Madonna: Like an Icon

Madonna: Like an Icon

Book cover (US)
Author	Lucy O'Brien
Language	English
Subject	Madonna
Genre	Biography
Publisher	Bantam Press
Publication date	August 27, 2007
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	432
ISBN	0593055470

Madonna: Like an Icon is a biography by British author Lucy O'Brien, chronicling the life of American recording artist Madonna. The book was released on August 27, 2007, by Bantam Press in the United Kingdom, and on October 18, 2007, by Harper Collins in the United States. Madonna: Like an Icon chronicles the life of the singer from her birth, uptill the release of her eleventh studio album, Hard Candy, in 2008.

Initially critical of her work, O'Brien had become a fan of Madonna, after seeing her perform on television for The Virgin Tour in 1985. From that point of time, the author followed Madonna's career closely, and collected interviews, magazines, albums and visited her concert tours. When she finally decided to write a biography on Madonna in 2005, she wanted the book to be more about the singer's contribution to her music and the inspiration behind it, rather than delving too much into her personal life, as previous endeavors on the same subject had done. The author then interviewed dancers, choreographers, musicians and producers – people who have worked with Madonna.

Madonna: Like an Icon received a mixed response from critics. They were unanimous that the over-emphasis given on the singer's discography was unnecessary, instead more thought should have been given on exploring her personal life, which would have made the biography compelling. They however agreed that O'Brien had researched and presented the story well, and complimented the portrayal of Madonna's childhood in the book.

Summary

The biography is divided into three parts. The first part is named Baptism and tells about Madonna's birth in Detroit, Michigan, her early childhood, her time in New York, her dance degree. It also talks in details about the release of her first three studio albums—Madonna, Like a Virgin and True Blue—her marriage to actor Sean Penn, and also her foray into films. The middle part, named as Confession, starts from the Like a Prayer era onwards where Madonna has become a global superstar. It continues upto the release of the erotic coffee table book called Sex, and the commercial disappointments that she faced. The third part is called Absolution, and starts with Madonna giving birth to her daughter Lourdes. It continues with the release of Ray of Light in 1998 and subsequent four studio albums, her worldwide concert tours, her marriage to Guy Ritchie and controversies surrounding her adoption from the African country, Malawi. It ends with the release of Madonna's 2008 endeavor, Hard Candy, and the singer reaching the age of fifty.

Background and development

O'Brien became a fan of Madonna, after seeing her perform on The Virgin Tour in 1985.

Lucy O'Brien is a bestselling music critic, biographer and academic with a twenty-year career in journalism. She has contributed to a wide range of publications, from The Sunday Times to The Guardian, from Marie Claire to Cosmopolitan and Q, appeared as a guest on several radio and TV programs in the UK, co-produced the film Righteous Babes on rock and new feminism for Channel 4. A teacher in both writing and publishing and popular music theory at London's Goldsmiths College and University of Westminster, O'Brien is also the author of She Bop, She Bop II and biographies of Dusty Springfield and Annie Lennox. O'Brien has confessed that she does not find writing biographies an easy job. But she is motivated to do so by her interest in female recording artists, especially those who have left a mark in the contemporary music scene. O'Brien was always interested in writing a biography about Madonna, since she found her "fascinating, provocative and a true crusader". She decided that the 50th birthday of Madonna in 2008 was the perfect time for a serious look at the artist’s life and work.

O'Brien first came to like Madonna in 1985, when she saw the singer on television, performing on The Virgin Tour. Previously she was of the opinion that Madonna "was that cheesy poop bimbo in lycra, writhing on a Venetian gondola for the 'Like a Virgin' video." However, The Virgin Tour changed her opinion and by the time Madonna's 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan came out, O'Brien confessed that Madonna had won her admiration. The author had admired Madonna’s lack of fear, and the way she championed alternative cultures and explored sexuality. She started following Madonna's life starting from the Who's That Girl World Tour in 1987, and became engaged in collecting interviews, magazines, albums and singles of the artist.

Writing and inspiration

"Madonna's style is confrontational, her ambition unbounded, yet she constantly, compulsively turns her life into fascinating pop art. As her old boyfriend, producer Steve Bray, said: 'Her most effective trait was to have her completely dominate you and for you to somehow enjoy the experience.' Madonna has become a goddess of our age, and an icon that we have all created. That is her story."

