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Hero cover art

Hero

By: Lesley-Ann Jones
Narrated by: Gina Murray, Lesley-Ann Jones
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Summary

His music thrilled the generation it was written for and has entertained and inspired every generation since.

Hero: David Bowie is an exploration of the man behind the myths and the makeup told from the very beginning. Respected music journalist and biographer Lesley-Ann Jones knew David Jones from the days before fame, when he was a young musician starting out, frustrated by an industry that wouldn't give him a break and determined to succeed at whatever cost.

Here she traces the epic journey of the boy from Bromley born into a troubled background to his place as one of the greatest stars in rock history. Jones has interviewed numerous friends and associates of Bowie, many of whom have never spoken publicly about him before.

Drawing on this new material and meticulous research, the real story of Bowie's family background is told, the true inspiration behind the creation of Ziggy Stardust is revealed, and we learn how his marriage to Angie ended in agony following his comeback from a near fatal drug addiction. Jones also revisits Bowie's tragic relationship with his brother and his deep bond with T. Rex front man Marc Bolan.

Bowie's rebellious nature, his many sources of inspiration and creativity, and his complex, intense personality are discussed here, creating a unique and compelling portrait of an extraordinary man. This is Bowie as you've never seen him before.

©2016 Lesley-Ann Jones (P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton

What listeners say about Hero

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Don't believe a word about this....

There is sufficient evidence out there to suggest that the author's relationship with Bowie is not true. Whilst some of the history of events in Bowie's life are interestingly written about herein, a large amount is speculation and hearsay.

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8 people found this helpful

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Interesting

Difficult to start with, but made an interesting listen and was a different perspective. Well told

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5 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Lightweight.

Seemed to be more about the author's. opinions and thoughts rather than any in depth insight into the life of David.
David was extra special, maybe my expectations. may have been set too high for the book.

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4 people found this helpful

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it feels like the author is playing just a minute

every detail is stretched out to fill the page... it's badly written and banal. the audio book though it's funny for the narrator's mockney working class voice. 90 percent of the male characters sound like Dick Van Dyke. I'm understanding why David once greeted the author with the words "oh it's you again"..... Indeed

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2 people found this helpful

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Meow

Who needs enemies when you can have 'good friends over decades' like Lesley Ann Jones.

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1 person found this helpful

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Avoid

Simply waffling in for the first hour about nothing really switched me off andit remains unfinished

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1 person found this helpful

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Not great

Just found it a very slow book it didn’t grip me at all and gave up on it in the end. Very disappointed.

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Twee Narration. Excruciating Accents ! Syrupy Sycophancy.

Awful!

I'm usually bloody minded enough to push on through even the worst books, but this one I gave up about quarter of the way through…

Just awfully read, sycophantic, gooey nonsense!

 if you're no good at doing accents… Don't bother! And boy was this narrator terrible at accents it is like listening to the drunk guy down the pub!

As for the story… About as hard-hitting as a torn feather pillow!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

If you're a Bowie fan this is for you.

Cringed at the start where the author interwove Bowie lyrics into the text but it soons settles down into a very informative and personal account. Throughout and very much so towards the end the book feels 'padded out' with often lengthy references to bands, performers and actors which IMV wasn't all that relevent, in fact, the book could be cut down by two chapters. Having said that, a fantastic book and worth reading/listening to.

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