I didnt know that Bob Dylan was from minnesota either.I Guess you learn something every day,Just ordered my copy of the book.If only more people sat down listened and read up on prince and discovered what an incredible artist he is.In my early days i was obsessed with michael Jacksons music but anyone with brains knows that prince is probably the greatest black musician ever.

lovemachine said:

-----
Lot's of artist have hard time money wise. P is not the first and he will not be the last. He seems to have learned his lesson and appears to be doing better.

Someone should bring out a 'pop up' book.

I'm about halfway thru the book right now, and so far, I'll say this-
I wish I hadn't bothered spending the extra money to "import" it from amazon.uk.
(I'm a book worm so was getting too impatient to wait for the US release.)
That being said- I'm hoping the final chapters cover some new territory beyond the previously published books.

Just finished reading this.

I have mixed feelings about it really. I wasn't expecting much to be honest, so I wasn't too disappointed.

A good editor would have made a big difference I suspect - there are so many grammatical errors, non-sequiturs, and so many occasions when the whole thrust of the author's point gets utterly lost in a mire of flowery prose. The very premise of the book - the "thief in the temple" analogy seems very flimsy to me to say the least, and is rather hastily wrapped up towards the end. In fact, the pacing of the book is just plain bizarre - after a very leisurely stroll through Prince's life and music until until 1990 we suddenly find ourselves hurtling through the last 17 years at breakneck speed. It's like... writing a story for school homework, but then hearing an ice-cream van passing by outside! He kills the monster, saves the princess, and lives happily ever after, the end. Also... the author is clearly into Miles Davis in a big way, but he REALLY over-relies on his knowledge of Miles Davis to see him through to the end of a book about Prince.

All this said, I still enjoyed it. It certainly made me dig out some of the older albums again and learn to appreciate them all over again. Far too often, the weighty pseudo-intellectual analysis of Prince and his music diverges into wacky pet theories, pop psychology and pure fan speculation. But then, who else but a fan would write a book about Prince? All things considered, it's an achievement to finish any book and get it onto the shelves of bookshops, never mind one about Prince! It isn't awful by any measure.

In summary, it isn't Pop Life, or even a Per Nilssen fan-pleaser, but it isn't tat like that "Slave 2 the Rhythm" either (to pick a random example). Worth picking up if you see it cheap; at the very least it might encourage you to go back to some old Prince albums. I'm hearing new things on Prince and Sign O The Times now, and I thought I'd listened to all that stuff so much that I couldn't possibly take anything new from the experience
[Edited 3/19/07 15:40pm]

Just bought the New Prince book.

I couldn't find it in any of the shops including Waterstones but I called in WH Smiths and there it was. £10.99 and a new addition to my collection. Maybe I'll read this one unlike the last book. I think the reviews people put online put me off reading it. I enjoyed all the others!

Go buy it today! On sale in the UK.

I finished this book earlier this week. I agree with much of what Ian posted above.
It's not bad per se, but it basically stops after Emancipation- and what I was hoping for was more info/analysis of the past 10 years since this book is reaching us in 2007. There is very little past 1996- as said above, he just kind of randomly touches on everything beyond that and all within about 10 pages. Absolutely lacking in the editing department- honestly I wonder if it was edited at all beyond the first chapter.
So really nothing new has been added to the Prince in print collection here. For the early years, stick with Dave Hill's book. If you don't have it and can't get it, then this one isn't bad as he seems to have to taken much from it. DMSR still follows as the next best.
I wish someone would put out a book fully focused on the last 10-15 years, as I really don't think there is much more to be told about the period prior. IMO, anyone who tries to write about the earlier years again, unless it's Prince himself, will just be telling the same story others have already told...

Savage said:

It's only natural to compare Prince to MJ.They're both African American,they're the same age,and they're 80's icons.When I was teenager there was always the debate over who was more talented.So like it or not,The King of Pop and Prince comparison will always be there.

BananaCologne said: