Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius

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Beneath the surface of this fascinating biography, there lies a warm and wise craft book about what it takes to make great art in any century.” — Esquire

No one else had such a relentless work ethic and produced such a staggeringly original and enormous body of work. Where did their magic come from? How did they use it? And, in the end, did it kill them? Think about Harold Brodkey—how terrible that people waited all their lives for his first novel! As far as I know, it’s out of print in the UK. I don't think the wait was worth it for him. Is thinking at all equivalent to doing? Some writers say that the time you spend thinking about what you’re writing is still writing time.Prince was working on several projects at once while he was recording Purple Rain in 1983 and 1984. You could argue that music is music, and that therefore recording can’t be compared with novel-writing – Prince didn’t have to keep themes, plots, characters apart. But what he was attempting to do was still pretty complicated. He needed, or at least wanted, three different albums to accompany the movie of Purple Rain: Purple Rain the album, a new album by the Time, the group led by Morris Day, who plays the Kid’s arch-rival in the film; and an album from Apollonia 6, who plays the Kid’s love interest. Then there was the album he was making with/for Sheila E, his percussionist and friend, and the album he was making for the Family, a band that was formed out of the musicians he saw regularly in the studio. And he was already at work on his own Around the World in a Day, a very different-sounding collection of songs, influenced by world music. Of course, not everything is up there with When Doves Cry, or Purple Rain, or Nothing Compares 2 U. But whether it was best Prince or average Prince, that wasn’t the point. The point was that he had to do it. “He was not a perfectionist,” said Prince’s engineer Susan Rogers. “It just poured out of him.” One has to be careful here. Yes, he was very young when he started, but so was everybody. Pop music, even great pop music, is made by young people, and the best work is always made in the early part of the career. So was there anything different about Prince? Maybe. Despite being in the top 0.1 % of their profession, both felt that they were being robbed

You’re writing almost as much for cinema and TV as you are novels now, from Brooklyn to Love , Nina and State of the Union . In which medium do you feel most at home?Despite being in the top 0.1% of their profession, both felt that they were being robbed, and unlike a lot of artists they attempted to do something about it. In Prince’s case, he metaphorically destroyed himself because he was so angry. ‘A breathtaking performer’: Prince in concert, 1984. Photograph: Bill Marino/Sygma/Getty Images The clever British storyteller …[has] excellent taste and a smart, irreverent sense of humor.” — The Boston Globe The first edition of the serial version of Oliver Twist, published from 1837. Photograph: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy And second, he was on his own. There was no John or Keith to write songs with. He knew other musicians, and by the time we get to Purple Rain, Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman played an important role. But on that first album, made, remember, when he was 20, there was nobody else even to bang a cymbal.

No one else could have gotten a book like this published, but no one else could have pulled it off, either. An ardent fan letter from Hornby that makes you want to re-read Great Expectations while listening to Sign o’ the Times.” — Vogue Nearly everybody who had any time for him lost sight of him during this period. There were countless albums, and it was impossible to tell whether they were any good or not, because nobody seemed to write about them or talk about them. Eventually he found out what the rest of his colleagues discovered much later in the digital revolution: that the only money to be made was in live shows. He made peace with his past and reminded people what a breathtaking performer he was, first with a spectacular spot at the Grammys co-starring Beyoncé́, and then, in 2007, with the greatest half-time Super Bowl show in history. That same year he played 21 nights at the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena in London. After flirting with bankruptcy at the end of the 90s, Prince became rich again.Prince’s death was foretold, too. A few days before he died, his private plane had to make an emergency landing in Illinois after a concert in Atlanta, and he was reportedly given a shot of the anti-overdose drug Narcan by local emergency services. The night before he died, someone on his staff phoned a doctor in California called Howard Kornfeld who specialised in treating addictions. Because he was unable to respond immediately himself, he sent his son Andrew, a colleague at his practice, to Minneapolis that night. But when Prince overdosed for the second time that week, he was found dead in his own private elevator, on his private estate, too far away from everybody, too hidden, to receive the magic shot. Prince and Beyoncé at the 2004 Grammy awards. Photograph: Gary Hershorn/Reuters Prince aged 19 in Minneapolis, 1977, the year before his debut album was released. Photograph: Robert Whitman/Wenn In this joyous and illuminating book, the million-copy bestselling author brings together an unlikely pairing to explore the story of their creative genius Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.

Whichever one I’m not doing at the time. The other one always looks a much better prospect when you’re in the middle of something tough.Prince performing at Wembley Arena, London, on the Parade tour, 1986. Photograph: Michael Putland/Getty Images HORNBY: And she was horrified. But he kind of shrugged and lived with it. And he liked the way it sounded. And that's exactly how it is on the album. You've done exhaustive research into life and times with both these artists. What about them most surprised you? I loved Hornby’s discursive delves into both artists, comparing, and sometimes contrasting who they were, where they came from, and the people whose lives they impacted. There’s similar upbringing, their relationships to, and with women, their reactions to superstardom and the perception that they were not being paid what they were worth. All of it really does seem like these two creative people are intertwined in some profound way.