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PrintableI just finished reading Possessed, and it is a superb book. | |
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AlexHahn said: Thank you guys very much for the kind words. I have to say, "Pop Life" was the book that most influenced me. Even though it was somewhat critical -- despite being released during Prince's prime -- the thing that grabbed me is that it was thoughtful, well-researched, and readable. To me, making a non-fiction book read like a narrative, while taking pains to be accurate and fair, is a huge challenge, and he pulled it off very well. Alex, I can only offer my sincere thanks for all of the hours of hard work you must have put into writing Possessed. When I first read it years ago, I was already broadly familiar with the events of Prince's career to date, but from the very first chapter your book was a revelation. I'd previously read Dave Hill's Pop Life and Per Nilsen's excellent Dance Music Sex Romance & A Documentary, which seemed to me the high water marks in Prince books. But Possessed put new flesh on the bones of a familiar story, imbuing Prince's breathless progression through the '80s with a real sense of drama. Here was an extraordinary story told well, with fascinating insider commentary from supporting players I was always curious about in their own right. I only now learn that your book has received heavy criticism from some of us Prince fans, but that seems unfair to me. Clearly, the element of humanity that Possessed exposes in its extraordinarily gifted protagonist does not diminish his achievements, but only makes one appreciate them more. On learning of Prince's untimely death, my thoughts were not of the passing of an icon - but of the complex, talented, sometimes wayward individual that you portrayed in Possessed. I genuinely feel that it's one of the best music biographies ever written, and will look forward to any expanded edition. | |
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Dear MrFog and Conor,
Thank for these extremely kind words. It really means a lot. Writing is such a solitary activity that one can only hope that the act connects with people. I'm glad it did
Revisiting the book has been one of the most exciting things I've done in years. It's distracting me from my job, I'll tell you that much. Revisting Prince's psychology and connecting with his new work -- as well as the amazing stuff that has come up on YouTube -- has been an incredibly rich experience. This is also a very tragic situation, of course. I'm finding that writing about the events leading up to Prince's passing is a painful exercise.
The book had its critical side, to be sure, but I can tell you in reconnecting with the topic I am ever more amazed at what Prince accomplished, both in music and bringing his fans together.
I am not trying to accomplish a granular update of Prince's activity from 2004-2016, but instead and focussing on key events in that time. I'm also contextualizing his career and providing as much of a linear account of the events of 2016 as possible.
I'm also doing a light edit of the initial text to make it consistent with current events.
I'll provide more information as we get closer. I again appreciate the kind words and encouragement. And I should mention that one of the most fun things about this has been connecting with people on the org. Several people have written with very helpful information and ideas, and I am always open to hearing more via PM.
Alex
PS -- I can't figure out how to add paragraph breaks when posting to the org! Any suggestions? | |
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AlexHahn said:
PS -- I can't figure out how to add paragraph breaks when posting to the org! Any suggestions? Hi Alex, hitting return twice usually does it for me, but if that doesn't work you could perhaps try pasting in from a text editor. I sometimes use the notes function on my iPhone, and it seems to get the paragraph breaks okay. | |
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