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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com Review
Bob Marley, reggae superstar and pop culture icon, left an indelible mark on modern music. Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley delves deep into the life of the lionized leader of a musical, spiritual, and political explosion that still reverberates more than a decade after his death. Almost nothing pertaining to the life of Bob Marley is left out; the origins of Rastafarianism (the Ethiopian religion that was the keystone of his life), the roots of the reggae sound, the Jamaican political and social debacle that informed his lyrics--this is a comprehensive account of the life of the artist and the times that produced him.

Catch a Fire is assiduously researched; the details writer Timothy White presents of the King of Reggae's life are cinematic in scope and, at times, cumbersome. White includes much of his primary source material, ranging from full interviews with band members to unearthed CIA documents, and devotes a whole section to describing his exhaustive research process. The final product is rich with elements of spiritual tome, rock biography, and history text; it is a hagiographic epic--the story of a man and his legend. --Brendan J. LaSalle

Product Description

The definitive biography of Bob Marley, newly revised and expanded, with a comprehensive discography and bibliography. Over the past fifteen years Catch a Fire has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and has indisputedly established itself as the best book ever written about Bob Marley.

For this new revision, Timothy White presents new material on the powerful ongoing influence of reggae in Jamaican society. He reveals previously restricted documents about the C.I.A.'s monitoring of Marley's activities and recounts the ongoing legal battles around Marley's estate and legacy. There's up-to-date information about the music being made by the next generation of Marleys and a new comprehensive discography and bibliography.

Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

It kept me interested November 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Catch a Fire is as much about Jamaican politics, Jamaican music history, Rastafarianism, and Jamaican folk customs and belief in the supernatural as it is about Bob Marley. What you get about Marley covers his childhood at least as much as the time when he was a famous musician. At least a third of this covers the post death Marley situation with way too much for my interest about the legal wranglings over his estate after he died. You never really get inside of his head or get a true feel for the man. Bob Marley remains a mysterious figure. One fault the book has is White comes at it too much from a fan or groupie perspective not being as objective as he should have by buying into the mythology around Marley more than he should have. For example he often speaks of horrible things happening to people who wronged Bob Marley in one way or another, more than slightly hinting at some sort of supernatural force avenging for him, or Marley himself having the ability to lay curses upon people. You can't really deny that Marley had a supernatural vibe going on, but in this case I think White should have been more objective. You also get wild accounts of instances of Bob Marley, Rita Marley and Peter Tosh being assaulted by a supernatural entity.

If you get this book for an analysis of Marleys music you will be disappointed. I mainly was interested in reading it because I wanted to learn more about the political side of Bob Marley and the allegations by some that his cancer was a result of being dosed by the CIA. There is a fair amount of the political stuff, more or less nothing on the cancer conspiracy theory but overall the book kept me interested.

5 out of 5 stars

catch a fire the life of bob marley November 9, 2008
I bought the book for my son who is a big fan of Bob Marley and he told me I selected an exllencent book. The book contained good imformation about Bob Marley's life. He was very pleased with my choice of books for him. Thanks Pamela Olsen

5 out of 5 stars

Bob Marley April 11, 2008
Highly recommend this book, the author will make you feel like you right next to Bob, and also give you an overview as if you're 'following' along, looking over or riding, right on Bob's shoulders. It has definetly made me understand Bob and humanity better... highly recommend this book

5 out of 5 stars

Came quickly and was in brand new condition. February 8, 2008
The book came lightening fast and was in brand new condition. I would recommend this seller and would definitely purchase from them again.

2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing - what about the music? August 31, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I was very disappointed with this book. After reading it, I have a pretty good idea of what Marley's childhood was like, a hazy picture of his adult life but no understanding at all of how a poor man from a third-world country was able to popularize a genre of music that was almost universally disdained, or considered a novelty, in the world outside of Jamaica in 1973.

I would have expected more discussion of his music; specifically how he and Chris Blackwell adjusted the arrangement of Marley's reggae songs to appeal to a broader audience, as well as how Marley's music evolved over time. I know from watching VH1's "Classic Albums", that process was critical to Marley's success but I don't even get an inkling of that in this book.

Instead the book has way too much on Marley's childhood (140 pages into it, we have only followed Marley up to the age of 14!). This book also has too many vague, cryptic references to conspiracy theories about the CIA, Ronald Reagan, the Jamaican government, etc.

On the bright side, the book does a good job of describing the superstititious world of poor Jamaica, full of demons and ghosts, etc., which helps explain the popularity of Rastafarianism.

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