Lazarus: The Second Coming of David Bowie

Historian Larman (The Windsors at War) explores in this comprehensive account the critically overlooked second half of David Bowie’s career. The book opens in the late 1980s, when Bowie was recording albums and touring as a member of the rock band Tin Machine, before releasing a string of solo albums. Though none reached the heights of his 1970s and ’80s output, creative partnerships with such producers as Brian Eno helped Bowie go in new directions, from 1999’s heavily acoustic Hours to the industrial pop of 2002’s Heathens, and eventually return to critical and commercial relevance. After suffering a heart attack on stage in Prague in 2004, Bowie retired from touring and did not release a new album for 12 years; the critically lauded Blackstar came out only two days before his 2016 death. Drawing on a wealth of research, the author highlights the creative challenges faced by a star who was perceived to have “peaked long before... reach[ing] the age of forty,” and gives due to the “flawed but often brilliant moments” on Bowie’s path to reinventing himself. This casts fresh light on the rock star. (Feb.)