Freestone (or "Phoebe" as he was nicknamed by Freddie) was Freddies assistant who lived in-house and went on tours, making arrangements, buying and preparing clothes and costumes for the band, arranging refreshments etc. So it comes as no surprise that this man has been given an insight into this incredibly talented mans life that not many can boast. I have known Queen from very young as I have an older brother who was a big fan in the 80s, so I knew their stuff really well before I was really old enough to fully appreciate the brilliance of their songs and Freddies breath taking vocals. I always knew Freddie was quite a shy man, who became the flamboyant show man we all know and love only on stage. I think this is partly why I find him such an intriguing person. Also, I recently read an article that said he met Brian and Roger during University, where he gained an HND in Graphic Design - much like the course I did myself. He was also a very talented artist. I have been meaning to read about his life for some time and I thought this would be a good account coming from someone who was actually around him and had such an intimate insight to the real Freddie. I found it extremely insightful. one thing I would recommend is to be near a computer whilst you're reading this book. There are a lot of people - famous - semi-famous or famous back then mentioned, who I found it interesting to be able to put a face to and know a bit about who they are, so google and wikipedia came in useful! There were also things mentioned, such as a knee injury Freddie obtained before the shooting of "Its a Hard Life", which was causing him pain, forcing him to give in to sit down, only at the very end of the video, and a few other little observations about the video that I had to look up on youtube and re-watch it so I could notice those things. I think Freestone did a very good job with this book. The only small negative I would say is that I did find in a few places he did go on into detail when it came to things like the interior of Freddies houses for instance. I can see why from his point of view this was something that would have been of importance, but to the average fan like myself, I'm not sure many would care what colour the floors were in the bedroom etc. Very interesting, very emotional read about a man who had massive talent and contributed so much to music today. If you are an admirer of Freddie, you'll like this book.
What I liked - - Could get to know about Freddie Mercury as a person.- What made him perform better or with more zeal, was it confrontation?- Got to know about Queen concerts/gigs which happened and the years.- How the band used to prepare/rehearse, what went into the song writing.- Where the songs were recorded.- How Freddie spent his time after concerts, breaks, was it shopping or was it partying?What I disliked - - There was way too much information, on tour dates, places, concerts.- Many of these things, I tend to forget over time. - Issue of forgetting most likely deals with interest, is it or my bad memory?- Probably the book could have been organized either chronologically or by person or with a combination of both.- But leaving an index with list of persons and allowing the reader to figure out who were all of them and what role they played was a bit too much for me, I just tend to mess things up, considering, I was reading more than one book at that time, may be my fault. Also,- I got to introspect, when I liked Queen music so so much, why couldn't I say the same thing about the book?- I really not have an answer for that!Cheers,
Do You like book Freddie Mercury (2001)?
This book starts out very mundane and list-y; Peter Freestone spends the first half of the book listing various roles he filled for Freddie as his PA, lists events, etc. The second half, however, is very compelling. It is a combination of the everyday life and very banal existence of Freddie et al at Garden Lodge and the the extremely poignant final weeks of Freddie's life. On the one hand, it was a little uncomfortable for me to read about some of these very private moments. I believe that Freddie's privacy was so important to him, and maybe I shouldn't know about some of these things. On the other hand, Freestone's rendition paints such a humane portrait of this larger than life figure, and is so loving, yet very warts and all -- I like that a lot. Moreover, it's Freestone's life, too, and his story to tell. I closed this book really moved by the generosity of Freddie Mercury and touched by how much he clearly loved the friend-family he created. This is a good one for my work and a must-read for Freddie Mercury fans.
—Nancy
