Dig If You Will the Picture

Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince

By: Ben Greenman

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Ben Greenman, New York Times best-selling author, contributing writer to The New Yorker, and owner of thousands of recordings of Prince and Prince-related songs, knows intimately that there has never been a rock star as vibrant, mercurial, willfully contrary, experimental, or prolific as Prince.

Uniting a diverse audience while remaining singularly himself, Prince was a tireless artist, a musical virtuoso and chameleon, and a pop-culture prophet who shattered traditional ideas of race and gender, rewrote the rules of identity, and redefined the role of sex in pop music.

A polymath in his own right who collaborated with George Clinton and Questlove on their celebrated memoirs, Greenman has been listening to and writing about Prince since the mid-80s. Here, with the passion of an obsessive fan and the skills of a critic, journalist, and novelist, he mines his encyclopedic knowledge of Prince's music to tell both his story and the story of the paradigm-shifting ideas that he communicated to his millions of fans around the world.

©2017 Ben Greenman (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"When it comes to funk and words, lyrics and language, there couldn't be a better pairing than Ben Greenman and Prince. From my experience with both of them, this is the perfect match, like ham hocks and cornflakes." (George Clinton)

Good Overview of Prince's Work

This book is very well written by an author who has a very detailed understanding of Prince's work.

A must for Prince fans

A real treat. A Heartfelt Tribute to the genuine artist that was Prince. Loved It.

Reads like a indepth career review & analysis

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, if they were interested in Prince on an analytical level the way I am. It covers all bases and does so passionately but objectively

What other book might you compare Dig If You Will the Picture to and why?

Prince by Ronin Ro comes closest, but that's due to subject.

What does Peter Berkrot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He was a good reader, no complaints from me. He didn't "bring it to life" but it's not that kind of book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me reflective and helped me realize how much Prince impacted me and pop culture in general

Any additional comments?

My only gripe with this book is that it labels Prince homophobic when in both instances he was completely objective and not at all insulting to gays. He didn't want to collab with MJ and the bible does say S&G was destroyed for homosexuality, it doesn't make Prince phobic for pointing that out anymore than it makes one racist for reading Uncle Toms Cabin. If you're looking for a tell-all gossip laden book or chronological bio this isn't it, but it incorporates enough of both elements to make it a great all around read. Lastly, you can tell the guy loves Prince, but rather than a love that blinds him to the negative truths about Prince, it's a love that makes him seek for the truth however unfortunate.

Disappointing

I have listened to many, if not all, of the available audio books on Prince and found this particular presentation to be disappointing.
The content of the book was well written although took off on odd tangents now and again.
My struggle was with the narrator's mispronunciation of names. After 9 hours of name mispronunciations you begin to doubt the accuracy of the writing. Was the narrator not briefed on how to say Mayte and several other names, or does he just not care enough to look into how to say those words correctly? Did the writer not care enough to preview the work and correct the pronunciations before the audio release?
Names are important and details matter.

Dry for a biography

Would you try another book from Ben Greenman and/or Peter Berkrot?

Prince is one of my favorite pop stars of all time, but this biography was light on biography and heavy on history. I just didn't get much of what he was really like from the author who was as starstruck as the rest of us and did not seem to have spent much one on one time. There was lots of music and lyric analysis and history of the star's activities as a performer, but much less primary source material, conversations, real interviews. Why did he go Jehovah's Witness? What about that bizarre documentary that Kevin Smith was hired to film but never made? Who did he have affairs with and how did they turn out? How long had the drug abuse gone on before his death? What relationships did he have with others in the Minneapolis community, government? What did he like to eat? ?? If you want to know more about the musical catalog, this is helpful, but the man is as much a mystery as ever.

What was most disappointing about Ben Greenman’s story?

see above

Have you listened to any of Peter Berkrot’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no