Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson

There are many sides of Michael Jackson we have learned about over the past 40 years. There was the towering 30ft tall mystical figure with clenched fists, epaulettes and a glove covered with rhinestones. Then there was the shy philanthropist that gave away more money to charities in one day than many of us hope to earn in a lifetime. Then there was the supposed pedophile....We had been shown more sides of Michael Jackson that we had cared to see over the years.Is it possible that we had been missing one this entire time?The person, as it turns out, the real Michael Jackson. This book fills that void perfectly. You will learn about his music, family, business acumen and his romantic side (as much as he was capable of being romantic, of course). Other reviewers did a great job describing what is in the book. So, I wouldn't want to waste your time doing the same.What struck me was how this book is written.It is hard not to take a side as far as Jackson is concerned, but this author does (or, rather, doesn't do) precisely that. There isn't even a "tragic artist" or "price of genius" nonsense in these pages. The author withholds his opinion on any of the events he describes in great details. He simply tells us what happened, where and when. The entire book reads like a testimony of an expert witness in a sensational court hearing. That, in my humble opinion, is an outstanding quality. As an expert he is beyond reproach. Have a doubt? Take a look at 120 pages of sources listed at the end of the book. All the facts are from credible sources. That is especially invaluable.Still don't believe me?Read all the sock puppet negative reviews. Most of them are undoubtedly left by people close to the shady characters contained therein who are afraid of being exposed. How do I know they are sock puppet reviews? Simple. Most of them didn't even buy the book - they don't have the "Verified Amazon Purchase" next to them. Want another proof? Every positive review immediately gets a "0 of 50 people found this review helpful", meaning there are 50 virtual people who keep refreshing this page until they see a positive review and then they immediately mark it "NOT helpful". These are some dedicated negative "reviewers", god bless their soul!As an author myself I can tell you that negative reviews left by readers who didn't much care for what is inside a book are very different from those who were terrified by the truth that shines from every page. Fear is the highest praise an author can claim.The only slight flaw I saw I was the fact that sometimes the author jumps from one period to another. One chapter would be about 2005, the next jumps back to 1988. On one side, this may be a plus. First we read about the drugged, groggy "out-of-it-all" Jacko, then - in contrast - the "all-or-nothing" uncompromising perfectionist Michael that he still was in 1988. On the other side this approach is often used in bad movies. Not sure if it works in this book. This is not a big issue, though. Whatever period this talented author describes - there is plenty of previously unknown material to keep us truly amazed.Making a long story short, if you are not a Michael Jackson fan who likes a good book - buy this one. You will be glad you did. It may tell you something about yourself, if not the man you care so little about. If you are a Michael Jackson's fan as much as I am - buy it because you will never forgive yourself if you didn't.

I enjoyed this book, and while I take everything I read with a grain of salt, the author did his research and did provide many sources...that some of these sources are the media (who don't exactly have a good track record of reporting the whole truth, or sometimes even a portion of it, and that's where huge grains of salt are needed), it's hard to refute some news videos and even tweets from some of the relevant parties. More on that later.This book didn't change my thoughts about Michael Jackson, though it did reinforce some of them. I've always felt Michael Jackson was extra unique...not just for his creative genius and talented dancing...not just due to his determination and perseverance...but also because he accomplished all he did despite not having any type of normal childhood, with an abusive father and jealous, greedy siblings (most of them), and a mother who loved him but whose middle name should be denial, IMO. Add on to that a media that praised him when he was making hits, yet who vilified him and never presented the whole picture about anything...and mangers, lawyers, promoters, advisors, etc., who cared only about how much they could line their own pockets off of him...and one has to wonder how Michael Jackson made it to 50 without becoming either insane or committing suicide.That he didn't do either is probably due to Michael's naivety and trust that people were good, that they were trying to do their best by him...as regardless of how intelligent Michael was, he was still naive...in the beginning. Yet he also seemed to make much better decisions in the beginning. It was only later his decisions weren't the best. But he also had a lot of issues to deal with...he was a perfectionist, which was probably due to the harsh taskmaster driving him when he joined the Jackson 5; as he got older he was his own hard taskmaster striving for perfection...perhaps as a way to show his father how good he could be, or even to get a 'well done' from him that never came. He also seemed to have some issues with self esteem, especially after the teen acne years and the ridicule from his family during that time; the broken nose and the Pepsi accident didn't help. As many with low self esteem do, one overcompensates by being larger than life...and Michael sure was that at times...and in his case that wasn't a bad thing.I truly believe that while Michael was an intelligent man, and one with much curiosity on many subjects, he was also naive in many ways, and only after the molestation accusations were made in 1993 did some of that naivety start to falter...even more so when it happened again in 2003. He also had a great love for all children, regardless of race or gender, and he had the ability to enjoy life as a child does, which many of us have lost as we became adults. Perhaps he still was able to do that because he never did have a childhood as most of us have been able to; and he made it obvious many times that he felt he missed out on something very important by not having a childhood or being able to do many things we non-celebrities take for granted.Yet he was also a great father to his three children and made sure he was raising them with love, and teaching them respect, manners, and all things a good parents teaches their children. While I don't understand his reasons for wanting sole custody and no mother in the picture (and I don't have to as it was his business) no one can say that he didn't do a great job of raising his kids; they're good kids, they know their dad loved them, and they loved him. There are numerous examples of this in the book. That alone convinces me that Michael never molested any child, ever.There are also numerous examples in the book of just how greedy his father and several siblings are...and you can verify a lot of the information through news videos, talk show interviews, and tweets...it's kind of hard for someone to deny saying something when you can hear it from their own, unedited, lips. It's appalling to see family members trying to squeeze a living off the main person working his behind off while they do nothing. Especially as, without Michael, none of them would have ever gotten anywhere; they'd still be in Gary, IMO, without Michael's talent driving them in the beginning. The fact that they've said and done so many nasty things since he died, mainly because they weren't in the will, is even more appalling, though not unexpected from this family. And while Michael's kids have been doing okay with his mother, the fact that she has never told her other kids to get their own jobs and take care of their own families, but instead tried to get money from Michael for them and for herself (looking for money in his house right after he died!) is pretty sad as she was the only one Michael stayed in contact with...yet IMO, she was not the mother to him that she should have been. Nor were Jermaine, Randy, Janet and Rebbie the siblings they should have been, IMO. I won't even go into Joe Jackson; he shows his true colors every time he opens his mouth and it isn't pretty, IMO. A lot of what they've done since 2009 is detailed in this book and researching it only proves the facts about them.So many people used, or tried to use, Michael Jackson for their own greedy reasons, and Michael had his own demons he was fighting...abuse, low self esteem, an utterly non-normal life, an addiction to meds, going through every day knowing there were some who believed he could hurt a child...yet he persevered and was on his way to getting rid of his debt, creating something never done before, excited his kids would get to see him perform...and it was all taken away by someone whose first oath is to do no harm, and who got off too easy IMO. Sadly, what Joe Jackson said is true; Michael does appear to be worth more dead than alive, especially in the minds of those who think he would have cancelled the London shows, not shown up, or not done them all. A lot of people, especially the lawyers and music people, are making many millions off of Michael Jackson. The only good thing is that his kids will be well taken care of. And that's the one thing Michael would have wanted the most.

