Madonna

May 1, 2023

A Pulitzer Prize finalist (Love and Capital) whose Ninth Street Women has sold more than 95,000-copies across formats, Gabriel limns the life and cultural significance of Madonna, regarding not just music but female empowerment, queer sensibility, and gay rights. With a 65,000-copy first printing and big publicity tied into her 12th tour, starting in July 2023. Prepub Alert.

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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 21, 2023
Biographer Gabriel (Ninth Street Women) fastidiously captures the four-decade-plus career of a boundary-pushing star “who spoke her truth, took shit for it, and kept standing.” Ever since her childhood in Michigan, Madonna nurtured a love of music and performance, influenced by Detroit’s thriving Motown scene and such “revolutionary” pop girl groups as the Shirelles and the Shangri-Las. In 1978, at age 19, Madonna moved to New York City with $35 in cash and dreams of a dancing career, but later began pursuing music, first performing as the front woman of the band the Breakfast Club, and then going solo in 1982 after she was signed by Sire Records. From the start of her career, Madonna was fueled by an overwhelming determination to do and be more: “I always remembered Madonna as never being happy,” one friend recalls. “She always seemed like she was so impatient to move ahead.” That grit paid off with such early successes as 1984’s Like a Virgin, which debuted to scathing critical reviews but rave audience responses and went platinum after only three months, with three million album copies sold. Drawing on extensive research, Gabriel paints a satisfyingly nuanced portrait of a trailblazing musician who never shied from controversy, whether the issue was her “corsets and push-up bras and garter belts” that scandalized fans and enraged feminists or her 1980s advocacy for AIDS awareness. The singer’s myriad admirers won’t be disappointed.

September 1, 2023
A thoughtful biography of one of the most iconic entertainers of our time. At more than 800 pages, this latest book by Gabriel, author of Ninth Street Women, spares few details about its subject. Born in Michigan in 1958 to humble, hard-working parents, Madonna Louise Ciccone suffered the loss of her mother at age 5. Once in New York City, she scraped by in the performance and club scenes and gradually rose to fame at a pivotal juncture where disco and punk suffered existential crises and MTV was in its infancy. Using music video and fashion as her mediums, and life as her muse, Madonna stirred a generation of young women. As Gabriel amply demonstrates, however, glamor and art are only part of the story. Proximity to the LGBTQ+ community drove Madonna's advocacy for AIDS education. "In order to talk about AIDS," writes the author, "one needed to talk about gay sex, and that was not a conversation to be had in Ronald Reagan's America." Unafraid to avoid controversy, she became the artist, according to her, that the critics "hate to love." With years and locations serving as chapter signposts, Gabriel unfolds Madonna's life seamlessly. The author shows us how her groundbreaking tours and acting chops in videos, on stage, and on the silver screen light propelled her, as well as a thick skin. "Madonna wasn't overly bothered by the critics," writes Gabriel, "which like the paparazzi seemed to be a necessary evil." The author fully analyzes Madonna's songwriting talent and her triple-threat ability as a singer, dancer, and actor. Often misunderstood, she emerges as a conscientious mother of six who treasures love and honors family while also remaining unafraid of expressing her sexuality. Ultimately, Madonna's relatability is what will draw readers in, whether they listen her music or not. Fans and neophytes alike will come away with greater respect for an uncompromising artist.

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Starred review from October 1, 2023

Pulitzer Prize finalist Gabriel's (Ninth Street Women) massive biography of singer Madonna follows her life from her Michigan childhood to the conclusion of her Madame X tour of 2019-20. The book devotes considerable space to Madonna's companions and collaborators and offers an in-depth look at her work and inspirations. Her albums and tours receive song-by-song descriptions, with looks at the wider history of their eras, which results in a deep cultural context for Madonna's career. Significant attention is given to her connection to LGBTQIA+ communities, her activism for HIV/AIDS, and her philanthropic efforts in Malawi. A minor flaw is that the author's highly sympathetic view, effective at critiquing the persistent sexism and scaremongering that has dogged Madonna's career, sometimes skims past more difficult criticisms that could have offered an even deeper understanding of her complexities as an individual and artist. VERDICT Impressive in size and scope, the 880 pages of this tome might deter some readers. However, casual and hardcore fans of Madonna (or of pop music in general) will still benefit from making a beeline for this book. A vital pick for public libraries and institutions with collections on women artists or 20th- and 21st-century music and pop culture.--Kathleen McCallister

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Starred review from September 15, 2023
Singer, performer, writer, and international cultural icon Madonna Ciccone is a brazen and unapologetic shining star. But she didn't start out that way. She grew up in a modest house in Michigan, her father the son of an Italian immigrant, her mother French-Canadian, both devout Catholics. After her mother died when Madonna was just five years old, she already, Gabriel (Ninth Street Women, 2018) notes, ""recognized that if she acted feminine, she could get her way."" It was a lesson she milked to her utmost advantage. It was also during her girlhood that she first assumed a persona--one of many during her career--and became a rebel. "I wanted to do everything everybody told me not to do," she said. Divided into six geographical sections corresponding to the various phases in Madonna's enormously influential creativity and spotlight life--Michigan, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, and Lisbon--Gabriel's thorough and engaging biography follows the artist from her resounding first album in 1983 through every turn as Madonna used her global, trendsetting pop stardom not only to transform music but also to speak up for women and the LGBTQ+ community. Gabriel is a wonderfully empathic writer, attuned to emotional nuances as well as the public side of her complex subject, resulting in a minutely detailed, lushly evocative portrait as Madonna's story continues.

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