An entertaining, revealing portrait of the artist as a young—and old—rocker.
The lead singer of Judas Priest comes clean.
Confession is good for the soul, and Halford, who calls himself “a gay heavy metal Christian,” has mostly sins of the flesh and not of the soul to own up to. At the beginning of the book, the author recounts wandering through his Midlands hometown, worrying about something that absorbed him for years: Though he was the frontman for one of the world’s biggest rock acts, he couldn’t bring himself to come out to his fans. “Would it kill Judas Priest?” As it happened, Halford sent enough signals out over the years that neither his band mates nor his fans were surprised when he finally did come out—though, interestingly, he waited until embarking on a solo act to do so. He knew he was gay when he was 10, a realization that followed another one: Called on to sing before admiring schoolmates, he also discovered that he loved the stage. Much of this well-crafted narrative involves love sought and lost, including a few unsatisfying one-sided relationships with men who turned out to be straight. Halford also reveals himself to be a fan as well as a star, smitten by the likes of Bowie and Bolan, Mercury and Madonna. A discerning critic, he doesn’t spare himself for failures of judgment and performance. The band’s debut album, Rocka Rolla, “made absolutely no impression on the charts and got virtually no airplay” while “Point of Entry was Priest on autopilot.” Yet when they were on, they were peerless, with superb albums like British Steel putting their rivals to shame. Readers will admire Halford for those accomplishments while being amazed that he survived the endless coke-and-booze sessions that preceded his rehab; he proudly notes that he’s been clean and sober for decades and has no intentions of quitting the stage even in his 70s. A revelation, drawn from band history: “This Is Spinal Tap…wasn’t a satire: it was a documentary.” One of Kirkus and Rolling Stone’s Best Music Books of 2020.
An entertaining, revealing portrait of the artist as a young—and old—rocker.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-306-87494-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Hachette
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dillard’s story reflects maturity and understanding from someone who was forced to mature and understand too much too soon.
A measured memoir from a daughter of the famous family.
Growing up in the Institute of Basic Life Principles community, which she came to realize was “a cult, thriving on a culture of fear and manipulation,” Duggar and her 18 siblings were raised never to question parental authority. As the author recalls, she felt no need to, describing the loving home of her girlhood. When a documentary crew approached her father, Jim Bob, and proposed first a series of TV specials that would be called 17 Kids and Counting (later 18 and 19 Kids and Counting), he agreed, telling his family that this was a chance to share their conservative Christian faith. It was also a chance to become wealthy, but Jill, who was dedicated to following the rules, didn’t question where the money went. A key to her falling out with her family was orchestrated by Jim Bob, who introduced her to missionary Derick Dillard. Their wedding was one of the most-watched episodes of the series. Even though she was an adult, Jill’s parents and the show continued to expect more of the young couple. When they attempted to say no to filming some aspects of their lives, Jill discovered that a sheet of paper her father asked her to sign the day before her wedding was part of a contract in which she had unwittingly agreed to full cooperation. Writing about her sex offender brother, Josh, and the legal action she and Derick had to take to get their questions answered, Jill describes how she was finally able—through therapy, prayer, and the establishment of boundaries—to reconcile love for her parents with Jim Bob’s deception and reframe her faith outside the IBLP.
Dillard’s story reflects maturity and understanding from someone who was forced to mature and understand too much too soon.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781668024447
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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