Sullivan's Buch matched zu Biografien vieler MJ Weggefährten und schließt den Kreis seiner oft bizarr wirkenden Lebensweise.....verstehe nicht, warum oftmals MJ- Fans"allergisch" gegen solche Zeilen rebellieren....denken sie ernsthaft, es waren immer nur die bösen außen-eindringenden Konzerne u.Manager, die MJ persönlich so zugesetzt hatten?! Disfunctional families ....wie es die Jacksons sind....sind nunmal Nährboden vieler Tragödien....hätte MJ einen guten Vater gehabt, unterstützende Geschwister (Jermaine u.Randy sind die größte Alöcher)....eine starke Mutter (nicht eine dem Zeugen Jehovas "ich stehe zu meinem Mannno matter what"-Gepeinigte....könnte er eventl.noch leben....Alles hat seine Wurzeln.... ich bin seit 30 Jahren mit dem Thema MJ vertraut.Man muss schon sagen, LEIDER stimmt es, was in dem Buch steht! Und es gibt da sogar noch viel mehr.....TRAURIG!

10/10

Dense and difficult at times, given the nature of the enterprise: this is the only important biography, and it is exhaustive, and absorbing. The author's empathy is very moving, and his work is invaluable: future writers/readers will have a primary text to depart from. Difficult to put it down, beware MJ fans, fans of researched, highly intelligent biography.

If you don't buy the book you can't judge it - don't judge a book by its cover - I bought it, I read it and I liked it very much. Great job RandallYEP I really like it :) that's all folks yep yep xoxo

What is with all the nasty reviews of this book? It is an extremely sympathetic look at the unique life that Michsel led and draws the inevitable conclusion that his unusual upbringing made Michael what he was. Not a paedophile, not a nutter, not a predator of young boys, it shows instead someone who remained kind, extremely loving and was, of course, gifted beyond belief -even after all the dreadful things that befell him.What it does not do is show the other Jacksons in a good light at all, anyone who harbours a rose tinted view of the family would definitely not like this book. I have always believed his father and siblings used Michael as a cash cow and hounded him with demands which he was not capable of refusing. Katherine does not come out of this book looking too good either, well after all she was complicit in the ruining of his childhood, but perhaps she did not see it that way.However we have all seen documentary proof that she liked the money.The bad reviews are stating that it is all tabloid trash - that is just not true, he has named the papers who printed the most ridiculous rumours and there is an extensive bibliography and chapter notes stating all his sources. If you do not want to believe what certain sources have said that is up to you, the reader. Randall Sullivan has painstakingly researched this book and has put forward what he believes to be the nearest to the truth.Some reviewers have stated that it is badly written - rubbish. Sullivan is a journalist of many years standing and has previously been nominated for a Pulitzer prize. Just because you do not like what someone is writing does not make it bad writing. It is well written and the only criticism I have is that I wished that he had chosen to write it in chronological order, but that is just my taste. Perhaps he has gone into too much detail in the case of some of the legal battles that Michael had to endure but he has been meticulous and you cannot knock him for that.I really feel that if someone who had doubts about, or did not like Michael, read this book they would come away afterwards feeling compassion and sadness that such a gifted and generous person was hounded and lampooned most of his life up to and even after his untimely death.If you still have any doubts about trying this book please, please read Thomas Mesereaus' review on Amazon.com.Finally - you do have to wonder who wrote all the bad reviews.*** Added on 1st Feb 2013 - 11 out of the 20 one star reviews to date are from first and only time reviewers - Very interesting eh???