cover image Starting at Zero: His Own Story

Starting at Zero: His Own Story

Jimi Hendrix, edited by Alan Douglas and Peter Neal. Bloomsbury, $26 (256p) ISBN 9781620403310

Jimi Hendrix's friend and producer Douglas and filmmaker Neal assemble a remarkable new memoir drawing from the musician's late public remarks, letters, and private writings. Intervening bits of explanation by the editors help effectively weave Hendrix's excerpts into a story that traces the iconic musician's life from childhood, to early struggles to make a living as a sideman, to his creative breakthroughs and worldwide fame with the Experience including his future musical ambitions that for obvious reasons went unrealized. It is a short book about a short life that ended long before its author, who died at age 27, had a chance to reflect on events with the benefit of hindsight. As a result, the reading experience feels intimate and immediate, written and spoken by a thoughtful and articulate artist. We see his thoughts during times of feast, famine, and fame%E2%80%94frozen at the original moment, and becoming palpably more abstract and ethereal as drug use took a larger and larger role in his life. This is an essential primary source for any devoted Hendrix fan, but will also appeal to those with a more casual interest. Color illus. (Nov.)