Meh. I think the author could have done better. There was a lot of theorizing about why Prince became popular in the 80's, some were believable others not so much. He seemed to want to hear himself talk about pop culture history more than about the actual person of Prince. Most of the information on Prince's life could have been found in Wikipedia. Kinda disappointed in this one. Should have known, since it was an "Unauthorized" biography. ( )

A very bad book about my favorite person. Toure is trying to be some sort of hip cultural critic who does heavy thinking but is also in with the cool kids of today. and just nope.

Most frustratingly, the book contains brief kernels of really good ideas and plenty of false starts towards interesting analysis, but nothing is ever fleshed out or developed or thoroughly argued.

Prince is an "icon" for Gen-X because...divorce.

Prince is the most important religious artist in the history of American music because...he was an overtly-sexual pop star.

I feel like there should be criteria for allowing people to go by one name. Prince meets those criteria, Toure does not.

Also, someone should tell this guy that the Talking Heads and Sonic Youth should not be included in his list of like 10 bands that are "all one race and one gender." ( )

With Prince's unfortunate recent passing, my library had this on their recommended shelf, so of course I jumped on it for my next entry in my Read Your Library project.

Not a biography, Toure instead takes a look at Prince the unforgettable icon and how he came to be. Toure looks at the generation Prince resonated with the most, Generation X, and explored exactly why we (I'm on the young-end of the Gen X spectrum) were so enraptured by the man.

The book is in three parts. First Toure explores Prince's early days and connects them with things that many Gen Xers could relate to. Next he takes a look at the hypersexualization of the 80s and Prince's brilliant manipulation of that to create his image. Finally, we get to read about Prince's very strong religious side and how he incorporated his faith into his music.

Overall, this is a fascinating read. It really makes you think, and explains a great deal about both Generation X and Prince that many may not have thought of before now. ( )

Toure argues that Prince appealed to Generation X because his lyrics touched on the issues that defined the generation - divorce, latch key kids, sex, cynicism. There is some bio in the book, but the author mainly discusses why Prince was an icon (great musician and entertainer, lyrics spoke to Gen X audience) and spends a lot of time analyzing his lyrics. Sex and religion were the themes Prince wrote about throughout his career . ( )

Bit of a hard one to judge, this. Let's make it clear that this is not the book you should buy if you want an in-depth overview of Prince's career. Sure, there is some information sprinkled throughout the book, but it covers only a tiny fraction of what you'd expect.

This book is not a traditional biography. Instead it is a well-written analysis of what makes Prince tick, mainly how his relationships with his mother and father influenced him, and what his religious upbringing brings to the table.

If that sounds rather flimsy, you're not wrong. Quite frankly, the book reads as a compilation of expanded essays. That is especially true of the latter part on the impact of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Prince's lyrics, which seemed to repeat the same information over and over again.

That doesn't mean this is a bad book, far from it. Touré is a great writer, and the first part of the book -- which deals with Prince's status of an icon -- contains numerous lines and paragraphs that I highlighted on my Kindle. (Granted, this is less the case for the rest of the book.)

It is however disappointing that Touré has not really managed to unearth much new information. The only real revelation I recall is the section on Prince's sexual predilections (he seems to love bathing women). Certainly he goes far deeper into how Prince's relationships with his parents and his religion has influenced his lyrics, but in the end this is not exactly new information.

Most annoyingly is Touré's habit of referring to some people as experts on Prince (especially ?uestlove) when in reality their insights are often not particularly better informed than most hardcore fans' opinions. I have no doubt that ?uestlove has studied Prince and other artists, but that does not mean that his opinion is necessarily the only valuable viewpoint.

In the end this is a well-intended book that does shed light on several aspects of Prince's career which were lacking a decent write-up. If you seek insight into what drives Prince, you'll find plenty of clues here. Just don't treat everything as gospel and leave room for your own observations and judgments. ( )