Bowie's Bookshelf

Inside the Thin White Duke’s literary influences

- John O' Connell

DAVID BOWIE WAS A POP STAR FOR MOST OF HIS CAREER FROM THE 1960S UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 2016. He was known for his flamboyant style, songwriting and the ability to artistically turn on a dime. But Bowie, who died of cancer at 69, was more than a multi-platinum rock and roller. He was also one of the more literate composers in the business. So much so, in fact, that in conjunction with a career retrospective in 2013 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Bowie issued a list of the one hundred books he considered the most important and influential. British music columnist John O’Connell linked this list to Bowie’s prolific music. The result? A book called Bowie’s Bookshelf out this month from Gallery Books. “Bowie’s Bookshelf grew out of my obsession with the list and my conviction that it was a trail laid down for fans—a mystery that needed to be solved,” explains O’Connell. “The books plot a course through Bowie’s life from child to teenager and from drug-addled superstar to reflective, reclusive family man.” Here’s a brief sampler from his book. For Bowie’s full list, see the sidebar.

The Waste Land

By T. S. Eliot (1922)