MJ

The Genius of Michael Jackson

By: Steve Knopper

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

From the moment in 1965 when he first stepped onstage with his brothers at a local talent show in Gary, Indiana, Michael Jackson was destined to become the undisputed king of pop. In a career spanning four decades, he became a global icon, selling over 400 million albums, earning 13 Grammy Awards, and spinning dance moves that captivated the world.

Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper delves deeply into Michael Jackson's music and talent. From the artist's early days with the Jackson 5 to his stratospheric success as a solo artist,to "Beat It" and "Thriller", "Bad", and "The Man in the Mirror", to his volatile final years, his attempted comeback, and his untimely death, Knopper explores the beguiling and often contradictory forces that fueled Michael Jackson's genius. Drawing on an amazing 400 interviews, this critical biography puts all the elements of his career into perspective and celebrates his triumph in art and music.

©2015 Steve Knopper (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Michael Jackson was, indeed, a genius. But he was undoubtedly a troubled genius, as this sweeping biography reveals." ( Kirkus)

Ok, just cookie cutter in a since.

A good book just sounds like every other book out there. Very cookie cutter not much feeling at all. The same phrasing and wordage in this book as well as many other works. I've read it twice just to make sure I got it and, I still feel like it missed true personallity. Now don't get me wrong, I love Michael Jackson but I feel as if his story is muffled here.

MJ as told from the white insiders perspective

If you are looking for a story that tells MJs story through a white music industry insiders perspective and doesn't really acknowledge racism or how racism played a large part in MJs life and his brand and influenced a lot of decisions he did (or did not) make...and you don't mind time warping around as its not told in chronological order....and you don't mind the fact MJs manager threatened the life of someone where he currently is employed and all the bias that brings into the story, this book is decent. As long as you know that there's a lot of racial bias and industry bias here you should be fine. There are some inaccuracies. Sometimes there are things I never heard before and I am unsure where the info came from. The thing I struggled most with that irritated me the most was the inability to acknowledge race in the situation, and that he had to deal with not triggering white peoples white fragility to survive. I feel like racial persecution was a huge part of Michael Jackson's demise, and that isn't even touched on. In fact, his demise is just kind of a blip in the book. This is more so a book about his entire life, but told from the perspective, white industry person. Which I think doesn't bring into focus the reason he was so traumatized and hurt. It feels like it's not told from a compassionate perspective from someone who could truly empathize with him so it's a story about him but it feels detached from his experience and perspective.

The Troubled Genius

Im a huge MJ fan and this strengthened my admiration and talent and business acumen but also showed me how deep this man’s hurts and troubles really were. After years of torture and abuse I’m sure psychologically he was devastated when he passed.

Thorough

It was very lengthy which I liked and it had some new information I didn’t know even as a fan of Michael’s for 45 years.

It is ok but no details of his creativity in here

As other reviewers have pointed out, this is not a book for a musical fan of Michael Jackson. I made the mistake of not reading the reviews myself. It sounded like it was authored by an accountant or an attorney. I was more looking forward to knowing about the creativity that went into the making of his landmark albums. But I was left disappointed and will have to look else where.

But you will get the answers to why Michael's life ended the way it did. It is interesting that there are contradictions regarding anything related to Michael. He was carefree with his spending. His family and law suits were constantly preying on him. His failing health and addictions would ultimately take him out. In the end, its an unfortunate tragedy of a exceptional talent.