Better book: 21 Nights or Prince: Life and Times?

4 those who have seen both of the recent coffee table books on Prince, which book do u like better?

Definitely Prince: Life and Times

Easily "Life and Times".

21 Nights was all about the CD. The book collects dust on the slip cover.

what exactly is "life and times"? who published it and what kind of
images/text does it contain? never heard of "life and times" yet...

hands down life and times ..i took my time reading that material and 1st rate pics as opposed 2 some book meant 2 document time but in reality was a hot mess. i mean come on who the hell wears shades at 2am in the morning in their hotel room talking on the phone?

L4OATheOriginal said:

hands down life and times ..i took my time reading that material and 1st rate pics as opposed 2 some book meant 2 document time but in reality was a hot mess. i mean come on who the hell wears shades at 2am in the morning in their hotel room talking on the phone?

IstenSzek said:

L4OATheOriginal said:

hands down life and times ..i took my time reading that material and 1st rate pics as opposed 2 some book meant 2 document time but in reality was a hot mess. i mean come on who the hell wears shades at 2am in the morning in their hotel room talking on the phone?

it would have still been fine if there had just been more shots of different
locations and of prince in action.

there were almost no live shots, but it documented his London O2 stint, lol,
too many hotelroom pictures, too many twinz/chelsea rodgers.

i would have loved to see stuff like his equipment, his guitar set up and a
few close ups of his symbol- and bassguitars or his fingers as he works up
a sweat on the telecaster.

a pic of a page from his actual notebook would have been awesome, some line
scribbled in his own handwriting. pictures of prince sitting down at dinner
with bandmembers or friends. him on the plane or in an english taxi.

i only know 2 pictures from the hawaii book. the one with prince in the limo
reading the big white hawaii book, wearing his flip flops and the close up
of him in the hammock, with a 2 day beard. those pictures are more compelling
and worthy than 90% of the whole 21 nights book imo.

21 Nights, give or take about 5 superbly great photo's, overall feels like
the glossy memoirs of a high class drag queen.


[Edited 1/8/09 10:53am]

"Better" in what respect?

21 Nights is great for what it is - a PR piece. A glorified tourbook, basically. And that Prince got folks to pay as much as they did for it is to be admired.

Life and Times has more in terms of information about Prince, his personal history and his career. But frankly, a lot of it is cribbed from Per Nilsen's DMSR and other sources.

It isn't really an apples to apples comparison.

Genesia said:

"Better" in what respect?

21 Nights is great for what it is - a PR piece. A glorified tourbook, basically. And that Prince got folks to pay as much as they did for it is to be admired.
Life and Times has more in terms of information about Prince, his personal history and his career. But frankly, a lot of it is cribbed from Per Nilsen's DMSR and other sources.

It isn't really an apples to apples comparison.

IstenSzek said:

Genesia said:

"Better" in what respect?

21 Nights is great for what it is - a PR piece. A glorified tourbook, basically. And that Prince got folks to pay as much as they did for it is to be admired.
Life and Times has more in terms of information about Prince, his personal history and his career. But frankly, a lot of it is cribbed from Per Nilsen's DMSR and other sources.

It isn't really an apples to apples comparison.

i thought the book was worth the $ just for the cd. everything else was
an added bonus. to this day i just see it as an aftershow album with an
incredibly deluxe package, lol.

without the bonus of that cd i think it would have sold a lot less than
it has. but perhaps i'm wrong.

Genesia said:

"Better" in what respect?

21 Nights is great for what it is - a PR piece. A glorified tourbook, basically. And that Prince got folks to pay as much as they did for it is to be admired.

Life and Times has more in terms of information about Prince, his personal history and his career. But frankly, a lot of it is cribbed from Per Nilsen's DMSR and other sources.

It isn't really an apples to apples comparison.

I like Life & Times Better.

While I do like 21 Nights, I was a little disappointed with the content. Most of the pictures aren't spontaneous or candid and they're heavily airbrushed. some of the pictures with him are in the spine and that takes away from the photo. I didn't need pix of the Twins, the streets of London, the O2 Arena, Chelsea Rogers or other band member.

Life & Times has way better content, a few rare photos, is very nice quality and is half the price of 21 Nights.

Graycap23 said:

Genesia said:

"Better" in what respect?

21 Nights is great for what it is - a PR piece. A glorified tourbook, basically. And that Prince got folks to pay as much as they did for it is to be admired.

Life and Times has more in terms of information about Prince, his personal history and his career. But frankly, a lot of it is cribbed from Per Nilsen's DMSR and other sources.

It isn't really an apples to apples comparison.

No comparision. A simple question. Which do u like better?

Genesia said:

Graycap23 said:

No comparision. A simple question. Which do u like better?

That wasn't the question. You asked which was better. Full stop.

I like them both - for different reasons.

Gotta go with 21 Nights.

...u know what i gotta say BOTH...cuz they are collector's dream...

...mzsexybaby

I was very disappointed with ny copy of 'Life and Times' ... some fake fan had cut out about 20 pictures and thrown it in the trash can.

I've tried to order Life and Times but can't seem to get it in the UK? Anyone know?

Jeffiner said:

Genesia said:

Life and Times by a mile.

I like the candid, live action shots and the wealth of career information in the book, plus the layout is better.

The only thing that made the 21 Nights book worth the price was the cd. The photos were too stylized for me.

langebleu said:

Graycap23 said:

Peace & Stay Funky [Live4Love] ...  

~* NPG Member 4 Life *~

Jeffiner said:

Genesia said:

Have you tried ordering it from Barnes & Noble's US site?

Yes, but they said they couldn't deliver to the UK....

langebleu said:

when is he going to write a companion piece to his songs? show us some of his doodles?

langebleu said:

langebleu said:

already been the exact thread like this short while ago

I was out doing some shopping today and found 'Life & Times' in the bargain bin at Barnes and Noble for $12.50 and 21 Nights on the bargain table at Books-A-Million for $25.00.

I know it's been said before but the only reason to pick up 21 nights is for the CD and even that isn't so spectacular...unless you like hearing Prince talk about buying tampons and hanging out with cute guys.