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2 new books about Michael

morinen

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I want to give a quick summary of two new books that were released about a month ago, since I haven't seen them mentioned here yet.

The first one,

Conversations In Neverland with Michael Jackson
Dr. William B. van Valin II MD
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0062PE724/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

This is a small book (only released as Kindle ed.) written by a doctor whom Michael befriended in the beginning of 2000s. Their relationship started as a doctor-patient one, but then they began visiting each other and spending time together and kept in touch until Michael left the country after the trial. Ethically avoiding Michael's private matters, the doctor relates his impressions from the generous, childlike and a bit eccentric man he knew and talks about their mutual pastime and conversations. This guy wasn't a close friend (not as close as Frank Cascio, as it is obvious from the narrative), but he has a few anecdotes and touching memories to share. In general, I found the book sweet and a bit funny at times.

The second book,

An Agoraphobic's Guide to Hollywood: How Michael Jackson Got Me Out of the House
Darlene Craviotto
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0067WPLWC/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

This book (available both in Kindle and paperback) is written by a lady who was hired as the screenwriter for the Steven Spielberg's "Peter Pan" movie that Michael was supposed to star in. The book is not strictly about MJ, the author tells the story of the movie project and her pesonal challenges with it (she is an agoraphobic). However, the whole project evolved around Michael, so a big portion of the story is devoted to him. She worked with him closely on the script and they managed to get it finished (!) by the time Spielberg decided to shoot "Hook" movie instead. There was a news recently with Spielberg commenting out of the blue that Michael hadn't seen things his way. Well, from this book it actually looks more like Steven didn't see things Michael's way and he betrayed Michael a little bit by turning to an alternative project (as much as you can talk about betrayals in showbiz). I wonder if the news appeared because Steven had heard about this new book...
Anyway, I found the book insightful because it conveys Michael's view of Peter Pan, directly in his words transcribed from the taped conversations (taped on MJ's request, for history). Michael identified with the character of Peter Pan on a very deep level, so in talking about Peter he reveals himself, and learning about his perception of this character for me was a way to understand him better.
 
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The book about the Peter Pan movie seems very interesting.
 
From the first book

It's Halloween and Michael brings his limo. Dr. Valin says he would be recognized by it.

He said, “I have a plan.” He then opened the doors of the limo and let in any kids who wanted come inside. He wore a black blazer with a gold crest on the pocket over his Spiderman shirt. Several of the kids asked him if he was Michael Jackson, to which he replied, “No, I just dressed up like him for Halloween.” The kids seemed satisfied with that answer and one said, “Wow! That’s a great disguise!”

Then they go trick and treating

Michael, on the other hand, wore a surgical cap and mask, a Spiderman shirt, a stethoscope around his neck, Spiderman shoe covers, and seemed to be quite recognizable as Michael Jackson in a poor disguise. However, no one stopped him all night to get his autograph or speak with him.

(His wife asks)“So who are you, Michael?” “I’m Spiderman... with a twist.” He answered as he touched the stethoscope.
 
ivy;3560793 said:
From the first book

It's Halloween and Michael brings his limo. Dr. Valin says he would be recognized by it.

He said, “I have a plan.” He then opened the doors of the limo and let in any kids who wanted come inside. He wore a black blazer with a gold crest on the pocket over his Spiderman shirt. Several of the kids asked him if he was Michael Jackson, to which he replied, “No, I just dressed up like him for Halloween.” The kids seemed satisfied with that answer and one said, “Wow! That’s a great disguise!”

Then they go trick and treating

Michael, on the other hand, wore a surgical cap and mask, a Spiderman shirt, a stethoscope around his neck, Spiderman shoe covers, and seemed to be quite recognizable as Michael Jackson in a poor disguise. However, no one stopped him all night to get his autograph or speak with him.

(His wife asks)“So who are you, Michael?” “I’m Spiderman... with a twist.” He answered as he touched the stethoscope.
Click to expand...

..with a twist. Yeah. Hehehe.

That's the one that is available as ebook only, right? I think it's on my list.
 
I read the first book too and I enjoyed it. I found it relaxing and kind of funny. I liked those cute stories like the story of the wild pigs, Michael counting money inside the brown bag- this book is completely different than the ones that have been written about Michael. Another story I enjoyed was when Michael goes to the Doctor's bathroom and he hears Michael going through the drawers and when he came out he was smelling really good and Michael said something about never being stinky. How could anyone go to someone's bathroom and not only start looking in the drawers but putting on the cologne too? Wow, only Michael.
 
ivy;3560793 said:
From the first book

It's Halloween and Michael brings his limo. Dr. Valin says he would be recognized by it.

He said, “I have a plan.” He then opened the doors of the limo and let in any kids who wanted come inside. He wore a black blazer with a gold crest on the pocket over his Spiderman shirt. Several of the kids asked him if he was Michael Jackson, to which he replied, “No, I just dressed up like him for Halloween.” The kids seemed satisfied with that answer and one said, “Wow! That’s a great disguise!”

