Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed. Paul Trynka

In many respects, this isn't simply a history of a rock and roll star, but far more... the tale of perhaps one of the most interesting characters to have ever walked onto a stage. Certainly, the majority of purchasers will be familiar with the career of Iggy Pop and/or The Stooges and they will be left almost fully satisfied. There is more information on their careers here than in any other book. That said, I would recommend this book to anyone, even those not familiar with Mr. Osterberg's work. This is one of the rare books that is hard to put down. You just keep going to see what happens next. As would be expected with such a "stranger than fiction" personality, his life and times are the stuff of excellent reading. Additionally, the book is expertly researched and virtually no stone is left unturned. I have one minor quibble however, and that is the brief documentation of last 10 years (up to the point in time the book was written). While large portions of the book are devoted to The Stooges and collaborations with David Bowie, the late 1990s and early 2000s are only briefly covered. Indeed, the reunion of The Stooges is only given a few pages. If ever there were a "full-circle" moment to a career, this is it and was deserving of more depth than was given here. Overall, the book remains the best ever written on the subject of The Stooges and Iggy Pop's solo career and can be heartily recommended to both fans and non-fans alike.

An outstanding book! Paul Trynka had access to all of Jim/Iggy's school mates as well as band members, friends, lovers, fellow musicians, and even his psychiatrist for source material. Mr. Trynka's own love for Iggy and his music really shines in this fascinating account of Jim's life. Jim has lived life on his own terms, without a doubt, and Mr. Trynka has given us a look inside the man himself as well as insight into the Stooges and their music. This is not gushing groupie-style hyperbole or savage diatribe - rather, it is a very balanced and honest account of Jim's life by those who were there with him. Mr. Trynka has captured the feel of 1960s Ann Arbor, and I'm sure everyone can relate to being the "outsider" who tries to fit in with the high school crowd, as Jim did. I agree with another reviewer about the footnotes - they are much more than that, because they flesh out various incidents mentioned in the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Jim, his musical styles, anyone who enjoys reading biographies, and especially anyone who loves excellent writing!

This is THE book about Iggy, The Stooges, the people in an out of Jim's life, his family- all of it is right here. I suggest this book to anyone and everyone who LOVES this guy as much as I do. There will never be another performer like Iggy Pop. This is HIS story and it is a fine piece of work. Well done Mr. Trynka. Well done!

Rob Trynka has done a great job gathering the details of Iggy's life, including a few "lost" eras when Iggy dropped out of the public eye. The author presents a very readable account that rings true in a way that many rock biographies don't. Even though he interviewed Iggy extensively, he also interviewed seemingly every living musician who's worked with Iggy (with the notable exception of David Bowie, who would not participate). He also interviewed many of Iggy's childhood friends and acquaintances and other musicians from the late-60s Michigan scene. And in recounting a lot of Iggy's self-mythologizing, and a lot of the classic Stooges tales, Trynka will often conclude that the recollections of another witness are more plausible than Iggy's version. That's something you usually won't get in a rock biography whose writer has the access that Trynka had. There are behind-the-scenes recollections from the participants of just about all of Iggy's albums, Stooges and solo. And the author even makes a strong case for the origin of the term "punk" in describing music--citing Lenny Kaye's original review of the first Stooges album, which he called the music of punks cruising for burgers. I'd always wondered where the first reference to "punk rock" appeared. Beyond the 320-page biography, there's an appendix that lists Iggy's albums in chronological order, with original release and label information and info on the musicians. And as hard as it is to get excited about footnotes, they really stand out in this book. Each chapter's notes are like an add-on chapter, where the author provides supporting quotes, and often gives a longer version of a short quote from the narrative. Maybe best of all are the two sections of photos. You can flip through the photos and captions and get a good preview of the full narrative, with great photos from the Stooge and solo eras. But if you read in public (as I did, on the subway) you might want to watch out for the full-nude shot.

Hands down the best Iggy Pop biography written thus far. I may even have to say it's better than his personally penned tome "I Need More". Paul Trynka did the research and delivered the goods! I'm impressed and can't put the darn thing down. It is one of those books you keep rereading. Yep, I need more, lol.