Touchstone Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury

Bueno

I have read a lot of negative reviews about this book, one even said it is a pack of lies. I really enjoyed this book. It does not just go along chronologically, but it goes by subject matter. Some people have said it's boring, I think it is an excellent read. The author has researched and has done a spectacular job of telling about the life of Freddie Mercury. Some details will probably never be known, which is sad. I truly wish Freddie had done an autobiography before his passing, but that wasn't his style. One subject matter I am curious about and wish more had been talked about is Barbara Valentin. I think there is more to that relationship than people know. The Queen camp always wanted to keep Mary Austin as the only woman in his life. He had another girlfriend that he went to college with, Rosemary Pearson and she also wrote a book about Freddie, Life, Art and Freddie Mercury, which is an interesting read if it's true. I think Freddie was bisexual. I miss Freddie terribly and a day does not go by that I do not read about him or listen to him. There will never be another like him. The movie Bohemian Rhapsody was OK, have watched it several times, but I just don't like the way Freddie was portrayed. Rami Malek did a great job though, but there were a lot of inaccuracies in the movie. But that is Hollywood attempting to put a biopic story into a couple of hours. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

While this book is very interesting, the "unprecedented access" the author had seems to be the sum of press touring and an uncomfy evening spent at a bar with Mercury fearing he'd acknowledge she was a journalist. She opens with this heavy-handed bit to remind us that *she was there*. The rest is a cobbled together collection of interview quotes and rehashes by folks that ran out of other options for reminding the public that they once were star... um... companions. This feeling is not helped by the inclusion of a number of photos of the author with everyone in the world BUT the actual members of Queen.Hoping that this "outsider's view" would be an asset, I read the bulk of the book with interest and was pleased that the author used a roughly musically-cued format. Though I am a life-long Queen fan, I have shied away from the many books written up to this point. I figured two decades down the pike from Freddie's death, maybe this one would be mature. Up until the point of Freddie's death in the timeline, it fulfilled that expectation.I feel that there is a great deal of value in public figures being open about their sexuality if they choose and, most importantly, that Mercury's death contributed a great deal toward the current climate of acceptance for those battling HIV/AIDS. The details of how those closest to him dealt with the reality of his illness and death could help those dealing with issues of sexuality and HIV/AIDS today. I can even wrap my head around how a calm statement on the speculation of who Mercury contracted HIV from might open a dialogue about the disease and put wild rumors to rest. So, well done there, I suppose.{{SPOILER?}}However, I don't care if you're discussing a rock star or someone's Grandma, one deserves dignity in death. No one should ever have their bodily functions detailed at the moment of their death, much less someone as admittedly proud as Freddie Mercury. The worst is that the tale is told to "prove" who was in the room at that moment. Shame on them and shame on the author for repeating it. Scoop the band squabbles if you think it will sell more books, but the gory details of Mercury's last moment were in bad taste.The dust jacket says, "Exactly the sort of tribute that Mercury himself would have wanted." I think it's a safe bet that even the most casual fan knows Freddie wouldn't want his actual in extremis dirty laundry run through the streets even in the most adoring of terms. Many with a deep love and respect for Mercury will be shocked all over again by the lengths at which people (especially the author) will go to demonstrate their intimacy with the famous. We all love the odd shred of gossip and of course we're reading a book about a public life, but that bit was irrelevant and disrespectful, utterly ruining an otherwise interesting book for me.

I found "Awesome"'s review of Mercury spot on and loved this book for all the same reasons, among others. I had a hard time putting it down! It is a personal favorite out of the many books I've read about Freddie. Of course, I was very interested in the content, but it was also presented in a way that I felt I could follow chronologically. I loved the fact that the author went to Zanzibar and Panchgani and spoke with people there who knew Freddie. That is such a murky area, so I was really engrossed with those chapters. Ms. Jones demonstrates her skills as a seasoned writer and thorough researcher. I think she did a fantastic job of bringing to us readers the Freddie she knew and obviously loved and admired. After reading this book, I was interested to know more about the author and am now reading her new personal memoir, Tumbling Dice - a great read so far!

This is a fine biography of an interesting man who was two generations ahead of his time....as time today has discovered. From Zanzibar to the shadow of Heathrow to global superstar, one of the greatest frontmen to ever live is shared in an interesting manner through this interesting blend of compilation and revelation.