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Simon Cowell: The Unauthorized Biography |  | Author: Chas Newkey-Burden
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £18.99
Buy New: £7.54
as of 25/11/2009 04:13 GMT details
You Save: £11.45 (60%)
New (20) Used (6) from £7.20
Seller: fab1964
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 1262
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 1843173905
Dewey Decimal Number: 790
EAN: 9781843173908
ASIN: 1843173905
Publication Date: September 3, 2009
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 I liked this 100% August 31, 2009
Caroline_LS (UK)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
What I loved about this book is that Chas Newkey-Burden explores and weaves together two strands: the personal and the professional Simon Cowell. My view of Simon has always been that he's clever, that he performs a role, but that behind any outward nastiness he is a gentleman, a strong and driven individual. In reading this book, my views on Simon have been strengthened and reading the words, `I've never believed this is going to last forever' have made me like Mr Cowell even more.
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br /Within `Simon Cowell: The Unauthorized Biography', there is the exploring of Simon's childhood and his forming as a strong minded individual. Chas Newkey-Burden looks at Simon's life growing up near Elstree Studios, describing Simon's first ever business, his first ever kiss, his being expelled from school and how he became a runner for Stanley Kubbrick (after Kubbrick bought the Cowell family home). This book shows Simon's strong family roots, his love of the finer things, his intimate relationships and his overcoming of personal trauma.
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br /The other strand looks at Simon Cowell's professional growth. There is no doubt that Mr Cowell has experienced a spectacular rise into stardom. This biography tracks it all, from Pop Stars to X Factor and not forgetting just how Simon Cowell managed to crack America.
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br /I am left with a renewed admiration for Simon Cowell. Chas Newkey-Burden joins Simon's words with interviews given by the people who know Mr Cowell best. I found it compelling and devoured the book within hours.
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br /A must-read for anyone interested in the man behind the persona.
You're through to the final August 26, 2009
Kelkoozee (London, England)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have a love hate relationsip with Simon Cowell (loved Pop Idol, hate X Factor) so as a biography connoisseur I picked the book up with an open mind. Well the story is told with warmth and with the childhood pranks, teenage naughtyness and his rise to fame it's like getting to know him properly and he does come across as likeable. The author has a good turn of phrase which made the bits about X Factor tolerable. The early pics were sweet and could have been printed slightly more high quality maybe. 5 stars overall though.
A must read for fans September 23, 2009
M. N. Ezra (London, U.K.)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"In your heart, you know he's right," was the campaign slogan of an American presidential candidate in the 1960s. It could also be the mantra of Simon Cowell's legion of fans, as they sit at home watching him deliver another of his candid verdicts to a contestant on one of his many talent shows. How many of us have tuned in to American Idol, The X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent out of morbid fascination for Cowell's stinging remarks? These last few years have seen Simon propelled to extraordinary fame - among huge swathes of the public he is identifiable by his first name alone. As Newkey-Burden writes in this biography, a 2008 children's poll named Cowell "the most famous person in the world."
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br /Chas Newkey-Burden is himself developing quite a following for his celebrity biographies. The Simon Cowell bio follows those of Paris Hilton and Amy Winehouse. His style and prose make his writing highly readable. The Cowell biography is a rip-roaring read and will be loved by Simon's fans. It paints a vivid picture of Cowell's early life, where he struggled to keep a job, to his first taste of success in the music industry in the 1980s, through his subsequent financial problems that forced him to move back in with his parents in his early thirties, and on to his global success with Pop Idol and beyond.
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br /For long-standing Cowell fans, the book throws up many names from the past. Rick Waller, who pulled out of the first series of Pop Idol; the hotly contested final between Will Young and Gareth Gates in 2002; Michelle McManus winning the second series and various other contestants from the television show that gripped the nation. It's all in there. They, and many more, are discussed by Newkey-Burden along with the more recent successes with the X Factor, American Idol and Britain's Got Talent. The biography is bang up to date. For those addicted to watching You Tube videos clips of Susan Boyle from this year's Britain's Got Talent, Newkey-Burden has not left information out of his book about this singer who captured the world's imagination whilst defying the stereotype of how a star performer should look.
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br /But why should someone read this book? More to the point, why did I want to read this book? The answer for me was simple. It is for what Newkey-Burden refers to as the Cowellisms and for what I will refer to as the Simonisms. There are more than enough for the fans including my personal favourite of the put-downs: "When you sing, you remind me of a cod on a fisherman's slab." What I also found out from reading the book is the answer to the question as to whether or not Simon really is Mr. Nasty. If you read this book, which I highly recommend to Simon fans, you will also find the answer.
Looks interesting November 3, 2009
L. Stephens (Somerset, England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a xmas present for Brother in Law, so havent read it myself. Am a fan so hoping to get this book too! Looks pretty intresting though. Lots of photos.
 Absolute rubbish November 18, 2009
Book Lover (London UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I don't know what book the other reviewers read but I what I read was badly written regurgitated rubbish. Everything this guy writes is available in Simon's autobiography (a much better read) or public domain. There was nothing new and no insights. I could perhaps have forgiven this but the writing was sooo poor. Don't waste your money.
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