Books about Marvin : i need an advice

High Times · Mr. Sandman

Books about Marvin : i need an advice

Date: Oct 31, 2005

I would highly recommend "A Divided Soul The Life of Marvin Gaye" by David Ritz

A very good book I have read it at least twice.

I also checked out the Dyson book and haven't finished it yet. Its more about Marvin with Secrets and the more intimate stuff like when Tammi was on her dying bed.

rattlerbrat · Mr. Sandman

Mercy Mercy Me is hot garbage. But I can say that about anything Dyson's written. Even his grocery list is just a ripoff of about ten other shoppers' lists.

I just got Trouble Man from the library. Any reviews?

Date: Nov 17, 2005

Trouble Man was a little disappointing. It focused on mostly the bad episodes of Marvin's life. It also makes more than the appropriate allusions to the Beatles. I understand their influence on popular music, but they did not influence Marvin's music or Motown's enough for the many mentions. I recognize that the book was published in Great Britain, but that's no excuse to name-drop.

Divided Soul was interesting because it was the first biography on Marvin. It too suffers from name dropping but in this case it is Michael Jackson that shows up more than he should. Jackson owned the eighties, but posed little threat to Marvin.

What was interesting was easily he became jealous of other artists. He was never vengeful, just jealous. Like that how he felt that Berry was trying to make Jermaine Jackson into the next Marvin Gaye. I don't see how he thought that. Jermaine may have married into the family in 1973 but there wasn't any greater focus on him than there was before. His first solo album came out in 1972. Very interesting stuff.

soulmusic247 · Mr. Sandman

I read Michael Dyson's book and it was horrible. the book was poorly put together. the allegations such as marvin being molested as a child by one of his gay uncles was not only disturbing, but had no evidence or proof to back it up. there are many things that is wrong with this book. Michael Dyson put too much of his own words into Marvin's Life and simply blew everything out of porportion.