Reading List
Jimmy McDonough
Biographer
Jimmy McDonough writes biographies of difficult subjects, usually after spending years with them. Shakey, his Neil Young book, took more than a decade and a lawsuit before publication, and he has also written lives of Tammy Wynette, Russ Meyer, Al Green and Andy Milligan. He is drawn to people the culture filed away as novelties or embarrassments, and his picks here are almost entirely other biographers doing the same job.
Liberace
An American Boy
by Darden Asbury Pyron · 2000 · Biography
“This heartfelt work bestows the showman with the dignity he deserves and rightfully tells his story as one of a complex, contrary American hero who managed to break barriers while wearing sequined hot pants and laughing his way to the bank.” — via Article
I’d Rather Be the Devil
Skip James and the Blues
by Stephen Calt · 1994 · Biography
“Calt had a love-hate relationship with decrepit blues genius Skip James and most likely himself.” — via Article
Tiny Tim
by Harry M. Stein · 1976 · Biography
“An old-school gumshoe reporter with an eye for withering detail, Stein gets Tiny to spill the beans just by hanging around, and he does it with wit and affection.” — via Article
America’s Most Hated Woman
The Life and Gruesome Death of Madalyn Murray O'Hair
by Ann Rowe Seaman · 2005 · Biography
“she methodically wades through minute details from court records, press accounts, and living witnesses to pin her subject to the wall for all time.” — via Article
Happy Like Murderers
by Gordon Burn · 1998 · Nonfiction
“Burn calmly takes you on a submarine ride through the horrors of married serial killers Fred and Rosemary West, and he never comes up for air. Unlike much of the true crime ground out these days, this book does not feel cheap and exploitative.” — via Article
Nico
Songs They Never Play on the Radio
by James Young · 1992 · Biography
“I can picture Nico getting to the last page and stubbing out a cigarette on the cover.” — via Article