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Moon Bio



I've been giving the Keith Moon biography by Tony Fletcher a second read, and
so far, have a couple things I noticed...

The first 1/3 of the book is much better than the rest.  Perhaps it's
Fletcher's writing style, perhaps it's just the way the story unfolds, but the
account of Keith's early life up until he joins The Who/High Numbers is
fascinating and touching.  We see Keith as a naove, "cheeky" sort of kid, who
had this amazing and unprecidented talent.  He's just a kid and while his rise
to fame is at times exhilerating, it's also slightly melancholy.  The guy
never had time to grow up.

But at the same time, there's a touch of Bob Woodward-esque sensationalism.
When the Woodward bio of John Belushi, "Wired" came out, Belushi fans expected
a poignant tribute to the fallen comedian but instead got a National Tattler
sort of expose on Belushi's drug habits.  The disappointment of his fans was
eminent and there was a time that Belushi's collegues came out and spoke
against Woodward's book.  John Landis savagely attacked Bob Woodward on a talk
show and I couldn't help but cheer.

I get that same feeling from Fletcher's style.  He seems a little more
concerned with foreshadowing Keith's darker side.  Why would the writer insist
on foretelling Keith's violent, abusive side when introducing his initial
relationship with Kim?  He makes a point to show Keith romancing her, but at a
time in the story where Keith is not losing his grip, he takes a touching
situation and mentions the abuse that cropped up later on in their life.
Constantly.  He seems to be a little obsessive in the negative side.  The
abusive side of Keith is something that should be included in a biography of
the man, but why keep bringing up the horror stories before they even
happened?

I understand the style of writing, so I don't mean "why bring it up" in the
literary technique known as foreshadowing, what I mean is, why be so obsessed
about it.  I get the feeling that this bio could've been released under the
title:  "Dark Side of the Moon".

Did anyone else catch this while reading the book?  Or, am I just being
defensive about my man, Keith Moon?  As I've said, I've only gotten 1/3 into
my re-read, but I remember a lot of the negativity after this point in the
story.

Jim in Colorado