David Bowie Is: (E) (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago: Exhibition Catalogues)

Bought this as a holiday gift for my brother, who saw and was dazzled by the Bowie exhibit in NYC before it settled in London. He was thrilled as it includes much more detail and images than the US catalog. And it arrived quickly!

Delighted to open the door on the Saturday to find this book arrived ahead of the estimate, the order had already been amended to arrive earlier on Monday the 25th March... the very day I was going to visit the exhibition behind this book! I bought this book as no photography is permitted at the exhibition and I wanted to have a permanent reminder of the day, torturous as it was, I resisted opening it before my visit!... its worth noting that here is a lot at the exhibit to take in, its vast and overwhelming and this book is gives you a more leisurely chance to look at anything you missed or couldn't absorb at the time, but don't get me wrong, this is a book that can be totally appreciated as a stand alone piece. Speaking as a Bowie fan, I would recommend this book to any Bowie fan, beautifully photographed, well bound and larger than A4 in stature its an impressive weighty tome, I'm guessing it will be a firm fave gracing manys a coffee table, BUT this is more than just a 'pretty picture book' , in my opinion it is more insightful and significant than most 'Bowie biogs' which we usually find rehashing a lot of second hand words and the same old quotes and misquotes. Although I haven't had a chance to read all the text yet, just on pictorial merit alone, I see enough of a glimpse of Bowies past captured in highly relevant freeze frames telling his unique story in a 'speaks for itself' unique kind of way which I truly appreciate, this is a fine representation of a vast, archived collection, gathered during a huge portion of a mans lifetime, illustrating a widely varied career simply like no other. David Bowie is... many things to many people. David Bowie is... beautifully presented David Bowie is... Future History and this book recognises that.

After visiting the exhibition at the V&A I really wanted to buy this at the time, but two things stopped me. The first thing is the weight - this is a heavy, heavy book to be carting round busy streets. The second thing was the equally hefty price, which was much more expensive than Amazon. Anyway, all that aside, I can guarantee that this is a fantastic book, and a must-have for any true Bowiephile. Many things that are in the exhibition are listed - from the rare photos and scrawled lyrics to many of the classic songs, to a large well illustrated section on all the costumes. The latter here is especially welcome, as anyone who's been round the gallery knows that due to the volume of people milling about, and the fact that it's difficult to get too close the costumes. The pictures here are amazing and zoom right in on all the details. There is an extensive text throughout, but this is really more of an ultra-stylish coffee table book. It's well worth going for the hardback edition, which is much more impressive than the paperback. As someone who has a huge library of Bowie reading material I thought I had just about every book worth having, but this blew me away.

I am a big Bowie fan and have a ton of books about him. Created as a companion to the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, this is one of the best. Several reasons: 1. The exhibition was given full access to the official David Bowie Archive which means there is plenty of material you have not seen before, such as handwritten lyrics with corrections (that line in "Heroes", "and we kissed as though nothing could fall", was drafted as "and we kissed and you felt called"), minor details maybe but it is fascinating to get a glimpse at how these songs evolved. There is also a big focus on costumes, photographed in superb quality, many of which are stunning, as well as photographs, posters, artwork done for album covers complete with some early mock-ups and that I have not seen before, and other memorabilia. One costume example is Natasha Korniloff's "cobweb bodysuit" designed for the 1980 Floor Show, which has a pair of hands clutching Bowie's chest stitched into it. First we see Mick Rock's photo of Bowie wearing this on stage, then pictures of the costume itself. Fantastic. 2. This is not just a picture book. There is a lot of text, and it's good stuff. The authors are various, but the editors are Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh from the V&A, who take a scholarly approach though they still convey enthusiasm for their subject (and overall this is a book for fans, there is not much here that is negative). There is a lot of factual information though, both biographical and cultural. The cultural bit is important. As you would expect from people working for a museum, the editors are interested in how Bowie was influenced by the culture of his times, and in turn how he influenced it. The book is organized into nine main chapters. These are as follows: - Astronauts of Inner Spaces: by Geoffrey Marsh, mainly covers early career in London - Theatre of Gender: by Camille Paglia, covers Bowie and sexual revolution - Oh you pretty things: by Jon Savage, about Bowie and youth culture - Putting out fire with Gasoline: by Victoria Broackes, covers bowie and design, costumes, album covers and more - Bowie Music: by Howard Goodall, about the music, pictures of lyrics and sheet music - For 'We are the Goon Squad': by Christopher Breward, about the album covers - Changes: by Oriole Cullen, an essay on Bowie and fashion - David Bowie then ... David Bowie now: a roundtable discussion with Christopher Frayling, Philip Hoare and Mark Kermode. Wide-ranging, enjoyable. - David Bowie is Photographic: by Nicholas Coleridge, short piece on 16 favourite photographs, reproduced in small size on a single page. Most if not all of these pictures are properly reproduced elsewhere, but there are no page references which is a shame. 3. The production is superb. Stitched binding, fabric-covered spine, interesting textured feel to the cover, and excellent reproduction of the pictures. Some of the early pictures are not so good, but this is because of the quality of the originals (or the best copy that was available to the publishers). Having said all that, some Bowie fans may find the text over-scholarly; I can imagine some finding it pretentious though personally I would disagree. Not a problem though, ignore the text if you don't like it and just enjoy the images. Anything to criticise? Well, bear in mind that the book was done along with the exhibition, and reflects the content that is there. It is not in any sense a comprehensive Bowie book. The text does tend to focus on the early years which is fair enough since this is when Bowie was culturally most influential, but you could say that it is unbalanced. As you will note from the above guide to the chapters, the book is not chronological but rather, loosely thematic. A bit confusing, and it means that if you want, for example, all the material relating to the Thin White Duke era, you have to look here there and everywhere. None of this troubles me in the least. The book exceeded my expectations and is essential for fans (and easier to get than a ticket for the exhibition). Sometimes these exhibition-related books do not stay in print for all that long, so I recommend grabbing it quick.

If you are intending to go to see the exhibition at the V & A or not, then you need this book. It in a nutshell, it contains photos, many close up, of all the main exhibits at the museum. From all the early 'Ziggy' costumes through to the one's he wore for the Reality tour via a breathtaking section based around the Diamond Dogs tour. As no photographs are allowed to be taken at the V & A, this is the closest you will get to seeing these items again. Apart from original lyrics shown full page, and costumes mentioned above, you also get plenty of original period photos, and documents relating to stage productions, etc. My favourite photo is of the original; model of the Diamond Dogs set. As that tour didn't come to the UK, most of us have rarely even seen photos of the set, let alone a working model ! The hardback edition of the book has a lovely velvet feel to both the front and back cover. The book overall is huge, and like the man himself, beautiful.

Excellent Bowie book of his V&A exhibition. I have been to the exhibition in 2013 and have the hard back copy as well. Best price at Amazon and fast delivery

Beautiful book... About all the "faces" of Bowie ... Great exhibition...

This is the book put together by the V&A in part for there exhibition put on in 2013 I believe full of great pictures facts and stories from the people around Bowie