—Lucy O'Brien, London, 2007

In 2005, O'Brien started writing a book on Madonna, where she wanted to look at her life and and work, as the artist was approaching the age of fifty. She believed that the general public was eager to know the real-self of Madonna, and she concentrated on finding that out. According to her, "the popular negative stereotype about the artist is that of a publicity-hungry, manipulative ball-breaker, while for many woman she is a beacon of feminism. I have always found her work clear and autobiographical, but her personality complex and disarmingly changeable." However, due to the shifting images that Madonna presented, O’Brien was confused as to how she can approach writing the biography. She found that listening to Madonna’s music was a good way to start. The author then interviewed dancers, choreographers, musicians and producers – people who have worked with Madonna. While talking to them, O’Brien reflected on her own childhood and found parallels with Madonna—being born in a Catholic family and gradually becoming aware of the rise of feminism and gay liberation. She kept getting two stark pictures of the artist: "There was the woman who was ruthless in moving on and rude to the competition, and there was a woman I'd never seen before – sweet, childlike and captivating. My search for Madonna became maddening," O'Brien reflected in an interview with People. She further explained:

Looking at her work over three decades, I feel that [Madonna] has constantly conveyed a message of empowerment to women – that women don't have to seek approval before doing something, that they can be bold and brave and fulfill their potential – and that's very inspiring. She has also been vocal in her support of gay politics and latterly, has become involved in the fight against global poverty. In pop culture terms, she has been hugely influential – very few pop artists are so determined and outspoken.

O'Brien also took the help of Madonna archivist Rob Diament, the lead singer-songwriter of electropop band Temposhark. Since previous biographies on the singer had mostly concentrated on her sex life, image and relationships, the author wanted to explore Madonna's music and live shows with a depth and detail that had never been done before. After completing writing the book, the author thought of what kind of name better suited the biography. One day she was batting around with different names for the book, with her musician husband, Malcolm Boyle. Since in the book O'Brien wanted to explore the idea of Madonna's impact as an icon, Boyle came up with the name, Madonna: Like an Icon, which she liked since it was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the singer's works Like a Prayer (1989) and Like a Virgin (1984).

Release and reception

O'Brien was criticized for emphasizing more on Madonna's albums and less on her personal life, in Madonna: Like an Icon.

Madonna: Like an Icon was released on August 27, 2007, in the United Kingdom by Bantam Press. The book cover was designed by Holly MacDonald, with an image of Madonna from 2002, during the premiere of her film, Swept Away. It was released a month later in the United States, by Harper Collins and featured a different cover image of Madonna, taken from the performance of "Live to Tell" on her 2006 Confessions Tour". The biography faced mixed reviews from critics. Sarah Churchwell from The Guardian criticized O'Brien's extended commentary about Madonna's recording process. She believed that more emphasis should have been given on Madonna's personal life as well. Pointing out examples like Madonna's relationship with actor Warren Beatty, which faced considerable media coverage but was only lightly touched in the book, Churchwell wondered about the claim of the book in its press release: "This is the closest you will ever come to Madonna's autobiography". The reviewer concluded by saying, "Since her voice is nowhere in evidence, this book, however capable and intelligent its writer, is probably about the farthest you will ever get from Madonna's autobiography."

Ken Barnes from USA Today noted a major flaw in the writing of the book, repetition of generally known events surrounding Madonna's life. He complimented O'Brien's writing style, especially the portions chronicling the death of Madonna's mother and how it affected the singer, as well as dissecting the recording process of the albums and the development of her concert tours. However, he concluded by saying that overall the biography seemed "too familiar. Maybe that's because, at least since she hit the mass-culture spotlight in 1983 with 'Holiday' and hijacked it wholesale the next year with 'Like a Virgin' and 'Material Girl', Madonna, now 49, has lived her life in public like few other artists. The records, tours and videos have been thoroughly documented, as have the liaisons and the controversies (from the Sex book all the way up to the Malawi orphan adoption)." Lyn Barber from The Daily Telegraph gave a negative review of the book, calling it far inferior than author J. Randy Taraborrelli's Madonna: An Intimate Biography, released in 2002. Like Churchwell, Barber did not understand why over-emphasis was given on the singer's albums, leaving out details about her personal life. The reviewer listed one positive aspect of the book, the info on Madonna's childhood and a detailed insight into her family. She concluded by saying, "[Madonna] remains one of the most fascinating women of our time but not, alas, in this pedestrian account."

Publication history

Region	Release date	Format
United Kingdom	August 27, 2007	Hardcover
	September 1, 2007	Paperback
United States	October 18, 2007	Hardcover
	November 6, 2007	Paperback

Further reading

• Bego, Mark (2000). Madonna: Blonde Ambition. Cooper Square Press. ISBN 0815410514.
• Cross, Mary (2007). Madonna: A Biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0313338116.
• Morton, Andrew (2002). Madonna. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0312983107.

External links

• "'She'd do anything to be a star'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
• "Excerpt from 'Madonna: Like an Icon'". USA Today. Gannett Company. 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
• "Author Podcast: Lucy O'Brien". Bookbuffet.com. 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
• "Madonna: For the first time, her friends and lovers speak out". The Independent. London: Independent News and Media. 2007-09-02. Retrieved 2012-01-13.