Simon Critchley first encountered David Bowie in the early seventies, when the singer appeared on Britainâs most-watched music show, Top of the Pops. His performance of âStarmanâ mesmerized Critchley: it was âso sexual, so knowing, so strange.â Two days later Critchleyâs mum bought a copy of the single; she liked both the song and the performerâs bright orange hair (she had previously been a hairdresser). The seed of a lifelong love affair was thus planted in the mind of her son, aged 12.
In this concise and engaging excursion through the songs of one of the worldâs greatest pop stars, Critchley, whose writings on philosophy have garnered widespread praise, melds personal narratives of how Bowie lit up his dull life in southern Englandâs suburbs with philosophical forays into the way concepts of authenticity and identity are turned inside out in Bowieâs work. The result is nearly as provocative and mind-expanding as the artist it portrays.
Simon Critchley first encountered David Bowie in the early seventies, when the singer appeared on Britainâs most-watched music show, Top of the Pops. His performance of âStarmanâ mesmerized Critchley: it was âso sexual, so knowing, so strange.â Two days later Critchleyâs mum bought a copy of the single; she liked both the song and the performerâs bright orange hair (she had previously been a hairdresser). The seed of a lifelong love affair was thus planted in the mind of her son, aged 12.
In this concise and engaging excursion through the songs of one of the worldâs greatest pop stars, Critchley, whose writings on philosophy have garnered widespread praise, melds personal narratives of how Bowie lit up his dull life in southern Englandâs suburbs with philosophical forays into the way concepts of authenticity and identity are turned inside out in Bowieâs work. The result is nearly as provocative and mind-expanding as the artist it portrays.