When I saw the cover of Starman: The Cosmic Voyage of David Bowie by Matthew Cordell, I assumed two things. The first was it was a graphic novel and the second was that it would be more biographical than it was. Yes, it hit on some facts, but it did so in the most poetic manner. Not that it is prose poetry, or even one long sentence poem, but it has that whimsy of poetry.
Experience each of the reinventions of Bowie on these realistically abstract pages. It is hard to describe them, as everything is emotional and you feel things more than physically experience them. It is the “spirit of the man” and the adventure of reinventing himself. It does not shy away from truths, but does not dwell on anything or overshares. It works for most ages, but know your reader. In many ways, this is not a book for kids. It is a book for the adult fan of Bowie, or someone who enjoys more artistic picture books.
After reading, and sitting on writing the review, it hit me that this book reminds me a little of Piece by Piece by Erin Frankel and their Mary Oliver title as well. But oddly enough, it did not remind me of his story, Evergreen. This leads me to believe that if you are not necessarily liking one book of his, you can try other titles and find unique experiences each time. I think these are the only two books I have read by Cordell, but I plan on looking into more of them.
