an evolving art project, at once self-absorbed and self-sacrificing, cooly aesthetic and curiously, lovably human. (Publishers Weekly) Evocatively illustrated from start to finish, [Bowie] is a stellar tribute to an inimitable star. (OutWord Magazine) [A] delightful little tome…it's easy to devour in a single sitting, making it more a creative introduction than an authoritative, essential work. That doesn't stop it from being pleasurable. (Pasatiempo) This isn’t a traditional biography by any stretch, which makes perfect sense for anyone even vaguely familiar with the life and times of David Robert Jones...This illustrated version serves its purpose well because art (or artifice) was such an integral part of his persona...Hesse's work gives the pages a hypnotic power, mimicking legendary photographs in a style all her own. (Rogues Portal) [An] inventive biography…Told from Bowie's viewpoint, readers follow along his personal and professional life and meet many of the famous musicians he interacted with, including Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, Freddie Mercury and others. (Chicago Tribune)