Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009 [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Ich muss gestehen, nach den ersten Seiten wollte ich das Buch sogleich weglegen, aber ich habe nicht aufgegeben...

Der Autor meint, er wisse alles ganz genau und er will dem Leser glauben lassen, er sei direkt bei den Konversationen dabei gewesen, was aber natürlich nicht so ist. Er selbst hat Michael nicht ständig getroffen und später brach der Kontakt sogar ab.
Durch die vielen Konversationen macht sich das Buch natürlich gut. Hier wurde es schon einmal erwähnt: Wie ein richtige Geschichte, ein Krimi liest sich das Buch. Aber dies soll ja keine Geschichte sein, sondern eine Biographie...
Ein paar Dinge sind vielleicht wahr, aber man kann sich hier nicht auf irgendetwas verlassen, man überlegt ständig, ob man es glauben kann/soll/muss oder nicht, was gesagt wird. Der Kollege gehört auch den Medien an und wir wissen ja, wie Michael dazu stand...
Jeder richtige MJ-Fan, der sich sehr gut im Leben Michael Jacksons auskennt, als manche Laien/nicht MJ-Fans wird einen faden Beigeschmack beim Lesen dieses Buches haben.
Es gibt zwar auch einige positive Dinge anzumerken, die der Autor erwähnt, aber bei manchen Dingen muss man auch den Kopf schütteln, was behauptet wird.

Positiv zu erwähnen ist noch, dass der Autor am Schluss doch etwas sentimental wird und zugibt, traurig über den Tod von Michael zu sein. Ausserdem ist das Buch einfach zu lesen, auch, wenn es in Englisch ist.

Weiterer negativer Punkt: Über die letzten Jahre von Michael ist sehr sehr wenig zu lesen.

Fazit: Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob ich mir das Buch nochmal gekauft hätte... Deswegen 3 von 5 Sternen.

This book tells about an incredibly life, the journey and path in life that the King of Pop and humanitarian Michael Jackson took in the nearly 51 years he lived. The road to stardom and the consequences of being as famous as him, the extortion and the seclusion, the lonelyness and eccentricities.

Michaels lifestory is so incredibly emotional, impressing, amazing, shocking and nearly unbelievable in so many ways! This book tells the complete story from his early living years in Gary, Indiana to his passing in Bell Air, California. This will probably be one of the last updated versions on this novel and is supposedly written by someone who met up with Michael many times throughout all his life and claims to have an inside scoop on things.

The beginning of the story tells about the abuse, physical as well as emotional, Michael and his siblings endured from his father. The total opposite lifestyles of his father and his religious mother, which gave a distorted example of how to live a good life and were total opposites in every sense of the word. It shows how his parents, the record companies and representations, as well as being in the spotlight isolated him from normal life ever since he was a young boy. He has been alone and lonely for most of his life, misunderstood and never appreciated for his opinion when he needed it the most. It shows that he always was a shy introverted boy, but instead of helping him find a way to being more extravert and open they shielded him from the outside world making it impossible for him to take a stand in a social life.

To tell this part of Michael's life takes up to about 400 pages in this book, is extensive and really takes you on the road towards stardom and into Michaels thoughts and life. This was the part that touched so many of my emotions and really got me connected to Michaels life from the inside point of view. However I found it a bit annoying that throughout the pages this author placed remarks towards the future from his own point of view. This irritated me on a certain level because when I read a biography I want to read about someone's life story not about the opinion of the author, I can make up my own mind thank you very much! It irritated me and it was then that I started to see typo's and grammar mistakes in sentences, wrongful use of words and sentences that were incomplete. For a book published this many times I expected it to be near to flawless, especially in the first half. Boy was I in for a surprise later in the story as that worsened!

The first part makes clear to me what I had known all along. Michael held out his heart; pouring with love for everyone to see; take from or enjoy; without any boundaries, borders or walls protecting it on his part, only hoping some of the love he gave would be given in return unconditionally. Everyone sensitive enough to it would see it in everything he did. From his love towards his mother, to the love for his fans, for the underprivileged people of this world, to the animals he had living at home.
No matter how his heart was bruised, kicked at, torn up, or smashed to pieces. No matter how much time it took him to come back, he stayed in search for that one small bit of light to grasp and pull himself back towards it.
When he was brought down in that deep dark cold space all I could feel was the need, the want, the desire to keep his heart safe from harm and warm it with my own love and heal the pain he has lived with so many years and make it better for him. Reading this book only strengthened that feeling and makes me more sad that he never had someone to blanket him as he needed to be.
One particular scene stayed with me and still pops into my mind every now and then, that was where young Michael (if I remember correctly about 14 years at that time) warned a fan who was invited up to the apartment his brothers rented for some "action" to not go, even wrote her a note with his autograph asking her not to go as he told her: They wouldn't treat you right. She decided to ignore it and went anyway. She went and Michael was brought home, got out of the car, recognised her and said: I can't believe you went. She was all up in tears and regretted that she had done so. She got into a cab and left... To me it showed everything Michael was, even back then they didn't listen to what he had to say. He was not trusted in what he said.

