A Nice Pair: David Bowie

This week we continue to celebrate Pride Month by pairing the latest book we’ve brought in about today’s star, Me and Mr. Jones: My Life with David Bowie and The Spiders from Mars by Suzi Ronson with his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars..

Suzi Ronson, the stylist behind David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust look, has written an electrifying memoir, taking readers behind the curtains during a legendary chapter of pop culture history. Having crafted his iconic Ziggy Stardust hairstyle, Suzi was the only working woman in David’s touring party and joined The Spiders from Mars as they performed around the globe. Dazzling and intimate in equal measure, Me and Mr. Jones provides not only a unique perspective into one of the most beguiling stars in the history of pop music but also of a world on the cusp of cultural transformation.

We are, of course, pairing this book with Bowie’s fifth studio album which was originally released in 1972. Known for his many boundary pushing personas, with this album came the incarnation of Bowie’s alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, an omnisexual rock star from another planet sent to Earth ahead of an impending apocalyptic disaster to deliver a message of hope. Hailed as a messiah, Stardust succumbed to the attractions of fame and fortune, ultimately dying at the end of Bowie’s rock opera concept album.

While Bowie led a chameleon life, inventing different personas to go with the music he created, he always remained true to himself, giving others the confidence to push their own boundaries while being exactly who they were born to be.