This is one of the better biographies. Denis Meikle mostly is giving facts. It’s also a lot more than a picture book. It begins with a detailed history of Johnny’s family and goes all the way to the upcoming “The Rum Diary”. It provides a full filmography and the author also gives a lot of background details about the movies. Still there’s nothing in it that would be new to an avid fan. It’s also not one of the biographies that were mostly made by authors who were looking for a medium to share their puppy love with the rest of the world. Denis Meikle has an a lot more unbiased look at Johnny’s personality and career. The book also includes 16 pages of color photos. Nothing new there either.
Still this one is not without flaws. Fans will find several mistakes when it comes to the movie details and other facts. Mr. Meikle might consider having an eye at johnny-depp.org for the next edition so that he at least gets the timeline right. Also the reader might wonder why someone writes a book about an actor whose movies he does not necessarily like. Almost every one of Johnny’s movies gets a good dose of Meikle’s criticism.
So far the book is informative and a good reading – until you get to the last chapter, called “Bring Me That Horizon”. Here Meikle proves that he owns an extensive collection of yellow press articles. Almost the whole chapter is based on quotes taken from the oh-so-reliable “Sun” or “OK!” Magazine. Reading this made me wanting to punch Mr. Meikle more than one time because he did not even try to research the true facts that are out there in the open, available for everyone who’s able to use Google or willing to listen to Johnny’s own words in various interviews on YouTube.Out of 10 points I’d give it 6.
A 5th revised and updated edition has just been released at Titan Books.
Product Details:
ISBN: 9780857684769
Author: Denis Meikle
528 pages
Publication date: May 6th, 2011
Dimensions: 198 x 130 mm
