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Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley | 
 enlarge | Author: Timothy White
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $9.60
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Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 24252
Media: Paperback
Edition: Rev Enl
Pages: 576
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0805080864
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.421646092
EAN: 9780805080865
ASIN: 0805080864
Publication Date: May 2, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships immediately! Perfect and New! Has a publisher remainder mark. Rev Enl. 2006 Paperback.
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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 classic biography of reggae legend Bob Marley, updated and revised for the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death
Bob Marley left an indelible mark on modern music, both as a reggae pioneer and as an enduring cultural icon. Catch a Fire, now a classic of rock biography, delves into the life of the leader of a musical, spiritual, and political explosion that continues today.
Under the supervision of the author’s widow and with the collaboration of a Marley expert, this fourth edition contains a wealth of new material, including many revisions made by the author before his untimely death. An appendix to the new edition chronicles Marley’s legacy in recent years, as well as the ongoing controversy over the possibility that Marley’s remains might be exhumed from Nine Mile, Jamaica, and reburied in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where hundreds of Rastafarians live. The new edition also contains an expanded discography and is factually updated throughout.
“Probably the finest biography ever written about a popular musician.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“As close as rock journalism comes to transcendent literature.”
—Playboy
“White has a deep appreciation for reggae’s immediacy, hypnotic power, and contradictions . . . An exhaustively researched labor of love.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
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| Customer Reviews: Read 51 more reviews...
 Bob Marley April 11, 2008
Luis Andrade Tavares (Boston, MA USA)
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
Came quickly and was in brand new condition. February 8, 2008
Erin May Baker (Minneapolis, Minnesota United States)
The book came lightening fast and was in brand new condition. I would recommend this seller and would definitely purchase from them again.
 Disappointing - what about the music? August 31, 2007
Ian Foster (San Diego, CA)
1 out of 1 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.
Good book - lot of detail... July 25, 2007
Chris Carter (Saginaw, Tx USA)
Okay, I read all of the book and learned a lot more about Bob than had preciously known, but I was disappointed by the lack of details on the making of the music. I was hoping for more details about the inspiration for a lot of Bob's music and this book did not have it.
I am currently reading "Exodous the Making & Meaning of Bob Marley & The Wailer's Album of the Century." This book goes into a lot more detail if you want to learn more about the music. I would recommend it over this book.
Still "Catch a Fire" is a good read if you want all the details of Bob's life.
The Dream Of Lasting Peace, World Citizenship December 30, 2006
Mr. Richard D. Coreno (Berea, Ohio USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book title is also the name of the 1973 debut album on Island records for Bob Marley and The Wailers that brought the lyrics and sounds of reggae to an international audience.
Originally published two years after Marley's death from cancer, the biography remains a great read due to the exhaustive research by author Timothy White.
White had interviewed Marley from 1975-1981 and projects the development & growth musically, spirtually and politically in his life. White also interviewed musicians, friends, family members, music industry executives and poltical leaders, along with the typical research - newspaper articles and other media outlets - and not-so-typical - CIA documents concerning Marley.
There are also sections on Jamaican history & politics, the history of reggae & Rastafarianism and how White did his research.
Marley projected a militant spiritualism in his music that will remain timeless. Catch a Fire gives the reader an understanding and appreciation on why Marley's message means as much today as it did so many years ago.
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