David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God

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What to expect

Bloomsbury presents David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God by Peter Ormerod, read by Chris Bianchi

The story of how David Bowie's search for meaning inspired him to write the music that defined a generation.

In this wide-ranging biography, Peter Ormerod explores the quest for spirituality that powered David Bowie's creativity from his earliest recordings to his death-defying final album. Bowie’s genre-expanding, era-crossing genius had an extraordinary impact on popular culture but his life-long search for spiritual truth and enlightenment has been overlooked.

From Bowie's first musical encounters as a choirboy, this book traces his spiritual obsessions over the years. As a young musician at the start of his career, he was enraptured by Tibetan Buddhism. It was the first step in a spiritual journey that would generate his most profound lyrics and music. From the Kabbalah-influenced tracks of Station to Station to Ziggy Stardust's messiah complex and the profound affinity between Heroes and Christian thought, Ormerod sheds new light on the spiritual traditions behind Bowie's genius.

Taking Bowie’s spiritual explorations and faith seriously, Ormerod shows us how this quest for meaning propelled him through his darkest moments and biggest successes, lending his music a timelessness and depth that has spoken to so many people across the world. Whether experiencing a dark night of the soul in LA during his occult phase or reciting the Lord's prayer in front of thousands of concertgoers, Bowie was always searching for that universal truth that lies beyond everyday reality.

Critics Review

Ormerod has written one of the best and most original books of those published to mark a decade since Bowie’s death from cancer in January 2016... The Bowie you thought you knew is recast completely.
The Spectator
Ormerod deals with Bowie as text; as the occasion for close reading, which I think is what his work, like all good art, deserves. By the end Ormerod had me singing in the choir with him.
The Guardian
A fresh and revealing look at a much celebrated artist.
Publishers Weekly
Peter Ormerod’s book is a monumental, compelling, and profoundly original study of David Bowie’s spiritual and religious ideas, inspirations and meditations. Bowie always had a search for meaning at the centre of his music. There was a spiritual muse which both grounded his ideas and guided the way to a transcendent realm, more real than the mundane suburbia of his younger days. For anyone whose life was transformed by Bowie’s music, or who wishes to gain an understanding of the deeper ramifications of Bowie’s ideas, then this wonderful book is essential reading.
Dr Paul Fuller, Lecturer in Buddhist Studies, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
Who knew we needed another Bowie book? This thoughtful deep dive into the artist’s spiritual curiosity traces how faith, mysticism and doubt shapes his music.
the I Paper
What Ormerod provides here is a welcome addition to the heaving Bowie library. This search for enlightenment is patently what gives [Bowie's] music that otherworldly power.
The Standard
Insightful, thoughtful and engaging, David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God enriches our understanding of Bowie’s art by placing faith, doubt and transcendence at its core.
Voice
Ormerod so ably demonstrates...that “in searching for God, Bowie made art that shook the world and changed lives.
The i Paper
Of the recent glut of Bowie books, this one about the rock star’s spiritual journey is the most intriguing.
The Scotsman
Monumental.
Warwickshire World
A wild journey...unique.
Booklist

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