There's always an air of other-worldy, intellectual pretentiousness when it comes to David Bowie's public persona.
As if being photographed reclining with your saxophone on the Island of Mustique isn't enough, the newest exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in which curators have selected 300 books from Bowie's 70,000 strong personal archive, is part of an exhibition titled (wait for it) — David Bowie... Is.
Curator Geoffrey Marsh has chosen to reveal 100 from the list to show what a “voracious reader” Bowie is, claiming he reads “a book a day.” Included are authors such as Don De Lillo, Christopher Hitchens and Tom Stoppard, as well as literary classics like George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.
Apart from giving us a tantalising glimpse into the psyche of the man behind the music, the collection reveals what I guess we knew all along. David Bowie might just be the other-worldy intellectual he would have us believe. A quick scan of the list reveals an intimidating collection of interests spanning politics, history, music, art, comedy, architecture, sociology, poetry and fiction.
All the books are impressive and contain weighty subject matter, and his collection is worthy of envy from literature lovers the world over.
The full list can be viewed here.
