Before You Judge Me: The Triumph and Tragedy of Michael Jackson's Last Days

by David Ritz, Tavis Smiley

Overview

A powerful chronicle of the sixteen weeks leading up to King of Pop Michael Jackson's death.

Michael Jackson's final months were like the rest of his short and legendary life: filled with deep lows and soaring highs, a constant hunt for privacy, and the pressure and fame that made him socially fragile and almost — ultimately — unable to live.

With the insight and compassion that he brought to his bestselling story of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s final year, Tavis Smiley provides a glimpse into the superstar's life in this emotional, honest, yet celebratory book. Readers will witness Jackson's campaign to recharge his career — hiring and firing managers and advisors, turning to and away from family members, fighting depression and drug dependency — while his one goal remained: to mount the most spectacular series of shows the world had ever seen. Before You Judge Me is a humanizing look at Jackson's last days.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316259095
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	06/21/2016
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Tavis Smiley is the host of PBS's Tavis Smiley and Public Radio International's The Tavis Smiley Show.Smiley is also the bestselling author of 17 books. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Prologue 3

1 This Is It 5

2 Who Will Buy This Wonderful Feeling? 13

3 Stranger in Moscow 21

4 Demerol 35

5 Jehovah 45

6 Managerial Warfare 55

7 Spring 65

8 Father, Father 75

9 Managing Managers 87

10 More and Better 95

11 Interlude 103

12 April Fools' Day 109

13 Milk 119

14 Disappear into the Dance 127

15 Heat 139

16 Wordless 149

17 Vulnerable Today, Ruthless Tomorrow 159

18 Family Reunion 167

19 Elvis 175

20 Do or Die 185

21 How Did It Get So Late So Soon? 189

22 On the Good Ship Lollipop 197

23 Breaking News 207

24 "Give Me Your All - Your Endurance, Your Patience, Your Understanding" 215

25 June 25, 2009 221

26 Before You Judge Me 229

Afterword 239

Acknowledgments 245

Bibliography 247

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

05/02/2016
Frequent collaborators Smiley and Ritz (My Life with Maya) trace the roller-coaster weeks leading up to the unexpected 2009 death of music icon Michael Jackson in this sympathetic, if not entirely revelatory, tale of musical highs and personal lows. In the 16 weeks leading up to what would have been Jackson’s comeback tour, what was originally set to be 10 shows became 50, adding to Jackson’s already anxious demeanor about returning to the public eye. Smiley and Ritz wisely spend as much time on the ins and outs of Jackson’s managerial team as they do on his emotional health. As well as the war over who would manage Jackson, the book covers much behind-the-scenes rumbling from the Jackson family, who were eager to stage a Jackson reunion concert. Jackson wanted no part in this but reluctantly considered it to please his mother, Katherine. Smiley and Ritz underscore Jackson’s childlike fascination with cartoons and toys while nimbly sidestepping the unsavory molestation allegations and court battle, and they show how he found the most freedom when lost in the joys of music, both performing and creating. Woven throughout is Jackson’s disturbing dependence on heavy-duty drugs for sleep—he referred to propofol as “milk.” His accidental overdose death is all the more tragic in the context of a time when it seemed his career was getting back on track. Agent: David Vigliano, AGI Vigliano Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Before You Judge Me

"With compassion and unwavering empathy, Smiley weaves Jackson's music into the turmoil that enveloped the pop star...This heart-wrenching portrait of Jackson's experience will appeal to fans who wish to remember him for what he was: one of the world's greatest entertainers."—Tyler Hixson, Library Journal (starred)

"The authors delve through a wealth of research material to create a nearly day-by-day account of Jackson's last weeks, with occasional glimpses into his earlier life.... The most intriguing sections of the book unravel the complicated business relationships in which Jackson was involved, his attempts to separate himself from his parents and siblings, and his efforts to push his art further while his fans were demanding more of the same."—Kirkus Reviews

"This is a sympathetic and admiring look at the final days of a great entertainer who couldn't or wouldn't grow up."
—June Sawyers, Booklist

"Smiley and Ritz wisely spend as much time on the ins and outs of Jackson's managerial team as they do on his emotional health. As well as the war over who would manage Jackson, the book covers much behind-the-scenes rumbling from the Jackson family.... [Smiley and Ritz] show how he found the most freedom when lost in the joys of music, both performing and creating.... His accidental overdose death is all the more tragic in the context of a time when it seemed his career was getting back on track."—Publishers Weekly

"A sweeping portrait of the life and legacy of Michael Jackson."—Neil Pond, Parade

"Well-researched... It's a highly-sympathetic view, presenting Jackson as a committed artist with a probing intellect."—Jay Gabler, The Current

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2016
On June 25, 2009, when Michael Jackson, the king of pop, was pronounced dead, the world lost one of its most iconic and influential performers. Fans worldwide mourned the loss. TV and radio host Smiley (Death of a King; My Journey with Maya; PBS's Tavis Smiley) and veteran music biographer Ritz provide a singular examination of the last four months of Jackson's life, as he prepared for the blockbuster concert series "This Is It" in London. With compassion and unwavering empathy, Smiley weaves Jackson's music into the turmoil that enveloped the pop star. Drug addiction, financial ruin, the ghosts of the torment he suffered at the hands of his abusive father—all haunted Jackson throughout his life, one he spent searching for privacy, normalcy, and the love of his children. Readers will listen to Jackson's lyrics with a new sense of knowledge and discomfort. Smiley intends to relate an account that will remind readers that, despite his eccentricities, Jackson was human, hence the title. VERDICT This heart-wrenching portrait of Jackson's experience will appeal to fans who wish to remember him for what he was: one of the world's greatest entertainers.—Tyler Hixson, Library Journal

Library Journal

2016-04-13
TV and radio host Smiley (My Journey with Maya, 2015, etc.) and his frequent writing collaborator Ritz tell the story of the 16 weeks preceding the death of singer Michael Jackson (1958-2009).Before he died, the King of Pop was preparing for a series of comeback concerts in London. He was also doing a lot of shopping, playing with his three children, watching Shirley Temple movies, making questionable business decisions, receiving almost daily Botox injections, taking an increasing number of prescription painkillers, and suffering from a degree of insomnia that caused him to enlist a doctor to administer the anesthetics that led to his death. The authors delve through a wealth of research material to create a nearly day-by-day account of Jackson's last weeks, with occasional glimpses into his earlier life. Smiley and Ritz are clearly sympathetic to their subject, sometimes to the point of glossing over Jackson's more questionable choices and actions. In occasionally purple prose, the authors ratchet up the suspense and drama of this period of the singer's life, ending most of the brief chapters with some variant on, "Sleep, the most precious of commodities, eluded him," or "sleep, precious sleep, comes not at all." The most intriguing sections of the book unravel the complicated business relationships in which Jackson was involved, his attempts to separate himself from his parents and siblings, and his efforts to push his art further while his fans were demanding more of the same. The authors, who set out to understand why their subject died at 50, end up asking a different question: "Given the extraordinary obstacles he faced, the stresses that pulled him apart, how did Michael survive as long as he did?" This compact biography should please Jackson's fans even if it doesn't break new ground in exploring the singer's life.

Kirkus Reviews