Moonwalk: A Memoir

I have been and Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 fan since a child. I saw the Jackson 5 in concert twice. The group was a very big deal when I was younger and their concerts were always good. Michael stands out because not just a good singer and dancer, but magical. He brings life to songs, and he doesn't need much of an effort. After I retired , I decided to pick back on my reading. I saw this book but had never read it. As a huge fan, I bought it. Michael had a heart of gold. The book in his words told about what h\made him happy, performing, and how he saw people. He loved to be around people and make them happy. It was so amazing to read his thoughts and dreams, He was very extremely talented and a musical genius. He talks about the friends he made along the way. Most of the biggest stars old and young in Hollywood admired him and became long time friends. Yet, he never turned a fan away from a picture with him. You can tell by the book he really loved his brothers and how much it hurt him when Jermaine decided to not follow the others when they left Motown. Michael , talked about his thoughts and feelings when they married. Leaving him the single brother. He leaves you with a genuine feeling of how he saw life. How much he really did want to heal the world. I wish he had written another book when he got older. I believe he would have eventually because so much happened as he grew older. Marriage, his own children, and him getting ready to tour again. This book is heart warming for any age to read. Especially if you're a music fan to read about a very talented beautiful in and out man who lived trying his best to please everyone and heal the world

I think it is fascinating to read about Michael during this time of his life. You get to hear what his childhood was like, but not the vast details we would learn later. Still it shows Michael was a person just like the rest of us, with thoughts, feelings and struggles. I think the thing most forgotten about Michael is that he was a person. Finally, after his passing, his daughter brought that to light when she said he was the best and cried. This was someone's dad.The book kinda feels like Michael is sitting there with you at the time of the writing, telling you his life story. It's sad he didn't do a follow-up to this book, but I can understand his mistrust with the media. Every word or action of his seemed to always be twisted because someone wants to make money ruining someone else's life.The pictures are awesome. I was given my original copy of this over ten years ago by a very close friend. It's been one of my prized possessions ever since. The condition is pretty great too. I had to buy this new version just to see the little difference and so I can put aside my old copy as a keepsake. Amazingly, after a bunch of times reading it this book maintained the quality very well. Probably because Michael always demanded quality for his fans. There are lots of concert pics and even a few private pics (thinking about a pic of Michael in front of water back in his Thriller days. He looks as normal (meaning not in concert or working) as I ever have seen him look in this pic). I especially like the pic of him embracing Diana Ross which looks like it was in the year or two before Bad (his skin was starting to lighten from Vitaligo in this pic).I really wish we could have read a follow-up to this book. I really would have liked to know more from like his Dangerous days, his marriage to Lisa Marie, how his relationships with his brothers and sisters was over the years etc.Some critics will think this is a light-weight book, but Michael does let us see a glimpse of the bad in his life. He even talked about his relationship with his dad. Michael shows even a hint of ego. I'm recalling this line by memory so don't be upset if I miss a word "I could have sued Pepsi for the accident, but I was nice about it. REAL nice." lol Looking back Pepsi should have had to pay for his scalp surgeries in the years to come. From what I hear he was never the same after the fire burned his head.Michael also had confidence problems at times due to the acne he suffered in the 70's and no doubt from the Vitaligo and Lupus that he must have known about at the time of the writing of the book. I don't find fault in his not sharing this with the world until the Opera interview. Having a disease like Vitaligo alone must be hard to deal with (I have SLE so I completely understand the Lupus part). For such a public figure to deal with something that messes up your looks must have been devastating for MJ.I'm very glad he wrote this book. After he died I got it out and read it again for like the 20th time, literally. Some lines were hauntingm especially when he talked about collapsing from a lung problem at Jermaine's house on the beach. It made me wonder if he had lung issues after that. I think I had the same thing, a pulminary embolism (blood clot in the lung which can almost kill you, I speak from exprience, think I screwed up the spelling there).I think I sensed that MJ was kinda disappointed with the Bad album. He mentioned how some of the songs were just "jams" for that time. He seemed to rush through that at the end unlike how he describes Thriller and some Jacksons albums.This book will leave you wanting more, but in a good way. Wish there was more, a squel, a diary, a book he might have saved for after his passing. I'm very satisfied with my original and the quality of the book alone lasts through the years with no yellowing of the pages or anything. The pictures hold up just as well. Check out the book cover underneath the dust jacket to see Michael's "autograph" reproduced in gold ink. The book has two sets of pics where you can unfold to show more pics on each side of the pages. Plus there are black and white pics throughout the book to go along with those nice colored pics that stand out. If you are an MJ fan this is a must-buy. I think it would be a great buy for anyone who ever was a Michael Jackson fan. You will get to know the real him a bit more and maybe understand how his life was. Rest In Peace my brother!P.S - I am a little careful with my book, but the quality is so good that even the minor "incidents" doesn't really ruin the book. If you plan on preserving the book, I have to say this is one of the best quality books and I am a huge book-reader and have ton of hardcovers, but this one held up better than any other book I have. One question - Does anyone know what an original 1998 copy of this is going for? I'm not looking to sell it, just wanted to know out of curiosity.

