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Goodnight, Sweet Prince by Pamela Richmond
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-- Review by Richard Lovett (Associate Editor, Brian Jones Fan
Club)
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| "Goodnight, Sweet Prince" is a novel which tells the story
of the friendship |
| between Brian Jones and his 15 year old neighbour during the last
few months |
| of his life. |
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| This is author Pamela Richmond's first published work and through
the |
| wonderful technology of Email I was able to ask her why she had
chosen Brian |
| Jones as the central character of the book. She told me that
she has always |
| found Brian a completely irresistible character and that she
really would have |
| liked to written a biography of Brian. But she was warned
that she would have |
| to be careful because so much of what's written about him
is either inconsistent |
| or from not so reliable sources, this makes it difficult to
get hold of hard facts. |
| She took all the marvellous things that she had read about
him and mushed |
| them up into the character in " Goodnight, Sweet Prince".
She left out what she |
| calls the more unpleasant aspects of his personality by having him
loved by his |
| 15 year old neighbour who thinks he's the "cats pyjamas". |
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| "Goodnight, Sweet Prince" is an embodiment of her honest opinion
of how |
| Brian could have been perceived and I agree with Pamela that she
has made a |
| positive contribution to his memory. The nice thing about
the story is that it will |
| also appeal to people that do not know who Brian is. This
way maybe more |
| people can find out about him and learn something positive from
such a sad |
| ending to a young life which had so much potential. Pamela
has never visited |
| Cotchford Farm and much of research for the setting was done by
reading the |
| memoirs Christopher Milne who described the house and surroundings
in great |
| detail. |
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| I asked Pamela how she would respond to criticism that she may be
"cashing in" |
| on the fact that the book has been published in the 30th year of
the
anniversary |
| of Brian's death. She said that the book was written in 1996
and it has taken 2 |
| years for her to find a publisher so the timing is purely coincidental. |
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| I personally feel it was a great idea and an honour that someone
has written a |
| novel about Brian and without wanting to give too much away, I found
the book |
| to be a thoroughly easy and enjoyable read. And I am sure many people
will |
| interpret the story in different ways and this is part of its appeal. |
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| "Goodnight, Sweet Prince is now published and so far in the
UK it is only |
| available from Amazon.com (see our web site Online Store to order)
or try your |
| local bookstore and quote ISBN Number 1-57087-442-5. |
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Brian Jones: The Last Decadent by Jeremy
Reed
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--Review by Andrew Berney (webmaster of The
Rolling Stones in Australia)
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| This book published on the 30th anniversary of his death is a welcome
arrival to the |
| family of books on Brian Jones. Reed wastes no time
in expressing the opinion that |
| Brian was a bisexual with repressed homosexual tendencies.
Reed draws his |
| conclusions not only from Brian's life but from the lives of Oscar
Wilde and others. |
| Heavily drawing on the work of Nicholas Fitzgerald this work is
to be commended. It |
| raises the question. What did happen to Brian's tapes, goods and
money? This is the |
| unanswered question! |
| This book can be purchased from
Creation Books . (or
from our online store) |
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Thank you Miranda for a copy of the book!
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Death of a Rolling Stone : The Brian
Jones Story by Mandy Aftel
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| --Review by Pamela Richmond (author of "Goodnight, Sweet Prince"
& webmaster |
| of A
Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss web site) |
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| Back in the early 1980's when Brian Jones was still a name one would
barely dare |
| whisper, a biography "Death Of A Rolling Stone" by rock and roll
shrink, Mandy |
| Aftel was published. It popped onto bookstores shelves quickly and
then did a |
| vanishing act, making it all the more a desired read. Upon scoring
a copy, it was to |
| be quickly devoured. And slowly savored. |
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| Wow. Brian had a thing for the sound of dried leaves. Wow. Brian
bestowed his |