On Michael Jackson

By: Margo Jefferson

Narrated by: Andrea Johnson

Michael Jackson was once universally acclaimed as a song-and-dance man of genius; Wacko Jacko is now, more often than not, dismissed for his bizarre race and gender transformations and confounding antics, even as he is commonly reviled for the child molestation charges twice brought against him. Whence the weirdness and alleged criminality? How to account for Michael Jackson’s rise and fall? In On Michael Jackson—an at once passionate, incisive, and bracing work of cultural analysis—Pulitzer Prize–winning critic for The New York Times Margo Jefferson brilliantly unravels the complexities of one of the most enigmatic figures of our time.

Who is Michael Jackson and what does it mean to call him a “What Is It”? What do P. T. Barnum, Peter Pan, and Edgar Allan Poe have to do with our fascination with Jackson? How did his curious Victorian upbringing and his tenure as a child prodigy on the “chitlin’ circuit” inform his character and multiplicity of selves? How is Michael Jackson’s celebrity related to the outrageous popularity of nineteenth-century minstrelsy? What is the perverse appeal of child stars for grown-ups and what is the price of such stardom for these children and for us? What uncanniness provoked Michael Jackson to become “Alone of All His Race, Alone of All Her Sex,” while establishing himself as an undeniably great performer with neo-Gothic, dandy proclivities and a producer of visionary music videos? What do we find so unnerving about Michael Jackson’s presumed monstrosity? In short, how are we all of us implicated?

In her stunning first book, Margo Jefferson gives us the incontrovertible lowdown on call-him-what-you-wish; she offers a powerful reckoning with a quintessential, richly allusive signifier of American society and popular culture.

Critic reviews

"Stimulating.... Incisive, intelligent.... Engaging, well written and consistently on target." —The New York Times

"Jefferson writes...with elegance and attitude....One closes the book hungry to hear her take on other talented but troubled celebrities." —The Washington Post

"Sparkling....Eloquent and provocative.... Watching Margo Jefferson's mind at work is as pleasurable and thrilling as seeing Michael Jackson dance." —O, The Oprah Magazine

“Hers is a dazzling act of sustained vivacity and wisdom. Margo Jefferson brilliantly illuminates both Michael Jackson’s psyche and his art, giving us in the process a fascinating broader picture of American pop culture. Shockingly, Jackson turns out to be as representative as he is singular." —Ann Douglas, author of Terrible Honesty: Mongrel Manhattan in the 1920s and The Feminization of American Culture

“Margo Jefferson, an unfailingly shrewd and eloquent cultural critic, finds in Michael Jackson a paradigm for probing the ambitions, desperations, triumphs, and sacrifices of an artist who stakes everything on a crown. Beyond palace intrigue, she explicates the meaning of show business masks, of racial and social determinants, of spectacle on stage and in the courtroom. She is compelling.” —Gary Giddins, author of Weather Bird and Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams

Poetically Brilliant Cultural Analysis

Creates a concise and meaningful interpretation of what Mr. Jackson means to humanity in so many facets: his Freudian duality, morphing sex and sexuality, his skin as an argument to the history of race and species, and as a child star in tragic self-flagellation. Worth a second listen.

Not Respectful to Michael Jackson Kids

She is very creative and use very descriptive language. She incorporates elements of history, racism, exploitation of young artists by the parents, managers music industry and media mafia. She also have ability to bring the collective questions that both sides- the ones that believe MJ is innocent, the ones that believe he is guilty and the ones in between have and the possible answers. Overall she is a clever writer. In regards to MJ, I still believe that she left many open ended question that already have an answer at this time. A man that was prosecuted to the extent that MJ wad is at this time innocent based on the evidente . What it looks like, opinions the fact that he put himself in vulnerable positions probably due to mental illness can not be extrapolated to this point that he was a child abuser. She also ignored the persons that knew him closely and worked with him, which usually present him and acknowledge how surprising was that he really was like a normal hardworking guy, funny, extremely smart, great father, kind, insecure, scare of the harm others can do to him for money... At this point, she like many others are using Michael Jacksons name to make profit or gain a reputation. She became part of the ones that she criticized often in the book she wrote, also exploiting him. Also she never meet him. He was 10 years invested by FBI and California, Santa Barbara police department; no evidence was found. She should honor the results of the investigations and put the weight that it have, which is not present in the book, because a man and his 3 children were put though hell, by what it seems a group of greedy and judgmental individuals.

have you seen my childhood. MJ

excellent insight of MJ childhood trauma. must read this book about child start and all the drama around MJ life.

Good one, insightful cultural read

Fairly analytical, full of acute observations about not only MJ and his tragic life arc, but also about our collective obsessions with celebrity, looks and power. Worth it.

Interesting

This book is about the overall, big-picture of Michael Jackson. The narration is good. Literary and analytical, this book compares and contrasts Michael Jackson to various people throughout entertainment history.