No matter how controversy and eccentric a picture of Michael, J. Randy Taraborrelli painted I dreaded reading the last pages of this book. Of course it really was real, Michael had died June 25, 2009, but to read it as a final thought in this book was just surreal to me. It was the ending of a person's life who never was able to live life.

I said it before in this review that in my opinion as an author of a biography you should remain objectivity, remain to facts and keep an open mind. In the writings of the past 15 years J. Randy Taraborrelli was not able to do that. It felt what he wrote down was not inside information but more stories gotten from outside sources. The spelling, grammar and wrongful use of names is stunning, and rather implies the quickness it's written and released again and again without taking the time to read and edit it and re-read it with every new publication.

I'll name a few of these to stipulate that I'm not just saying or making it up:

* Neverland has been said to have both 27,000 & 2,700 acres of ground.
* The videographer interviewing the Arvizo family was name as both Christian Robinson and Christian Anderson.
* The DCFS was also named DSCS.
* There are countless grammar mistakes in the built up of sentences that make you have to re-read sentences to understand what is being said.
* And there are typo's that make your brow raise as well.
* What makes this book quite difficult to read as well that it's written up in chapters, it reads very confusing at certain points, especially in the later years because in one chapter you find yourself reading information from i.e. 1994-1997 when the next chapter will take you back to i.e. 1992-1993.

There was a remark in the book that made me want to lash out to J. Randy Taraborrelli. Although it has to be somewhat applauded that in the `Chandler-case' he remained saying wasn't sure what had transpired-personally. However, in my opinion looking at the facts he brought forth in this book, it was clear that Michael was innocent. I knew that then and after reading this book I'm even more sure of it now. But I'm coming back to the fact that his opinion does not fit in a book portrayed as a biography! In the `Arvico-case', in his own words he knew it was a set up.

What made me want to lash out however was that after the acquittal of Michael June 13, 2005, a woman came up to J. Randy Taraborelli saying to him "After all of THIS, what if he really IS innocent?"
He wrote in response to that and I quote: "As I looked at the startled expression on her face, I felt a chill shoot down my spine and I thought to myself... `Oh, my God! What is he really IS?'
It made me want to scream and say "You dimwit, do you finally get it now??!!! It, for Christ sake took you long enough!'

For someone who they claim knows or is an `expert' on Michaels life it seems to me that he might only know what Michael wanted him to know, but never understood the essence of Michaels being. I think Michael never forgot the fact that J. Randy Taraborrelli is indeed a journalist and in his world they could not be trusted. Throughout his whole life people backstabbed him and he remained cautious towards certain people, unfortunately not so cautious towards the one that hurt him the most.

The question remains though, would I recommend this book for reading, is it what I expected from reading a biography and did it really give me the satisfaction of getting the inside information on this person's life?

I have to admit that it's difficult to extract myself from the way it is written and the person who it is written about. Michael, throughout the years has affected and touched more in my life that I realized.

The first 400 or so pages give a clear, insightful view and a lot of information on Michaels life so in order to establish if this is biography worthy I have to say yes, surpassing grammar mistakes and writing errors. It touches every fibre of my being, emotion, stirs me on every level and leaving me amazed in all that he had experienced in his life (good and obviously bad!). Throughout the years after that, it becomes more clear to me that this story isn't written from Michaels perspective anymore but from the authors viewpoint. Throughout it all I missed real interaction with Michael (though the second half a lot more that the first half). So it left me feeling bereft and misguided by the title.
The last 4 years the author has only been in touch with Michael on the phone twice and only for a few minutes and the years before it seems that contact has been minimum too! So to name this book:

`The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story 1958-2009 / Updated with new chapters on the stars last years and last days'

is not accurate! The last deals only with the rumours everybody knows, the news everybody knows but I have not come across a snippet of information about the allegedly private lifestyle Michael had according to this author that wasn't already know to me through other means.

It came across as though the author was trying to say "I know Michael and I want the whole world to know as well."

