Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words Paperback – September 5, 2019

I downloaded a sample of it from Kindle before buying and that was enough to know, it was wonderful. Not to be mistaken as authored by him, the description is a bit misleading at times. But it does seem to be in his own words and style, taken from interviews, but without the questions being asked. It feels like he is just earnestly talking right to you. Really authentic. Truly Freddy! And often funny, throwing in a few personal tidbits, here and there. Halfway through it and trying to slow down my pace, so I can savor the joy longer. I take it with me , I always have a book, but this time people see HIS picture on the front and apparently I am walking around with a natural conversation starter, EVERYWHERE! Always the same, someone sees my book and says “Oh!, I just love Freddy”. They don’t even ask if it’s good! It’s all about loving Freddy.My only complaint, I wish it was longer!! It’s good reading, with a nice pace to it and the authors did quite a good job of editing. They didn’t bleep out much of Freddy’s language, if any. Keeps it authentic. Just so you know, the man was a cusser, yet never sounded particularly vulgar, more like, he was just stating a fact. He has a good vocabulary and uses terms, probably from England, that make me laugh. Like he doesn’t use “aerosols“ (deodorant, I think?) because that is followed up with “my armpits are my own”. TMI, but that too, is Freddy. No boundaries, no filters. He is such a genuinely like-able fellow and this view of him only reinforces that. If you enjoy Freddy, this is an interesting perspective. He is really smart and interesting, talking about many things, touring, band member relationships, writing music, what it means or doesn’t mean to him, and sure, some of it we've either already seen or heard on occasion. But this feels very conversational. And it is easy reading. Going by way too fast!!! 10 stars!!!

I found this to be a lovely collection of Freddie's own words and thus free from an interviewer's interpretation. It reads like an autobiography and I think the authors are to be commended for organizing his comments to flow with each topic. His outlook changes over time, as do all of ours, but because there are no dates of the interviews used to compile each chapter, I wasn't able to understand his feelings within the context of what was happening in his life at the time. Freddie comes across as very intelligent, insightful, and happy with his accomplishments leaving me to think that he really did live the life he wanted. I sure hope so. He gave us all so much. Rest in peace, Freddie.

I truly enjoyed reading about my Rock God! 🙏💖🎶🎵♍️ Please read this and enjoy it too! A really great book.

Great book as it is a collection of all the statements & interviews this great artist gave throughout his life. The only thing lacking is that the references aren’t given. I’d like to know the years of the statements as they are grouped by subject.I have read/seen many Freddie interviews & he tends to be inconsistent over time. To try to understand the man it is helpful to know when he said what & the context. In viewing the original interviews he clearly is being flippant at times & not 100% serious so in a funny way you can’t always trust even his own words!This is also heartbreaking at times like when he discusses AIDS & fears of it. Probably he knew he was infected at the time he made the statements so tragic he had to live with that & couldn’t really talk openly due to the stigma & prejudice at that time. Always love Freddie & his music. Such a treasure.

As a casual fan of Queen for over 40 years, I have learned or been reminded about quite a lot from reading this book. You can truly hear Freddie's "voice" on each and every page within the book.I find this to be very interesting.The part(s) I do not like is how it really does read like a compilation of interviews, which it more or less IS.I feel the book could have been edited/structured in such a way to give it more flow and less feel of the author(s) starting and stopping a tape recorder and putting the words from Freddie down on the page. I hope that makes sense. This is the only reason for the 4 star rating.I CAN put this book down, and have for a couple days at a time, which is unusual for me when reading music related biographies/autobiographies, of which I've bought and read around 20 or so over the last decade. I'm just being honest.All that being said, I would recommend this book for the casual Queen fan or the reader who would like to "hear" more from Freddie and learn about his personal views on the band, the music industry, and various parts of his life. There are many things to enjoy within these pages.

This book was a wonderful joy to read. I thought it would be a collection of quotes that were isolated from each other, but I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the book to see that the quotes were merged to form an actual coherent story. It brought tears to my eyes because it wasn’t just a snapshot of words from a man that has passed on, it was as if Freddie was telling you his life story over a span of decades. Freddie was candid and honest in parts, and vague and misleading in others. I could hear each word in his voice because I have watched many many old interviews with him online. Freddie was so funny and charismatic and full of life, love, and emotion. This book is a beautiful tribute to the greatest frontman and singer in rock history.

Wife is a huge Queen fan and loves this book. Happy wife, happy life.