Dey Street Books

Like so many vital figures in British pop history, from Pete Townshend to Paul Weller, