Product Description

Material Girl . . . Immaculate sexpot . . . Superstar . . . Mother . . . Kabbalah enthusiast . . . For three decades she has defied categorization. . . . She remains one of our greatest living pop icons.

Here is the groundbreaking biography that finally solves the mystery at the heart of Madonna's chameleonlike existence. Drawing upon scores of candid interviews with producers, musicians, collaborators, lovers, and friends, Lucy O'Brien's Madonna: Like an Icon explores the complex personality and legendary drive that have made Madonna the most famous female pop artist of our time. From her mother's premature death to Madonna's dynamic arrival on the New York club scene, from "Like a Virgin" to Evita and beyond, every stage of this dazzling star's life and career is brilliantly illuminated—the stereotypes deconstructed, the lies exposed, the artist examined, the legend celebrated.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #343184 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-01
• Released on: 2007-11-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

From Booklist
The Material Girl is respectfully, if not fawningly, limned by O'Brien in this lengthy bio undertaken without benefit of the subject's input. Fascinated by Madonna's media mastery, O'Brien considers her music-video, live-performance, photographic (remember Sex?), thespian, and other coups, inadvertently (perhaps) making the point that as singer, she's a heckuva dancer. Snide shots from reviewers aside, Madonna has made a lot of stuff in a variety of media. O'Brien seems to have covered it all to create a portrait of a driven, committed artiste of the highest order. Nary a negative word is spewed, but since by now most folks know how they feel about Madonna, hard judgments and artistic evaluations may be beside the point. Nonfans may avoid the book, but ardent followers who have either forgotten or sublimated, say, Desperately Seeking Susan will boost circulation at virtually any library. For kicking back and remembering when Madonna was cutting-edge, and not just in the worlds of kabbalah and kiddie lit, this is the ticket. Tribby, Mike

Review
"Meticulously chronicled" -- USA Today

"Meticulously chronicled"... [and] absorbing." -- USA Today

Review
"Meticulously chronicled"... [and] absorbing." (USA Today )

Customer Reviews

WHO IS THE "REAL" MADONNA?

Who can properly explicate the woman who is arguably the most famous female pop artist of our time? Many have tried; some have failed. Music critic Lucy O'Brien has a good go at it with Madonna Like An Icon.

O'Brien has been researching the phenomenon that is Madonna since the 1980s, fascinated by what appears to be unbridled ambition and the ability to repeatedly reinvent her image. This biographer's summary judgment is "The only place where she seems truly herself is when she is doing her work. Away from that she can be self-conscious, status-conscious, everything-conscious. Only in performance are those layers stripped away and it's just her."

Whether or not we agree with O'Brien's assessment this biography is meticulously written and researched, taking readers from Madonna's childhood in Detroit, Michigan, where she later danced at gay clubs to her almost fearless pursuit of success, through her tumultuous marriage to Sean Penn, to her Like a Prayer video, her movie roles, her stage appearance as Evita, her embrace of Kabbalah, and finally her marriage to Guy Ritchie.

Noting that Madonna's theatrical shows have made her a "quasi-religious icon", O'Brien cites friend and actor Rupert Everett who called Madonna the "Immaculate Conception." He describes his impression upon first meeting Madonna: ".....there was an energy field around her, like a wave, that swept everyone up as it crashed into the room"

Madonna once said of herself, "I am the work of art."
Who is the "real" Madonna? The answer may not be found in Madonna Like An Icon, but it is fascinating reading and sure to be devoured by her legions of fans.

- Gail Cooke

More re-hash than definitive
I've almost reached the end of this book. I feel kind of cheated. This was supposed to be the "definitive" Madonna biography. Instead, what you get are the same old stories re-hashed with maybe a bit of extra totally extraneous information. For example, I don't really care to know the exact address of Madonna's family home in Pontiac, but would've liked a bit more insight into what really makes her tick. This book basically runs methodically through every album release, every tour and throws in comments from some people who knew her. It's lazily written, there's no real analysis going on here. O'Brien makes statements about Madonna and just leaves it hanging (or makes comparisons to herself). I did kind of enjoy reading the book anticipating some new information - and there were a few morsels, but not nearly enough. Her family are barely mentioned, but we get what seems every detail of every album she's ever recorded! It just feels impersonal - I wanted to read about Madonna, not about everything I already knew about her career. Only buy this if you know almost nothing about Madonna's life and career. You'll end up knowing alot about her career and chart positions etc. But you'll learn almost nothing about the woman herself. This is the biography of a career, not a person. I think I'll wait for the autobiography....

Excellent bio!
This is great! Buy it NOW! The author reviews Madonna's life and music while talking about her own growing up listening to M's tunes! Madonna's music makes the people come together and really is the OST of our lives! Like an icon? Absolutely!