David Bowie: Fame, Sound and Vision Book

I have to say that I came into this book not knowing much about David Bowie aside from some of his most popular songs from his career. However, I did enjoy this book since I enjoy cultural and music criticism. Stevenson does not rely solely on Bowie's autobiography here but rather explains what Bowie's music and image meant throughout various aspects of his career. This is an approach I like as a cultural critic. However, this does not mean the analysis does not have its flaws. Stevenson fully admits that he looks at Bowie's work through the lens of a fan, but this does not hide his obvious disappointment that Bowie did not continue to engage in gender f*ck performances the way he did in the 60s and 70s. There are also a few other problematic aspects of his cultural criticism and I wish there had been at least one mention of Bowie's performance on Soul Train. If you've never read a criticism or biography of Bowie's work, this may be a good place to start. There is some insight as to why Bowie has remained such an iconic figure in popular culture for more than 40 years.