protomattr reviewed The Beautiful Ones by Prince
Review of 'The Beautiful Ones' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I read much of this book on an airplane while listening to a shuffled "Top Tracks" playlist on Spotify. Occasionally, when encountering a reproduction of a ragged sheet of notebook paper with Prince's handwritten (and usually reworked) lyrics on it, I would skip to that track and take it in just like I was listening to it for the first time. I recommend reading the book this way, as Prince poured so much of himself into his music that the two are inseparable.
Unfortunately, this book is one of the projects left unfinished when Prince passed. "Barely started" may be more accurate. Still, the small amount of memoir written by Prince, covering his childhood to stardom, how his personality was shaped by the almost elementally opposed personalities of his parents, is fantastic reading. One comes away with immense appreciation of how unique of a genius he was. The introduction by …
I read much of this book on an airplane while listening to a shuffled "Top Tracks" playlist on Spotify. Occasionally, when encountering a reproduction of a ragged sheet of notebook paper with Prince's handwritten (and usually reworked) lyrics on it, I would skip to that track and take it in just like I was listening to it for the first time. I recommend reading the book this way, as Prince poured so much of himself into his music that the two are inseparable.
Unfortunately, this book is one of the projects left unfinished when Prince passed. "Barely started" may be more accurate. Still, the small amount of memoir written by Prince, covering his childhood to stardom, how his personality was shaped by the almost elementally opposed personalities of his parents, is fantastic reading. One comes away with immense appreciation of how unique of a genius he was. The introduction by his collaborator, Dan Piepenberg, adds crucial context, as well as providing another great story in Prince encounter lore. Throughout the text, and accompanying the fascinating photos, are illuminating annotations, often showing how the creative process for the book was playing out in Prince's mind.
Prince insists that "magic" is Michael [Jackson] 's word, but I have to record a instance of magic I experienced while reading this book. As mentioned earlier, I was listening to Prince while reading, and at the exact moment I turned to the penultimate page, showing an image of the lyrics for "The Beautiful Ones", the same song ("Baby, baby, baby...") started playing through my earbuds. And when that finished, a perfect one-two encore of "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "Purple Rain" followed as I read the end notes.
One can only imagine how incredible (and massive!) the book might have been had Prince not left us so soon. As it is, however, I feel this book stands on its own.
