Are the Per Nielsen books legit? I know all Prince bios are "grain of salt" material but what can you suggest that is in depth and factual? I've read nothing so far. Thanks!

The only one I've read so far is Per Nilsen's "Dance Music Sex Romance," and I thought it was FANTASTIC.

StevenAnthony said:

Yep. That's the only one worth bothering with. Thorough, incredibly well written and researched. The downside is that it only covers the first decade (78-88, or For You through to Lovesexy)

All the other biographies suck ass.

DMSR is as a factual as you're going to get. Per Nilsen is/was part of the Uptown team, that magazine is/was known for it's professionalism and accurate info.

Since DMSR only goes upto 1987, I'd also suggest 'Possessed' by Alex Hahn, some fans act like it's the Satanic Bible or something, in reality it's just a little more salacious than DMSR. Hahn was the lawyer for Uptown when Prince tried to sue them, and he had access to their research/interviews for the book apparently. I recommend them both.

Prince Life & Times by Jason Draper is also a nice read, nice pics etc.

'Possessed' has a lot of inaccuracies and conjecture, and in some parts reads like a cheap tabloid. IMO.

Militant said:

Possessed, while some truths in it, was a gossip mag. Matt Fink told me that he told Alex Hahn some things, and asked him to not print them, but Hahn did anyway.

StevenAnthony said:

DMSR is like a bible of Prince knowledge. I reference the dates in the back. Tour dates, release dates, recording dates, things like that. The stories are great too. I reference it a LOT when posting on here, depending on the subject of course.

I had that it ends in 1987/1988. I'd love to read beyond that. I hear The Vault does that, but god knows when I'll ever get a copy of that.

I have the soft cover book of Purple Reign: The Artist Formerly Known as Prince by Liz Jones

luv4u said:

I have the hard cover. What a piece of tripe. The whole fucking thing is conjecture, and 80% of it is taken from Oprah's interview with him, FULLY UNCREDITED. It's the worst bio I've read on him. I think they rereleased that w/ a different name too.

NouveauDance said:

I co-sign this. The Alex Hahn book is my favorite. It gets a recommendation from Alan Leeds, too.

ernestsewell said:

Dayum that's brutal

NouveauDance said:

luv4u said:

It's truth. Have you read it? I just thought throughout, "Should I even finish this?" I did. I never got that time back. lol

The Life and Times of Prince by Jason Draper is a very well written book as well. It includes some nice photos and is updated !

galapogosian said:

Another vote for POSSESSED. Don't let anyone dissuade you from picking it up. The investigation is thorough, and the analysis is remarkably insightful and fair. While some may not like what the writer has to say, the discussions are thought-provoking and may make you appreciate Prince's talents even more, even if you agree with the criticisms. Nothing in it displays distateful sensationalism, and delicate topics like Prince's baby dying are treated with respect. Hahn obviously knows a lot about Prince's music, and is able to analyze it in an objective manner.

I think the worse one is Prince - A thief in the temple.

However, I enjoyed reading them all.

vivid said:

Yep - it's utterly disgraceful.

Another book worth checking out is Dez Dickerson's. It's relly enjoyable and he comes across as a relly down-to-earth bloke.

I bought Thief In The Temple just a few days ago... ( for £3 )

Dreadful book... DO NOT BUY !

DiscoMafia said:

Is that the one where they talk about U2 guitarist Bono's guitar playing?

Yeah, definitely DMSR, then Possessed, then Life & Times (good picture & date kepp-up)

There is a new book due end 2010 - early 2011 by a british writer who just happens to be a fan of Prince music .... he's a novalist and jurno ...can't seem to find his name ....should be good he's been working on it for 3 years..

One of my favorite authors, Ronin Ro, is also writing a Prince book.

Hip-hop fans might be familiar with his excellent book about Death Row Records - "Have Gun, Will Travel".

An oldie but goody is Pop Life by Dave Hill.

Easily the best written bio, but it only deals up to Lovexsexy.

hunt it down.

jfrost said:

Yep. that's a good 'un. I lost my copy though.

ernestsewell said:

Yes I have from front to back

luv4u said:

Did you think it was a lot of conjecture and "Oh he probably did this because" sort of thing? And the plethora of Oprah interview stuff? Or what did you think?