This Thing Called Life Audiobook By Neal Karlen cover art

This Thing Called Life

Prince's Odyssey, On and Off the Record

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This Thing Called Life

By: Neal Karlen
Narrated by: Neal Karlen
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This program is read by the author, and includes archival recordings of conversations between the author and Prince. A warm and surprisingly real-life biography of one of rock’s greatest talents: Prince.

Neal Karlen was the only journalist Prince granted in-depth press interviews to for over a dozen years, from before Purple Rain to when the artist changed his name to an unpronounceable glyph. Karlen interviewed Prince for three Rolling Stone cover stories, wrote “3 Chains o’ Gold", Prince’s “rock video opera”, as well as the star’s last testament, which may be buried with Prince’s will underneath Prince’s vast and private compound, Paisley Park.

According to Prince's former fiancée Susannah Melvoin, Karlen was “the only reporter who made Prince sound like what he really sounded like”. Karlen quit writing about Prince a quarter-century before the mega-star died, but he never quit Prince, and the two remained friends for the last 31 years of the superstar’s life.

Well before they met as writer and subject, Prince and Karlen knew each other as two of the gang of kids who biked around Minneapolis’s mostly-segregated Northside. (They played basketball at the Dairy Queen next door to Karlen’s grandparents, two blocks from the budding musician.) He asserts that Prince can’t be understood without first understanding ‘70s Minneapolis, and that even Prince’s best friends knew only 15 percent of him: That was all he was willing and able to give, no matter how much he cared for them.

Going back to Prince Rogers Nelson's roots, especially his contradictory, often tortured, and sometimes violent relationship with his father, This Thing Called Life profoundly changes what we know about Prince, and explains him as no biography has: a superstar who calls in the middle of the night to talk, who loved The Wire and could quote from every episode of The Office, who frequented libraries and jammed spontaneously for local crowds (and fed everyone pancakes afterward), who was lonely but craved being alone. Listeners will drive around Minneapolis with Prince in a convertible, talk about movies and music and life, and watch as he tries not to curse, instead dishing a healthy dose of “mamma jammas”.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2020 Neal Karlen (P)2020 Macmillan Audio Entertainment & Celebrities Music

Critic reviews

“The stories, like Prince, are irresistibly fascinating and as elusive as float-like-a-butterfly Muhammad Ali, the rock star’s idol. This memoir is easily the most telling book about the late Prince thus far.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Intimate Insights • Honest Portrayal • Authentic Voice Recordings • Revealing Account • Personal Perspective
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Fascinating insights into the genius who can never be fully understood. Neal Karlen explains why so many who knew and worked with Prince have widely varying perceptions of him: socially awkward loner or a social butterfly who hosted star-studded parties and late night jam sessions for fans? Perfectionist or a virtuoso who was more concerned with getting his music on tape than making it sound pristine? Tyrant or philanthropist? Yes.

A Must Read for Prince Fans

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Like many Prince fans I have read or listened to many of the fascinating stories about Prince. What has become very clear is the people who knew Prince from his younger days in Minneapolis or worked with Prince have a much more intimate story of him as a person than someone on the outside. This is very good audiobook but not for typical Prince fans who may get offended by some of the personal stories or audio recordings of Prince talking.

This thing called life

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Remembering the Voice of Prince from someone who had access was a remarkable feature of this book. The actual audio tapes were bar none a way to best remember him. Kudos to Neal to provide his views and first-hand witness testimonies throughout!

Remembering the VOP

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Everyone thinks the music of their high school years is the best. In my case, I’m right. Or at least a strong argument can be made that I am. While I was in high school Thriller by Michael Jackson, Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen, Like A Virgin by Madonna and Purple Rain by Prince all came out. Talk about iconic albums by iconic performers.

This book is about Prince. The older I get, the more nostalgic I get. I hadn’t heard much about this particular book, but I was interested in learning more about Prince so I got it on the recent Audible sale.

I did learn a lot of things about Prince that I didn’t know. The author was a one time writer for Rolling Stone, who had become close to Prince. Or at least as close as Prince would allow someone in that position to become. They were in contact regularly for the last 30 years of Prince’s life. Prince even had the author to write something for his time capsule. A time capsule the author is convinced also contains Prince’s missing will. The book does give a behind the scenes look at Prince and includes the tape from an interview that the author conducted with Prince. In many of the reviews of the book I saw two complaints. First, that he showed too many bad things about Prince. I discount this. Any biography about anyone that only discusses the positives of the person is a work of fiction. All humans have flaws. The second main complaint is the author publishes “off the record” interviews. Prince has been gone 5 years now. I’m ok with him releasing it now to give an accurate picture of the man for history.

I do have some complaints with the book, however. First, the author interjects himself into the story way too much. In telling about Prince’s basketball ability for example, the author goes into detail about his own failed high school basketball career. There was a lot of that. I hate to tell him but the readers are here for Prince stories, not Neal stories. Second, the book is a non-linear one that is basically just a lot of Prince stories from the author’s perspective and experience. Since this was my first Prince book, a traditional biography would have been better for me. Finally, the author repeats himself. A lot. Some quotes make 3 or more appearances.

Overall, the picture of Prince that emerges is one of huge musical talent. A guy who played all the instruments and wrote all the songs on most of the albums. A guy, who like wrestlers adopted a persona as an entertainer and never dropped the act in public. The author discussed Prince’s kayfabe a lot. A guy who was depressed and lonely while living a life that so many of us would think is ideal. A guy who like many I’ve read about as having reached the absolute pinnacle of their field is better to watch from afar than to be in a personal relationship with.

With all the faults of the book, it did make me want to get another Prince book at some time in the future to get another perspective. Prince was obviously hugely talented and also a very interesting person.

An interesting story

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I thought a different perspective on Princes life by a long time friend was super interesting. I believe its a truthful honest read on what the writer went through while knowing Prince. I enjoyed it so much. Only thing that personally bothered me was the tone of the writers voice but after I got over that I did enjoy it comming from his look on their life knowing one another. Thank you for writing this BOOK!

Learned ALOT...

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I found Neal Karlen’s book to be the most honest telling of a “friendship” as backed by his evidence of tapes from years covering Prince for Rolling Stone.
He gives the most eye opening revelations into one of the most secretive personalities that had ever been a part of pop culture, and he does it from a place of genuine respect for Prince and admiration for his talent.
Ultimately, he allows the reader to see Prince as HUMAN & not just some untouchable, perfect, unfathomable musical genius. This book should be listened to simply because the author wrote about the subject as he really was, not as this mythological character.

Heartfelt Reminiscence

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I learned so much about Prince. I loved hearing the recordings of his voice. I loved hearing all the stories. Some sad & some funny. Every minute was interesting. Highly recommend.

Very Insightful

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This has been a journey, I'm glad the author was able to honor his friend this way.

Prince

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This is the first biography I have read about Prince. I read it while listening to the amazing Audible version, containing actual recordings of interviews with Prince. I admit, I was not a big Prince fan when I was growing up in the 80s, but my best friend was, and I read this when, in our 50s, she convinced a group of us to go to Minneapolis and visit Paisley Park (and other places). This book gave me a unique insight into the person known as Prince and the city of Minneapolis as I took the VIP Paisley Park Tour, contrasted with a visit to George Floyd Square. Thank you, Neal.

Wow

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Quite a bit of repetition in regards to certain stories or references throughout parts of the book, but nonetheless a very fascinating and somewhat bittersweet look into the life of Prince by someone who had direct access and could even be considered a friend.

If you’re more interested in the life of Prince over a deep musical study, this is the title for you

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