Then they go trick and treating

Michael, on the other hand, wore a surgical cap and mask, a Spiderman shirt, a stethoscope around his neck, Spiderman shoe covers, and seemed to be quite recognizable as Michael Jackson in a poor disguise. However, no one stopped him all night to get his autograph or speak with him.

(His wife asks)“So who are you, Michael?” “I’m Spiderman... with a twist.” He answered as he touched the stethoscope.
Click to expand...

when I read stuff like this...it makes me miss him that much more. Michael was such a funny guy...thank you for this Ivy.
Aquarius;3560838 said:
I read the first book too and I enjoyed it. I found it relaxing and kind of funny. I liked those cute stories like the story of the wild pigs, Michael counting money inside the brown bag- this book is completely different than the ones that have been written about Michael. Another story I enjoyed was when Michael goes to the Doctor's bathroom and he hears Michael going through the drawers and when he came out he was smelling really good and Michael said something about never being stinky. How could anyone go to someone's bathroom and not only start looking in the drawers but putting on the cologne too? Wow, only Michael.
Click to expand...

That is soo cute and funny,,,yes ..only Michael would do that...this made me smile. Damn why did we have to lose him. :(
 
could be good books, im not intend to read it though.. several reasons hard to find and i think the persons are to far away from michael as close friends.. maybe some good lines but for a whole book i dont know
 
morinen said:
I want to give a quick summary of two new books that were released about a month ago, since I haven't seen them mentioned here yet.

The second book,

An Agoraphobic's Guide to Hollywood: How Michael Jackson Got Me Out of the House
Darlene Craviotto
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0067WPLWC/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

This book (available both in Kindle and paperback) is written by a lady who was hired as the screenwriter for the Steven Spielberg's "Peter Pan" movie that Michael was supposed to star in. The book is not strictly about MJ, the author tells the story of the movie project and her pesonal challenges with it (she is an agoraphobic). However, the whole project evolved around Michael, so a big portion of the story is devoted to him. She worked with him closely on the script and they managed to get it finished (!) by the time Spielberg decided to shoot "Hook" movie instead. There was a news recently with Spielberg commenting out of the blue that Michael hadn't seen things his way. Well, from this book it actually looks more like Steven didn't see things Michael's way and he betrayed Michael a little bit by turning to an alternative project (as much as you can talk about betrayals in showbiz). I wonder if the news appeared because Steven had heard about this new book...
Anyway, I found the book insightful because it conveys Michael's view of Peter Pan, directly in his words transcribed from the taped conversations (taped on MJ's request, for history). Michael identified with the character of Peter Pan on a very deep level, so in talking about Peter he reveals himself, and learning about his perception of this character for me was a way to understand him better.
Click to expand...

This book sounds really interesting, thanks for posting. I'm a little wary of mj's taped conversations being transcribed a la rabbi schmuley, the historical record explanation wd only be if the film was made i imagine. I've never known anyone to be audio taped in private conversations/phone calls as much as mj.
 
Ingelief said:
could be good books, im not intend to read it though.. several reasons hard to find and i think the persons are to far away from michael as close friends.. maybe some good lines but for a whole book i dont know
Click to expand...


Ingelief, the book Conversations in Neverland is a nice and short book. Don't buy it if you don't want it, but let me tell you that the book is about special moments the author-who was Michael's doctor- spent with Michael. There's nothing about his health, medical treatments or any of those, it's all about Michael's sweetness. If you don't read it, you'll be missing some good, nice & funny moments in Michael's life. give it try.
 
Bonnie Blue said:
This book sounds really interesting, thanks for posting. I'm a little wary of mj's taped conversations being transcribed a la rabbi schmuley, the historical record explanation wd only be if the film was made i imagine. I've never known anyone to be audio taped in private conversations/phone calls as much as mj.
Click to expand...

Of course his idea was to tape it for the future "Making Of" of sorts, that would have been possible if the film had been released. Michael wanted it to be a grand, historic production. But even though the movie sadly was never made, now it's history nonetheless. Everything that has to do with Michael, especially providing glimpses into his world and creative mind is culturally valuable.
 
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Morinen -You might be interested in an article that british theatre director trevor nunn wrote after mj's death. He met mj in '87 during the bad tour and mentioned in passing that he had directed peter pan, and from that moment on had mj's undivided attention! Such a shame mj never got his heart's desire in playing peter pan.

The article was in the sunday times but they have a paywall now, so the only source i found on google is pos michael forum.

http://www.positivelymichael.com/fo...evor-Nunn-talks-about-meeting-Micheal-in-1987
 
xthunderx2 said:
:hug:
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bearhug.sml.gif
 
Bonnie Blue said:
Morinen -You might be interested in an article that british theatre director trevor nunn wrote after mj's death. He met mj in '87 during the bad tour and mentioned in passing that he had directed peter pan, and from that moment on had mj's undivided attention! Such a shame mj never got his heart's desire in playing peter pan.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Bonnie. I recall reading this article a while ago... Michael's reaction was so sincere and touching. It's a shame indeed that he never got to play the part.

