Michael Jackson - Legend: 1958-2009

I have ordered and read many many books about Michael Jackson and this one is by far my favorite.

This book has no heart. It is written as a compilation of every news tidbit ever published about Michael Jackson with no flow towards the heart of the man. It not only reports the facts, but repeats fiction as well, with no attempt to distinguish between the two. Some accolades are given for his best performances and records and yet even then there is no heart to the praise. I would not recommend this book unless you are just interested in stringing together a bunch of events and accusations in a timeline.

Again - a lot has been written about Michael Jackson. This book was okay - I liked the pictures in it. Good addition to Michael Jackson collection.

Can't read it!?!?!

Michael Jackson Legend by Chas Newkey-Burden was in my opinion a good but very sad book. It was about the life of Michael but was brief. It starts where he was born in Gary Indiana. They lived in a very small house. All of the boys slept in one room. The home they lived in still stands. It talks about how his brothers started singing and formed a group.One day Michael got up and just playing around sang a song and his mother thought he sounded like an angel. When his father Joe came home from work that night Katherine had Michael sing for him. It was decided he had to be a part of the group. The Jackson 5 was formed and what their father did to them was deplorable! They were children! When Michael and his brothers came home from school they immediately had to start practicing their singing and dancing. Their father pushed them so hard their childhood was gone. If they did something wrong such as sing out of key as Michael often did (he was very young) his dad would lock him up in a cupboard. When they started to go on the road to play in strip clubs and dives their father would bring women back to their room and sleep with them in front of the boys. This traumatized Michael. He knew it was wrong and he felt so sorry for his Mom. As Michael grew his brothers would tease him and tell him he was looking more like their father every day. Michael hated his father! This is when he started getting plastic surgery done. He swore he would never be anything like his father. As he grew older however he also started to have strange relationships with older women such as Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor and with younger boys such as Jordan Chandler and Macaualy Culkin. There really was never anything said of the relatonships with Diana or Eilzabeth but with the boys? Macaualy states nothing inappropriate ever happened between him and Michael. He admits he even slept with him. However Jordan states that Michael did things to him. There was a huge court case that ruined Michaels life over this (instigated by his Mom)and probably for the most part his career. Jordan's Mom is a person that files different lawsuits against different companies and people to get money. How sad! This took such a toll on Michael. Was this fact ever made public? No!! People to this day think he was a pervert. It also talks about his marriages to Lisa Marie Presley(quick, secret) and Debbie Rowe(mother of two of his children) and his three children. Lisa Marie and Debbie remained friends with Michael until his death. His children were protected and well cared for. Michael was a great father. I think Michal Jackson was an entertanier that will never be surpassed. He was marked by society as a pervert by a family that is known for filing lawsuits. This caused undue stress and depression that eventually killed the greatest entertainer of our time.

I just checked this out at the library and I am so glad I did not purchase it. It is ok but I would not pay for it. I get the impression that it was hastily written just after MJ's death. Whoopie Goldberg said that Michael is the gift that keeps on giving...this is true. I have not finished it yet but so far have read a couple of new things such as; he wanted to destroy the Pepsi company after he was burned. That is the first time I have heard that one. If he really said that; it could have been the pain talking...it was the fault of their crew afterall. But it does fly in the face of his customarily gentle nature. Also the story that he told President Reagan that he would let them use Beat It for an anti-drinking campaign if he gave him an award. Well, Reagan was an actor first so he understood the value of good publicity. Reagan later wrote about it in his diary and did not mention that but he did say that he was surprised at how shy he was. BTW...I have never heard Jackson St was renamed for that family. Everyone has said that it was a coincidence...it was already Jackson st when they moved there. I don't think it gave a fairly balanced view of Michael...but I am a fan. It was better than many of the books published right after his death that portrayed him as either a monster or total saint but I still would not recommend this book...unless it's free.