Room Full of Mirrors [Paperback]

Jimi Hendrix's influence on music and popular culture cannot be overstated, but his life was a full of contradictions and he always struggled with his rock star status. His four short years of stardom came after an incredibly tough and tragic upbringing, and C.R. Cross has delved deep and chronicled these early years so that the reader gains an insight into where Jimi's musical genius sprang from. The research and interviews with so many of Hendrix's friends, relatives and colleagues reveal a man driven to escape his past but who becomes trapped in the gilded cage his talent created. Although we all know that his life ended in tragedy, this biography thankfully focuses on Jimi as supreme musician, as entertainer, as a man who lived for the moment, rather than raking over every detail of his demise. The mystery and rumours surrounding his death are dealt with compassionately and, it would seem, accurately and one myth is finally laid to rest.

Overall a very good read, offering a moving portrayal of a life lived at "a thousand miles an hour".

While in broad brush terms there is little new, this book presents Jimi Hendrix "warts and all" and does a good job in balancing others' contexts. That sets it apart from most of the others - and the author does a good job of not getting between his subject and the reader.

This biography is probably the most professionally written one to date. The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because the sources of the material show through in places (though it would be ridiculous to expect a new biography to be stunningly different).