Christopher Andersen's 'Mick' bio retreads Andersen's 'Jagger: Unauthorized'
!["Mick: The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger" by Christopher Andersen](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/8f/15/8f155d7acef36b6acc8361d804311aa5.jpg ""Mick: The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger" by Christopher Andersen")
The problem with writing an unauthorized biography about Mick Jagger or the Rolling Stones
is that there isn't much to say or report that hasn't already been said
or reported. And in the case of the unauthorized biography "Mick: The
Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger," by Christopher Andersen, much of
what is in the book is a repeat of his 1994 book "Jagger: Unauthorized."
But even the updated content of Andersen's "Mick" book that covers Jagger's life after 1994 isn't that new or insightful. Most of the quotes were already in other books or interviews.
"Mick: The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger" takes a tabloid approach by focusing more on Jagger's sex life than on presenting a well-rounded view of his other interests. It's clear that the book's main goal is to tell as many salacious stories as possible about how Jagger seduced many of his conquests, rather than to include a more balanced perspective by having about the same number of pages describing Jagger's creative process as one of the most celebrated songwriters in rock history or his business acumen in masterminding some of the most lucrative concert tours ever.
It's not really shocking anymore to say in a book that Jagger has had more than 4,000 sexual partners in his life or that many of his sexual encounters have included spanking his partners. And the story about Jagger having a sexual affair with David Bowie was reported in the media back in the '80s. And who doesn't know that Jagger has a problem with being monogamous? Because even if he didn't say it in interviews over the years (and he has), his well-documented actions would make it obvious.
Will anybody really be surprised to find out that Jagger's conquests include his sex therapist and at least one nanny who was hired to take care of his son Gabriel? No. Will anyone really care that in 1999, Jagger went to a party with Angelina Jolie but left with Farrah Fawcett? No. And is it newsworthy to point out that Jagger prefers being with women who are young enough to be his daughter? No.
Don't expect any riveting interviews or a lot of interesting, new anecdotes about Jagger in this book. And the things that Andersen does dig up are really trivial footnotes in Jagger's life that Andersen blows up to be a bigger deal than they really are, such as the claim that Jolie's mother was so star-stuck by Jagger that she encouraged Jolie to have an affair with him. (As if she was the only mother in the world who would act this way.) Andersen obviously did not have access to a lot of people who are currently close to Jagger because the description of Jagger's life in the 1990s onward reads like someone Googled a bunch of articles about Jagger and the Rolling Stones, and then compiled parts of those articles into a book format.
Even the accuracy of this book is suspect: A few of the sources whom Andersen interviewed for this book have now come forward to say that they were misquoted. And there's a childhood photo of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts that is misidentified as a photo of Jagger.
The book goes off on a slightly bizarre tangent toward the end, by describing the courtship of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, who is one of Jagger's ex-lovers. It's as if the book should have really been titled "Mick Jagger's Six Degrees of Sexual Separation." If you want to know who else Jagger's famous ex-lovers were sleeping with before, during and/or after they had their relationships with Jagger, then this is the book for you. But if you're looking for a more substantial story of Jagger's life, then look elsewhere.
But even the updated content of Andersen's "Mick" book that covers Jagger's life after 1994 isn't that new or insightful. Most of the quotes were already in other books or interviews.
"Mick: The Wild Life and Mad Genius of Jagger" takes a tabloid approach by focusing more on Jagger's sex life than on presenting a well-rounded view of his other interests. It's clear that the book's main goal is to tell as many salacious stories as possible about how Jagger seduced many of his conquests, rather than to include a more balanced perspective by having about the same number of pages describing Jagger's creative process as one of the most celebrated songwriters in rock history or his business acumen in masterminding some of the most lucrative concert tours ever.
It's not really shocking anymore to say in a book that Jagger has had more than 4,000 sexual partners in his life or that many of his sexual encounters have included spanking his partners. And the story about Jagger having a sexual affair with David Bowie was reported in the media back in the '80s. And who doesn't know that Jagger has a problem with being monogamous? Because even if he didn't say it in interviews over the years (and he has), his well-documented actions would make it obvious.
Will anybody really be surprised to find out that Jagger's conquests include his sex therapist and at least one nanny who was hired to take care of his son Gabriel? No. Will anyone really care that in 1999, Jagger went to a party with Angelina Jolie but left with Farrah Fawcett? No. And is it newsworthy to point out that Jagger prefers being with women who are young enough to be his daughter? No.
Don't expect any riveting interviews or a lot of interesting, new anecdotes about Jagger in this book. And the things that Andersen does dig up are really trivial footnotes in Jagger's life that Andersen blows up to be a bigger deal than they really are, such as the claim that Jolie's mother was so star-stuck by Jagger that she encouraged Jolie to have an affair with him. (As if she was the only mother in the world who would act this way.) Andersen obviously did not have access to a lot of people who are currently close to Jagger because the description of Jagger's life in the 1990s onward reads like someone Googled a bunch of articles about Jagger and the Rolling Stones, and then compiled parts of those articles into a book format.
Even the accuracy of this book is suspect: A few of the sources whom Andersen interviewed for this book have now come forward to say that they were misquoted. And there's a childhood photo of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts that is misidentified as a photo of Jagger.
The book goes off on a slightly bizarre tangent toward the end, by describing the courtship of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni, who is one of Jagger's ex-lovers. It's as if the book should have really been titled "Mick Jagger's Six Degrees of Sexual Separation." If you want to know who else Jagger's famous ex-lovers were sleeping with before, during and/or after they had their relationships with Jagger, then this is the book for you. But if you're looking for a more substantial story of Jagger's life, then look elsewhere.
