https://parade.com/952350...musicians/

https://www.thetimes.co.u...-2ztl5fncb

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You get a dream gig (co-writing Prince’s official memoir) before facing the ultimate nightmare (Prince dies before you have a chance to write it). Consequently this is more a scrapbook of the mercurial superstar’s life than an actual biography, with the single chapter Prince did manage to finish bulked up by photographs, handwritten lyrics and the treatment for Prince’s film Purple Rain. The result is a hodge-podge, but one that will please hardcore fans of the Purple One.

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[Edited 11/22/19 7:34am]

https://www.latimes.com/e...nis-joplin

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Inevitably, “The Beautiful Ones” is shaped by a powerful absence. The book was overseen by Paris Review editor Dan Piepenbring, who was in his late 20s when Prince chose him to collaborate on what he envisioned as “the biggest music book of all time.” The project was still in progress when the singer died in 2016 at age 57.

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As a result, only 20 pages of Prince’s story exist here in a blend of colorful remembrances of growing up in Minneapolis and the performer’s complicated relationship with his parents. In an illuminating, heartfelt introduction, Piepenbring describes other ideas discussed with the famously idiosyncratic artist, including Prince’s views on funk, black self-sufficiency and, tantalizingly, an unshared anecdote about a near collaboration with Michael Jackson. “There’s going to be some bombshells,” Prince teased at one point. “I hope people are ready.”

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The rest of “The Beautiful Ones” is a sprawling collection of photos and ephemera recovered from Prince’s estate, along with his original treatment for “Purple Rain,” all of which will count as essentials for his biggest fans. The book resembles more a “piece of tour merchandise” that Prince said he wanted to avoid than the category-defying barn burner he surely imagined. Another goal, however, was to build upon his already burgeoning mystery. On that front, the book feels like a success. (Spiegel & Grau, $30)

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Personally, I'm finished with reading dumbass reviews. It is what it is. Piepenbring envy abounds. "Journalists" coming out of the woodwork with nothing new to add except for the need to pile on the scrum. Like it or don't like it.

[Edited 11/22/19 11:28am]

poppys said:

Personally, I'm finished with reading dumbass reviews. It is what it is. Piepenburg envy abounds. "Journalists" coming out of the woodwork with nothing new to add except for the need to pile on the scrum. Like it or don't like it.

I have not read any reviews other than a few comments from orgers. I read the book, loved it, wishes there was more, but.......................

Empress said:

poppys said:

Personally, I'm finished with reading dumbass reviews. It is what it is. Piepenbring envy abounds. "Journalists" coming out of the woodwork with nothing new to add except for the need to pile on the scrum. Like it or don't like it.

I have not read any reviews other than a few comments from orgers. I read the book, loved it, wishes there was more, but.......................

Exactly Empress. And yet Prince is still being dumped on for his choice of writers (and the book not being finished, lol) - like it's a cool thing to do.

violetcrush said:

I love the way Piepenbring laid out the book. He did the best he could with what he had. I think Prince would agree as well.
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It definitely confirms that he really was mostly a sweet, and often nostalgic guy who loved both of his parents despite the childhood complications.

Agree with you crush.

poppys said:

Finally he has arrived

I immerse myself in reading

I'm trying to read it and it is fascinating. But I have to admit, these first 20 some odd pages of his cursive is giving me fits , lol.

Looks like once I get past this first part it will get a little more legible. Don't get me wrong, I think his penmanship is beautiful. But some of it is hard to see the way its printed here. Plus my eyes ain't what they used to be. But it is some fascinating insiight into his mind.

mrwiggles said:

I'm trying to read it and it is fascinating. But I have to admit, these first 20 some odd pages of his cursive is giving me fits , lol.

Looks like once I get past this first part it will get a little more legible. Don't get me wrong, I think his penmanship is beautiful. But some of it is hard to see the way its printed here. Plus my eyes ain't what they used to be. But it is some fascinating insiight into his mind.

They have transcribed his handwriting, they are in the pages following Prince's handwritten pages.

SBartist said:

mrwiggles said:

I'm trying to read it and it is fascinating. But I have to admit, these first 20 some odd pages of his cursive is giving me fits , lol.

Looks like once I get past this first part it will get a little more legible. Don't get me wrong, I think his penmanship is beautiful. But some of it is hard to see the way its printed here. Plus my eyes ain't what they used to be. But it is some fascinating insiight into his mind.

They have transcribed his handwriting, they are in the pages following Prince's handwritten pages.

Oh Gawd, you mean to tell me? Lawd ha'mercy I am getting old.

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the January 2020 issue of UK music monthly Q Magazine:

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BOOKS

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Rupert Howe picks the best music books of the month.

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When Prince was discussing ideas for a mould-breaking memoir with co-writer Dan Piepenbring, he remarked that it should be “a handbook for the brilliant community”. That vision was only sketched out before his death in 2016, but The Beautiful Ones (CENTURY, ★★★★) remains a jewel-like fragment, Piepenbring’s sensitive introduction providing a snapshot of the PurpleOne’s last months at Paisley Park and during the Piano &A Microphone tour. Prince’s own contribution is fragmentary by comparison: 20-odd pages of florid, handwritten notes about his childhood, plus reproductions of a late-’70s photo album, lyric sheets and an early outline for the movie version of PurpleRain. By turns enlightening and frustrating, like Prince’s own life it’s hard not to feel there was much more to come.

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Review in The Spectator: https://www.spectator.co....ne-he-met/

^^^ Thanks for taking time to post links Bart.

BartVanHemelen said:

I couldn't read the book. Not yet anyway. Seeing his handwriting was too much.

violetcrush said:

Some Prince love on the Today Show this morning - they were profiling the importance of buying from small businesses, and when they were talking to a woman who owns the only book store in Brooklyn the camera panned across her sample book display with a close-up of The Beautiful Ones. Then, they talked to a woman who opened a small record store, and the camera panned across her record display where Purple Rain was front and center.
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Nice!!

https://www.thecurrent.or...books-2019

funksterr said:

I couldn't read the book. Not yet anyway. Seeing his handwriting was too much.

In the February 2020 issue of UK music monthly Q Magazine, the book is chosen as the number one music book of 2019. Excerpt from the review that goes with it:

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Other books will surely dig deeper into the life and the music, but this glows with a special allure, gilded as it is by the touch of the creator himself.

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[Edited 12/23/19 13:52pm]