But what I find really interesting in that story is how Michael used the advice he got from the guy regarding the show. Whereas his Bad tour all its mad energy notwithstanding was still merely a mixture of dance songs and slow songs, in Dangerous tour he did kind of add a narrative. He did begin the shows with fast/energetic/sexy tracks, then introduced a more sensitive persona with "Will you be there", "Heal the world", culminating it dramatically with "Man in the Mirror" and finally flying away off stage.
He pleaded for critique (which, I assume, not many people could or dared to provide to him), and once he managed to extract a valuable piece of advice from this producer, he went ahead and used it! Amazing. And who could have thought that the famous spaceman-like flight in the end of the Dangerous show grew out of Peter Pan?
 
morinen said:
Thank you, Bonnie. I recall reading this article a while ago... Michael's reaction was so sincere and touching. It's a shame indeed that he never got to play the part.

But what I find really interesting in that story is how Michael used the advice he got from the guy regarding the show. Whereas his Bad tour all its mad energy notwithstanding was still merely a mixture of dance songs and slow songs, in Dangerous tour he did kind of add a narrative. He did begin the shows with fast/energetic/sexy tracks, then introduced a more sensitive persona with "Will you be there", "Heal the world", culminating it dramatically with "Man in the Mirror" and finally flying away off stage.
He pleaded for critique (which, I assume, not many people could or dared to provide to him), and once he managed to extract a valuable piece of advice from this producer, he went ahead and used it! Amazing. And who could have thought that the famous spaceman-like flight in the end of the Dangerous show grew out of Peter Pan?
Click to expand...

Very interesting, thank you.
 
Bonnie Blue said:
Morinen -You might be interested in an article that british theatre director trevor nunn wrote after mj's death. He met mj in '87 during the bad tour and mentioned in passing that he had directed peter pan, and from that moment on had mj's undivided attention! Such a shame mj never got his heart's desire in playing peter pan.

The article was in the sunday times but they have a paywall now, so the only source i found on google is pos michael forum.

http://www.positivelymichael.com/fo...evor-Nunn-talks-about-meeting-Micheal-in-1987
Click to expand...


Thank you for this.
 
Thank you for sharing. I love to hear about Michael and Peter Pan :)
 
Anyone else reading Conversations In Neverland with Michael Jackson By Dr. William B. van Valin II MD?

So far it's a pleasant read.

I smiled at a part where Michael just appears at the Doctor's door one morning unannounced. The Dr. opens the door to go to work and there he is standing there. He claims he wasn't there long but when the doc later asked MJ's driver he said it was about half an hour. So anyway, the Dr. goes to work because he has patients but tells his wife that Michael is there. Michael spends the entire day at the house playing with the doctor's kids, watching cartoons, etc and is still there when the Dr. comes home.

The doctor also said that Michael's normal answer when asked why he would visit their little house and abandon his own ranch was that he has company and he's not really up to spending time with them...he just likes spending time there. Made me smile.

I'm up to chapter 8 or so.
 
suzynyc said:
Anyone else reading Conversations In Neverland with Michael Jackson By Dr. William B. van Valin II MD?

So far it's a pleasant read.

I smiled at a part where Michael just appears at the Doctor's door one morning unannounced. The Dr. opens the door to go to work and there he is standing there. He claims he wasn't there long but when the doc later asked MJ's driver he said it was about half an hour. So anyway, the Dr. goes to work because he has patients but tells his wife that Michael is there. Michael spends the entire day at the house playing with the doctor's kids, watching cartoons, etc and is still there when the Dr. comes home.

The doctor also said that Michael's normal answer when asked why he would visit their little house and abandon his own ranch was that he has company and he's not really up to spending time with them...he just likes spending time there. Made me smile.

I'm up to chapter 8 or so.
Click to expand...

I've been hearing good things about this one, heard a couple of nice stories.
It's only available on Kindle though right? I wish I could read it somewhere but I don't have Kindle..
 
I am not sure if this interests you but: I downloaded it for my computer through kindle. On amazon it is called Kindle through your computer. I have downloaded several books this way. There is Kindle technology you download for the computer and then you can download the book.
 
The doctor one sounds very good. Is he the doctor who was on TV during the trial and said he would not say private things about Michael when he was asked about the kids? I thought Steven shelved Peter Pan because of the allegations. Did anyone else hear this?
 
According to this author it happened before the allegations, somewhere in 1990.
 
^^OK thank you Morinen. What values/benefits did you get out of the book about Peter Pan? Is it that you got some insights about who Michael is, or is it mainly about the Peter Pan project itself and how it was visualized.
 
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