Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story

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As an unauthorized biography, the book is largely made up of quotes from news articles, anonymous quotes, interviews with certain players in the Beyonce story (like her childhood boyfriend Lyndall Locke, the only guy she really dated before Jay), and a lot of legal documentation. This was relatively insightful, even if long-winded at some points, especially of pre-Destiny's Child days and just how ruthless Mathew was. I was able to put together parts of her story I had seen or experienced but was too young to understand and that really surprised since I wasn't expecting to find anything new. The most interesting and personal events of Beyoncé’s life can feel like afterthoughts: Near the end, on page 414, after a scan-worthy chapter about video budgets and other behind-the-scenes details on her album 4, Taraborrelli casually mentions that “by this time,” in November 2011, “Beyoncé and Jay were expecting their first child.

If you liked Shire’s debut collection, then check out her most recent one, too: Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, released earlier this year. Once she becomes a star the sources are mostly just giving opinions based off the Beyonce they knew. The excerpts from Shire’s poems, which often reference sex, infidelity, depression, religion and addiction, make the perfect companion to Lemonade’s spiritual, sexual and political iconography. Taraborrelli doesn't really give us any new information but what he does, is to create a timeline of events that allows her fans proper perspective on Beyonce's evolution from child prodigy to superstardom. It only makes sense, then, to include that TEDx talk, published as a book-length essay in 2014, on this reading list.TRAILBLAZERS biographies are packed with little-known trivia, fascinating facts and lively illustrations. Along the changes with the new members my interest was fading a little when the 3rd album (Survivor) came out, but I did like the songs that came off it (Perfect Man and Independent Woman). In 2009, Billboard tapped her as the top Female Artist of the 2000’s and Forbes listed her as the most powerful entertainer of the year 2015. With that being said, it is still very well organized and an entertaining read of how those around Beyoncé felt her life has gone.

As one labors through the story, it becomes increasingly clear that Taraborrelli included all of the musical chairs and legal messes to prove a central point: Mathew was relentless in his pursuit to make his daughter a star, and, even as a tween, Beyoncé was determined to achieve the same goal, and neither of them blinked, even if it meant burning through a rotating cast of amateur managers and disposable girl group members.It was as a member of Destiny’s Child that Beyonce first launched her career in 1998, but in 2003 her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love, rocketed Beyonce Knowles to stardom. The book follows Dana, an African-American woman who, following her 26 th birthday, is pulled back in time to antebellum Maryland, where she encounters her ancestors and becomes embroiled in life on the plantation. The longtime struggle between her and Mathew and how everything kind of blew up toward the end was particularly interesting and a strong undercurrent in the book (and also really explains the song 'Daddy Lessons' on Lemonade).