BookPleasures.com - http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher
The Michael Jackson Tapes Reviewed By Cindy Bauer Of Bookpleasures.com
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitepublisher/articles/1803/1/The-Michael-Jackson-Tapes-Reviewed-By-Cindy-Bauer-Of-Bookpleasurescom/Page1.html
Cindy Bauer

Cindy Bauer is the well-seasoned author of the Memory Box Trilogy, (Chasing Memories, Shades of Blue and Crystal Clear ), an Inspirational Fiction series. She is an avid reader, a freelance writer and editor, and reviews for  Bookpleasures.com and New Leaf Press, as well as volunteers on staff at Books In Sync.







 
By Cindy Bauer
Published on December 26, 2009
 

Author: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
ISBN: 978-1-593150602-2
Publishers: by Vanguard Press

A “sticky subject” read 



Author: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
ISBN: 978-1-593150602-2
Publishers: by Vanguard Press

Click Here To Purchase he Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation

A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation – The Michael Jackson Tapes by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is sure to be one of the most talked about, controversial books released in 2009. 

The conversations were held, according to the author, during a time when Jackson needed a friend to confide in and help with coming to grips with his own identity, which he felt had gotten lost in the shuffle of his highly publicized life. He claims they were making the tapes in order to publish a book, hopefully enlightening the world to the real Michael Jackson, the person, not the icon – to gain the love and respect Jackson so deeply needed and wanted.  

He says he himself put a halt to the book due to a severance in their relationship. This made me question from the beginning, the legitimacy of releasing this confidential information. Especially with the untimely death of the star and the release of this book. However, I’m just a reviewer giving my honest opinion of the book. 

It was quite interesting to read the conversations between the Rabbi and Jackson. The public has never really been given such documentation before, that I am aware of. So for someone just wanting to know more about the man behind the music, the cameras, the lights, and the highly publicized professional and personal life, the book can be considered “interesting”, perhaps even “fascinating”. If everything in the book is true and nothing is fabricated. 

Throughout the book, I felt the author implied Jackson’s intentions or thoughts behind the words, with his own theories or interpretations. So in a sense, I felt misled by the author. He consistently infuses his own religious beliefs into it as well. And speaking of religion, I found the fact that Michael was raised by his mother to be a devout Jehovah’s Witness and they attended that church in Indiana to be quite interesting. I never knew Jackson actually went door to door, handing out The Watchtower. 

But while reading that part, I was thinking, “Okay, so how is it he has wound up talking to this Rabbi?” I questioned many theories, statements and “supposed secrets” throughout the book, which in turn left me with more questions than answers. I’m not sure we’ll ever really know the “truth” behind Jackson’s life, privately intimate and/or public.  

In all honesty, the book was not only interesting, but fascinating. It’s been well written, well edited, and designed to perfection. But I also feel that the author has forced his own religious beliefs, personal opinions into the context far too much, making it difficult to distinguish what was true and what wasn’t. The author appears to be more of a psychologist, than a spiritual advisor (He asked two or three questions at a time instead of dividing them up, one by one). However, I truly believe we are going to be hearing a lot more on the news about this particular book. My hopes are that it will not turn out to be yet one more highly publicized tragedy in the life of a historical icon whose music reached and touched many for decades. My thoughts at the end were to pray for Jackson’s family. 

A “sticky subject” read 

Click Here To Purchase he Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation