"Stimulating.... Incisive, intelligent.... Engaging, well written and consistently on target." –
The New York Times "Jefferson writes...with elegance and attitude....One closes the book hungry to hear her take on other talented but troubled celebrities." –
The Washington Post "Sparkling....Eloquent and provocative.... Watching Margo Jefferson's mind at work is as pleasurable and thrilling as seeing Michael Jackson dance." –
O, The Oprah Magazine "Hers is a dazzling act of sustained vivacity and wisdom. Margo Jefferson brilliantly illuminates both Michael Jackson's psyche and his art, giving us in the process a fascinating broader picture of American pop culture. Shockingly, Jackson turns out to be as representative as he is singular." –Ann Douglas, author of
Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s and
The Feminization of American Culture "Margo Jefferson, an unfailingly shrewd and eloquent cultural critic, finds in Michael Jackson a paradigm for probing the ambitions, desperations, triumphs, and sacrifices of an artist who stakes everything on a crown. Beyond palace intrigue, she explicates the meaning of show business masks, of racial and social determinants, of spectacle on stage and in the courtroom. She is compelling." –Gary Giddins, author of
Weather Bird and
Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams
