Dancing with Demons: The Authorised Biography of Dusty Springfield Book

As a child, in a desperate effort to get the attention of her parents, Mary O'Brien would place her hands on the boiler until they burned. As an adult, Mary would have the attention of the whole world. But her wigs and heavy eyeliner masked childhood insecurities that she had never been able to shake. Despite being adored by millions, a part of Dusty Springfield would forever feel loathed and unloved. While chronicling the singer's roller-coaster career, Dancing With Demons--The Authorised Biography of Dusty Springfield, reveals a vulnerable, temperamental, addictive personality whose acts of self-mutilation led to habitual hospitalisation. Based on the "intimate and personal memories" revealed by those "who knew her best", Penny Valentine and Vicky Wickham endeavour to dissect the damage that created the character that became an icon. As you'd expect from a biography written by two of her closest friends, the book paints a sympathetic picture of the high life and low times of the woman who was once the bestselling female artist in the world. But while the book benefits from the close relationship the authors shared with their subject, it also suffers from their inability to be able to view their friend from an objective perspective. Nevertheless, Dusty devotees will devour the detailed and personal account of the all too often sad existence of the white queen of (tortured) soul. --Christopher KellyRead More