Messi: The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend by Luca Caioi

Book Summary of Messi: The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend

Still only 24, Lionel Messi is on course to become the greatest soccer player of all time. The 2009 and 2010 FIFA Player of the Year, he is fast, elusive, and mesmerizing. Nominated by Maradona as successor to his No. 10 Argentina shirt, he is already set for football divinity.

Luca Caioli draws on numerous exclusive testimonies to tell Messi's story: his parents and extended family; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell's Old Boys; Rjikaard and Zambrotta from Barcelona; Jorge Valdano and many others from Argentina, Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and ex-Chelsea defender Asier del Horno. In the final chapter Messi himself sizes up his life so far.

Updated to include the 2011 Champions League Final, when everyone, including the opposition, applauded Messi and his team, Messi is a brilliant, insightful and revealing portrait of football's most exciting player and a must-read for all true fans of the game.

I’ll Do It My Way: The Incredible Journey of Aamir Khan by Christina Daniels

Book Summary of I’ll Do It My Way: The Incredible Journey of Aamir Khan

In contemporary Indian cinema, Aamir Khan has always taken the lesstrodden path, and also delivered box-office hits. Known for his selection of films, he has constantly re-invented himself, and re-defined the approach to filmmaking within the Hindi film industry over the last two decades.

I’ll Do It My Way: The Incredible Journey of Aamir Khan is a filmography that presents Aamir’s evolution as an actor, focusing on 21 landmark films. It retraces Aamir’s rise to stardom as an actor with a difference, who broke new ground as a director and a producer.

Aamir’s story is told through interviews and research of press coverage from the last 20 years, including perspectives from directors, co-stars and other colleagues — Mansoor Khan, Aditya Bhattacharya, Asif Noor, Indra Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt, Dharmesh Darshan, Nandita Das, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Ronnie Screwvala, AR Murugadoss, Asin, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raj Kumar Hirani — who have collaborated with him over the last two decades in his landmark films. Together, they have recreated a multi-dimensional cinematic portrait of an unparalleled Indian actor.

When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of "Led Zeppelin" by Mick Wall

Book Summary of When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of "Led Zeppelin"

They were 'the last great band of the sixties; the first great band of the seventies'; they rose, somewhat unpromisingly, from the ashes of the Yardbirds to become one of the biggest-selling rock bands of all time. Mick Wall, respected rock writer and former confidant of both Page and Plant, unflinchingly tells the story of the band that wrote the rulebook for on-the-road excess - and eventually paid the price for it, with disaster, drug addiction and death. WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH reveals for the first time the true extent of band leader Jimmy Page's longstanding interest in the occult, and goes behind the scenes to expose the truth behind their much-hyped yet spectacularly contrived comeback at London's O2 arena last year, and how Jimmy Page plans to bring the band back permanently - if only his former protege, now part-time nemesis, Robert Plant will allow him to. Wall also recounts, in a series of flashbacks, the life stories of the five individuals that made the dream of Led Zeppelin into an even more incredible and hard-to-swallow reality: Page, Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and their infamous manager, Peter Grant. The culmination of several years research, this book tells the full, shocking story of Led Zeppelin from the inside, written by someone who has known Jimmy Page for over twenty years.

Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison by Jim Morrison

Book Summary of Wilderness: The Lost Writings of Jim Morrison

Compiled from the literary estate of the singer who brought a wildly lyrical poetry of the damned to the world of rock 'n' roll. Includes unpublished poems, drawings, photos, and a candid self-interview.

Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain by Charles R. Cross

Book Summary of Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain

This is the first in-depth biography of the troubled genius Kurt Cobain. Based on Cobain's unpublished diaries, 400 interviews, years of research, and a wealth of documentation, "Heavier Than Heaven" traces Cobain's life from his early days to his rise to fame, fortune, the adulation of a generation, and early death. Photos.

This is the first in-depth biography of the troubled genius Kurt Cobain. Based on exclusive access to Cobain's unpublished diaries, more than 400 interviews, four years of research, and a wealth of documentation, Heavier Than Heaven traces Cobain's life from his early days in a double-wide trailer outside of Aberdeen, Washington, to his rise to fame, fortune, and the adulation of a generation.

Damage Incorporated: Metallica and the Production of Musical Identity by Glenn T. Pillsbury

Book Summary of Damage Incorporated: Metallica and the Production of Musical Identity

Damage Incorporated: Metallica and the Production of Musical Identity offers an interdisciplinary study investigating a range of topics that intersect in the music and cultural influence of Metallica. As part of a collection of heavy metal bands-among them Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth-grouped together under the rubric "thrash metal," Metallica's music presents a number of avenues for investigation. Specifically, Damage Incorporated focuses on identity in popular music as a set of performing conventions, with Metallica's place within certain conventions of genre, race, and gender serving as a constant impetus. The book also engages broadly with larger questions of the politics of culture, American history, musical analysis, and the character of musical discourses in the context of commerce. An essential book for students of popular culture, mass media, and music, Damage Incorporated sets a new standard for the study and exploration of issues of class, gender, and race in popular music. About the Author Glenn T. Pillsbury is a recent Ph.D. in Musicology from UCLA and a rising star in the field of popular music studies. He is the author of the "Metallica" chapter in the Encyclopedia Britannica, a founding editor of the online journal ECHO, and a regular presenter of papers at major scholarly meetings in music and the arts.

The Lost Heroes of Rock 'n Roll by Jon Washington

Book Summary of The Lost Heroes of Rock 'n Roll
Writing this book (for me) has been a labor of love. Ever since Rosemary Gardener dropped off her record collection at my house back in the 1950's, Rock 'n Roll music has consumed a large part of my life. The people who spearheaded the music that changed the world deserve the recognition and the thanks of the entire 'Baby Boom' generation. Some of the artists whose stories are told in this book suffered from more than their fair share of human frailties, but the unfailing commitment to their music far outweighs the way they chose to live their lives. Without these visionary and, sometimes eccentric, people Rock 'n Roll music would never have happened; and, we as a generation, would be forever stuck in the grey "Father Knows Best - Leave It To Beaver" netherworld of the bland, middle-class 1950's. We should all be profoundly grateful for the shot of adrenaline, kick in the ass music that propelled us headlong into the ongoing musical saga of Flower Power, MTV, Heavy Metal and the New-Wave era. Without the contribution of these groundbreaking pioneers, all we know today of the Rock 'n Roll experience would not have been possible. It is my sincere hope that the true stories contained within this book will instill a desire in the musicians of today to find out more about their predecessors who were forerunners in the Rock 'n Roll revolution. In the early days, the establishment reviled Rock 'n Roll music. The politicians of the time, and even the church, renounced the new music and fought bitterly to stamp out the first stirrings of the Rock 'n Roll consciousness. It is only through the efforts and the tenacity of the few Rock 'n Roll innovators that today's young musicians are able to makea living in their chosen profession. This book is dedicated to the men and women, songwriters and performers of the early Rock 'n Roll era. They may be lost, but they will never be forgotten. They will remain in our hearts forever, the lost heroes of Rock 'n Roll. Jon Washington Las Vegas, Nevada August 2002