Madonna In bed with the goddess

The book begins with the birth of Madonna, a description of her early years in Michigan, the move to New York in 1977 for a career in modern dance , two groups ( Breakfast Club and Emmy), songwriting and the 1983 release of her debut album Madonna . It tells about her ascent to the heights of fame, innovative and controversial video clips, albums, the first concert tour, film roles, marriage and divorce from Sean Penn . The book analyzes her free treatment of religious symbols, as well as works on an erotic topic: Erotica , “ Sex ”, and “ Body as evidence ”. The book describes the subsequent mitigation of her behavior and provocations, which appeared on her subsequent albums, and her receipt of film awards for her role in the musical about Eva Peron . It also tells about the birth of the daughter of Lourdes, son of Rocco, and mentions the second marriage - with Guy Ritchie .

American journalist and John Randall Taraborrelli first met Madonna at a 1983 press conference. She talked about her youthful hardships preceding the release of her debut album, as well as her belief that someday she would achieve great success as "the greatest star of the century." Taraborrelli thought then that she " impudent, impudent, annoying, condescending to her mediocre beauty, which fully corresponds to her voice ” ^[1] .

Over time, Taraborrelli was forced to admit his wrong. In 1990, he already wanted to write her biography, but postponed the plan as premature. He noted that “most people need time for evolution and personal growth before their stories mature and can be captured on paper. Madonna was in an ambitious and independent phase, where nothing meant more to her than herself and her career. ” He undertook to write in 1994, but again postponed the plan in the hope that someday the singer would engage more in her personal life, rather than her career. Personal growth occurred in her life with the birth of her daughter Lourdes in 1996. Then Taraborrelli considered that the right time had come to start writing a biography ^[2] .

Taraborrelli decided to focus on the personal life of the singer - her "real appearance". Many books about the superstar were based on materials already published, but Taraborrelli spent ten years researching to include interviews with people who did not talk about the Madonna publicly, as well as his own. Taraborrelli and his team of private investigators interviewed her close friends, business partners, and family members, including Father Silvio Ciccone. During the preparation of the book, Taraborrelli formulated the greatest misconception about the Madonna - that she is supposedly cold and unemotional in her personal life. According to him, Madonna was emotionally vulnerable: for example, in her 1990 relationship with actor and director Warren Beatty . Their relationship was perceived by the public as nothing more than a PR move for the promotion of the movie “ Dick Tracy, ” while the Madonna was perceived as taking advantage of the opportunity for career purposes. However, Taraborrelli found out that Madonna really had strong feelings for Beatty. Since the actor was not so interested in her emotionally, their relationship ended with him “breaking her heart”. Taraborrelli reasoned: “What I think will surprise people in this story is how many times the Madonna was left alone and rejected. She built a career on the image of invincibility. But at least in my personal life, and again I make this amendment, since this does not necessarily apply to her career, she is one of the most fragile characters that I had to write about ... This book is really about putting her life in the right historical context and once again answer the question “Why” ” ^[5] .

The book received polar reviews from critics. Caroline Foulkes wrote in : “The key to this biography is how deeply Taraborreli had to dig to get information about a woman known for her desire to control. He tells stories from his personal life as if it were a simple bagatelle , next to which the television news program looks like a children's fairy tale. If he included in the list of thanks “thanks to the maid who let me into Madonna’s bedroom so that I could dig in her drawer with underwear,” that would not surprise ”. She also felt that “despite the sensation, the author’s style failed Taraborrelli. Too often, he drops to what one would expect from novels sold at the airport with a character more like Lace Shirley Conran than a real woman. ” ^[6] Peter Sobczynski, in his review for the , considered that "the problem with writing an unauthorized biography in the style of an" all-tell-all "is such that in a modern world full of information, by the time anyone then he will write a book, all the most rich stories are already known to everyone. To compensate for this, the author of the biography “I will tell you everything” must either fill out the pages with a thoughtful analysis or, frankly, find dirt fresher and better. Unfortunately, celebrity biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his last concoction of Madonna: An Intimate Biography, did neither. ” ^[7]

William Leith of the London Evening Standard was impressed with his biography. He noted that “the essence of the book about Madonna is not in sensation, but in how human it is presented. Taraborrelli perfectly copes with the description of the most famous courtesan in the world - if we take her sad celebrity in this regard ” ^[8] . John Smyntek of calculated that “Taraborrelli retold all the known facts about Madonna and even more so. In the end, over these 10 years, the Great Woman gave birth to two children, got married and kept her image of a splinter in a soft place. He did well by covering these unknown facts ” ^[9] . Ward Triplet of said that although the book is “creepy, every day more and more insurmountable narrative of Madonna and how she became what she became; however, sometimes Taraborrelli reveals to a greater extent his process of writing a book than the subject itself ” ^[10] . Ann O'Neil of the Los Angeles Times praised the book for being "different" from "the next dirt that is written about Madonna every day." ^[11]

Sylvia Sharma of the Daily Mirror felt that “digging Taraborrelli in Madge’s personal life can be shameful. This is the biography of the Madonna that everyone was waiting for - and here she is. Not that persistent woman that we observed, but a woman who is no different from the rest ” ^[12] . Mike Thomas of the wrote: “Possessing private information from Madonna’s life, Taraborrelli gives us the first in-depth look at the Material Girl in more than a decade. The ingredients from the reviews of friends, former friends, Taraborrelli and Madonna were hand-picked and for your pleasure. Or displeasure. Madonna, like all pop icons, is a dish to taste ” ^[13] .

• " Madonna. The Queen of Pop's Genuine Biography ”- music critic Lucy O'Brien book

• Taraborrelli R.J. Madonna. In bed with the goddess = Madonna: An Intimate Biography. - Moscow: Eksmo , 2004 .-- 410 p. - 4000 copies. - ISBN 5-699-04814-6 .
• Taraborrelli, Randy J. Madonna: An Intimate Biography. - Simon and Schuster , 2002. - ISBN 0-7432-2880-4 .

• JRandyTaraborrelli.com - Official Site