Includes bibliographical references.

Genius steals -- I Hope I Make it on my Own. -- When I'm five -- "Numero Uno, Mate!" -- Thinking about me -- Laughing gnome -- I wish something would happen -- Check ignition -- All the madmen -- Kooks -- Over the rainbow -- Battle cries and champagne -- When Things are Hollow. -- Star -- The changing isn't free -- Make me break down and cry -- White stains -- Ghosts in the echo chambers -- Helden -- I am not a freak -- Snapshot of a brain -- On the other side -- It's my life, so fuck off -- The heart's filthy lesson -- The Houdini mechanism.

"Ziggy Stardust," "Changes," Under Pressure," "Let's Dance," "Fame," "Heroes," and of course, "Starman." These are the classic songs of David Bowie, the artist whose personas are indelibly etched in our pop consciousness alongside his music. He wrote and recorded with everyone from Iggy Pop to Freddie Mercury to John Lennon, sold 136 million albums, has one of the truly great voices, and influenced bands as wide-ranging as Nirvana and Franz Ferdinand. The auhtor illuminates Bowie's seemingly contradictory life and his many reinventions as an artist, offering over 300 new interviews with everyone from classmates to managers to lovers. He reveals Bowie's broad influence on the entertainment world, from movie star to modern day icon, trend setter to musical innovator.