first of all, when you open up the book, there is a drawing personally done by mj and when you flip another page there is his signature!in the intro by berry gordy, he says, "michael jackson was not an artist who comes along once in a decade, a generation, or a lifetime. he was an artist who comes along only once, period."chapter 1 is "just kids with a dream" - talks about how his mom had polio, how she so much encouraged all her children's interests all she could, and how she instilled a love of God in mj. he talks about how his dad would always bring home donuts after working in the steel mill and how he was always a good protector. he talks about some of the things he feels in relationship with his dad, too, like not being real close to him because he was emotionally not there unless he was talking business. he talks about how his brother marlon used to play the bongo drums and then they got passed down to him and then to his other brother randy. i learned how hard they really worked hard as little kids in this family business and went on lots of trips to perform.chapter 2 is "the promised land" - talks about his real respect for berry gordy, how he felt when he shook smokey robinson's hand for the 1st time (that fans really remember that 1st impression even if the artist doesn't), his love for diana ross, his real feeling of closenss with his brothers and how he became a cartoon to watch on sat mornings and how special that made him feel.chapter 3 is "dancing machine" - talks about his trip to africa and how when they got off the plane at dawn there were all these africans in a line dancing for them to welcome them to the country and how he loved it, how they left motown, doing the wiz and how that felt to him and how he then met quincy jones to do his "off the wall."chapter 4 is "me and q" - talks about some of his girl relationships, how he really respects quincy jones and loved working with him, how success brings lonliness, how he got real emotional one time after singing "she's out of my life" and sobbed in the studio, how he walked the neighborhood looking for a friend, and how because "off the wall" only got one nomination for the best r&b vocal performance, it spurred him on to his next thing, which was "thriller."chapter 5 is "the moonwalk" - talks about how he really believed in wishes and he used to make a wish every time before he dove into the swimming pool and before the sun set all the way behind the sky, how very hard the making of the thriller album was and how excited everyone was when it was such a huge success, explains the how and why behind the songs on the album, how he felt before he did his big performance of "billie jean", and how he got talked into taking his sunglasses off when "thriller" won the award for best album.chapter 6 is "all you need is love" - talks about the fire when he was doing the commercial for pepsi, the vicotry tour, the making of "bad", how it felt so awesome when everyone in the crowd would say and do the same thing as he would say and do on stage, his different relationships with his sisters, how someone named george lucas told him that his daughter's 1st words were "michael jackson" and how good that made him feel,what a perfectionist he was and how he was always trying to out-do himself, how he loved classical music, toys and gadgets, mexican food and was a vegetatian.it also has tons of really nice photographs all through the book!!i really learned a lot by reading this book and mj shares a lot of his personal feelings about things that happened in his life. i felt like he could've been right in front of me telling me his story - that's how great this book is! i say "a must have book for all fans!!"