All in all the positive feelings I have about this book is that it kept me focussed on Michael, his life and him as a person. Lesen Sie weiter... ›

Meine Kurzbewertung:
Der Autor überzieht Michael Jackson weder mit Zuckerguss noch stampft er ihn in Grund und Boden.

Meine ausführliche Bewertung:
Postiv ist mir aufgefallen, dass die Biografie wirklich das komplette Leben von Michael Jackson umfasst, beginnend mit seiner Herkunft: Den Großeltern und Eltern wird ein eigenes Kapitel gewidmet. Quellenangaben sind - bis auf Ausnahmen - vom Autor zu fast jedem Kapitel des Buches hinterlegt, was erstmal die Glaubwürdigkeit der Biografie unterstreicht.

Die Kinder bzw. Jugendjahre Michael Jacksons und die Zeit seiner größten Erfolge in den 80' er Jahren sind besonders gut recherchiert. Man kann diese als Leser hautnah miterleben und erfährt viele Hintergrundinformationen.

The Magic... ist kein Buch, dass sich nur an der oft zitierten sogenannten "Exzentrik" des Megastars orientiert und es ist auch kein Buch, dass ausschließlich die Sensationslust von Lesern befriedigt. Man gewinnt beim Lesen durchaus den Eindruck, dass der Autor versucht Michael Jackson fair auszuleuchten. Trotzdem - und jetzt kommt das große ABER: Vieles bei Taraborrelli wird sehr subjektiv betrachtet, manches gar diskussionswürdig und einiges sogar fragwürdig. Keine Frage, das Buch ist spannend und wohlformuliert geschrieben - wenn man es als Roman betrachtet. Von einer Biographie erwartet man in der Regel aber dann doch mehr Tiefe und Objektivität. Vor allem erwartet man, dass sich der Autor als Person zurückhält. Leider inszeniert sich Taraborrelli allzuoft sehr gerne selbst, anstatt sich zurückzunehmen.

Mr. Taraborrelli setzt - wohl als Stilmittel - reichlich wörtliche Rede in den Text, was den Eindruck vermitteln soll, man sei direkt in eine "Szene" im Leben Michael Jacksons integriert. Z. B. Dialog zwischen Michael Jackson und Lisa Marie Presley. Was soll man davon halten? Tja "die Geister, die er rief", denn dieser mannigfaltige Einsatz der wörtlichen Rede macht das Buch zwar spannend, untergräbt aber auch die Glaubwürdigkeit. Man fragt sich als Leser dann doch unwillkürlich: "Wie will er (der Autor) das wissen? War er die Fliege an der Wand?"

Schlecht für das Buch ist auch, dass Mr. Taraborrelli - nach eigener Aussage - die letzten 10 bis 15 Jahre wenig persönlichen Kontakt zu Michael Jackson hatte. Vieles was über diese Zeit im Buch zu lesen ist, ist für eingefleischte Fans bestimmt nichts Neues bzw. erscheint dies eben nicht mehr wie ein Wissen aus erster Hand sondern oft wie Hörensagen von Dritten mit wiederum subjektiver Interpretation des Autors. Für meinen Geschmack - insgesamt zuviel Subjektivität.

Manches beurteilt Taraborrelli zu streng bzw. zu sehr aus der Sicht des Mainstream. Manches will man als Fan vielleicht auch gar nicht so genau wissen.

Absolut schlecht recherchiert und in der Neuauflage von 2009 leider auch nicht upgedatet, ist die Darstellung des Chandler-Falles. Hier wird einseitig aus Sicht der Familie Chandler geschildert. Zudem fehlen hier die wichtigsten Quellenangaben. Über die tatsächlichen Fakten kann man sich heute problemlos im Internet informieren. Dieses Kapitel ist keine Glanzleistung, lieber Mr. Taraborrelli.

In der aktualisierten Ausgabe, die meines Erachtens, viel zu schnell auf den Markt geworfen wurde, wohl um die trauernden Fans schnell zu bedienen, beschreibt Mr. Taraborrelli vor allem seine Gefühle als er vom plötzlichen und zu frühen Tod Michael Jacksons erfuhr. Es ist als ob der Autor nun in 2009 - leider etwas zu spät - die pure Essenz von Michael Jackson erfasst. Versöhnlich möchte ich hinzufügen, dass Mr. Taraborrelli mit seinen Schlußsätzen vielen Fans bestimmt aus dem Herzen sprechen wird:

"I like to think he is at peace now. I'm not, though. Not now, anyway. And I know in my heart things will never quite be the same for me ... not without Michael."