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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Only for the casual fan, REAL fans will find this tedious, 21 Mar 2000
By A Customer
For the casual fan, there is no better book on the life and career of Sir Elton John than this. However, for any serious fan this "updated" re-issue is a waste. Mr. Norman never did appear to have his heart in writing the original and nine years later all he has managed to add is about a half dozen pages of quotes from Elton's stepmother Edna Dwight, who he secured an interview, following the death of Elton's father Stanley. Mrs. Dwights reflections, including a picture and some letters between father and son, are very interesting. They shed a very different light on her late husband's relationship with Elton, from the version Elton has given through the years. But that's it.Mr. Norman has come up with NOTHING on Elton's breakup with longtime manager John Reid. He merely includes what has been reported in the tabloid press. (Mr. Norman's idea of research?) While this story is still evolving, as any industry insider will tell you, it's dynamite. A book in and of itself. An author with the ego of Philip Norman's should be ashamed for releasing an updated version without including the REAL story of what Reid has done. But then again, this is the same author who released the book in it's original form without including any information on Elton's multiple addictions that nearly cost him his life. Everyone in the business was fully aware of the situation at the time, yet Mr. Norman's reaction was one of total shock, learning of the condition when Elton went public after the books initial release. The book in it's first printing, while giving a good overview of Elton's life and career was riddled with errors, including misquotes, wrong dates and fabrications. (In particular, events pertaining to Elton's career in the U.S.) These errors were made known at the time, to both author and publisher. As far as I can tell, NONE have been corrected. As for Elton's quote "He's got me spot on", that the publisher is so fond of including in ads, well, Elton did say this. However, Elton was referring to what Mr. Norman descrbes as "Elton's little moments", not the book as a whole. At the time he invited Philip Norman to his London residence for tea, Elton had not yet read the entire book. He said at the time that he was only half through it. Elton is also on record as being very angry that Mr. Norman took what was intended to be a private discussion and included the transcript as an additional chapter in the paperback editions that followed. Ironically, it's the only accurate chapter Mr. Norman's tome has. This is all truly disappointing. At 581 pages and as the title itself promises, this should have been "The Definitive" Sir Elton John bio. Unfortunately, it is not.
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by Judy Parkinson
by Elizabeth J. Rosenthal
~ Elton John
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
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