The Beautiful Ones

The Beautiful Ones is an essential deep read for Prince fans (for the disinterested, a quick look at the pictures will do), a monologue from a unique artist who was always determined to shock and pleasure the world. Here, finally, Prince Rogers Nelson surrenders his vaunted privacy and gives away some secrets. Dan Piepinbring (who should be given a bigger credit here) began editing the manuscript only a few months before Prince’s tragic, premature death, and in the aftermath was given free rein in Paisley Park to search out additional material to fulfill the publishing contract. He also adds a critical introduction explaining how their collaboration came about, and muses on how Prince’s compulsion to create new art had faded as he show more revisited his earlier works, purifying and stripping them bare, generating the posthumous album and his final solo tour, Piano & A Microphone.

This is an amusing and revealing story, brimming with childhood memories, photos, drawings, handwritten song lyrics to "1999" and "Little Red Corvette", scrapbooks from the early '70s, and his initial 1982 outline for what would become the film Purple Rain. If Prince had lived, this might have been the first of many volumes - or maybe he would have gotten bored and left only this as his singular non-musical legacy (think Dylan and his Chronicles Volume One). If he had been having fun pulling aside the curtain on his remarkable career, we might have learned how he learned how to play so many instruments so magnificently; how Minneapolis kept him anchored and sane; how he felt about collaborations with Misty Copeland, Morris Day, Sheila E, Chaka Khan, his bands – and so much more. show less

I am by no means a Prince "fan". I do adore the one album I have on disc, which is the one with the symbol. And I've always thought him to be an interesting person. And phenomenally creative and talented. His appearance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a MUST see.

I saw the book used and cheap and picked it up. It's written by a fanboy shortly after Prince's death in 2016. The two of them were supposed to collaborate on his memoir. Instead, Piepenbring put together all the material he collected and published this. Most of it is still in Prince's voice.

Disappointed it only covered the early part of his career. Nothing about the New Power Generation, the symbol, the album with the symbol, etc. Maybe that would have been covered had show more Prince lived to continue the collaboration. show less

I first gave this three stars after listening to the audiobook which was an entirely fine production. I've read reviews that say the editor takes up too much space in the first third of the book, and I agree. After getting the hard copy from my library, I'm adding another extra star! The archival goods and eccentricities of Prince's personal writings add a more personal and tangible dimension to this semi-autobiography. The digitization of some of the photos and ephemera are so crisp it felt like I could pick them up off the page. I'd highly recommend the print experience in addition to or instead of the audio experience.

The intro by Piepenbring had a confusing format that made it hard to follow along. It was well-written but the way it jumped into larger font size was just weird and disrupted the flow a couple times. Otherwise, it provided insight to what it was like working with Prince.

I'm on the fence about whether or not those close to Prince should have contributed to the book or if it should have included more interviews rather than the snippets that caption the photographs. The intention was for it to be Prince's own words. I was delighted to see his own writing in the photographs and thought that was a wonderful addition.

Reading in interviews with Piepenbring, the point of the book was to feel Prince's absence. Which, yes, while reading it I show more thought how good the book could have been if Prince was able to see it through completion. That's not an easy shadow to live in, even for a book. show less

Totally worth it, though there isn't much here.

Prince left us with only a few chapters of what was to become his memoir.

He had big plans for his book which aren't realised here, but I'm glad we get to see what he had written, and I'm glad I decided to get the hardback dead-tree edition as I believe it is the best way to present the large number of photos, of Prince and many of his handwritten prose, which (along with quotes from various interviews) make up the bulk of this work.

Absolutely worth reading for fans, just know that what is here is sadly incomplete.

The Beautiful Ones
by Prince, Dan Piepenbring
2019
Spiegel & Grau
4.0 / 5.0

This is the memoir Prince was working on, at the time of his death. Never before seen photos, pages from Prince's personal scrapbook and sheets of his lyrics, handwritten. Printed on thick, glossy stock, this is a lush and gorgeous tribute. The first 50 pages are Dan Piepenbring explaining how he was chosen by Prince to edit his memoir, and his short time collaborating with Prince, before his untimely death.

The Beautiful Ones refer to eyes, like his mothers, who Prince seems to look up to, and love deeply. With many insightful passages and quotes from Prince, this is a memoir that will make you feel, somehow, closer to the mystery known as Prince.

I did enjoy show more this but, maybe because it was never really finished by Prince, it has a disjointed and rushed feel. Essential for fans, and a great read for the rest! show less

I grabbed the audio for this but ended up checking the book out because I really wanted to see all the photos in it. I was never a huge Prince fan but I enjoyed his music and the first part of the book gives you a bit of an outsider looking in on the life of Prince before he died. He was working with Dan Piepenbring to write his autobiography and there are some parts of this that talk about his early years. There is a section that covers the development of Purple Rain. I think it would have been better if the publisher did the book in a larger format to take advantage of the larger format for all the reproductions of the handwritten pages reproduced in here. The bits at the end of excerpts of past interviews with photos tries to give a show more bit more of his insights about his lift that wasn’t written down. show less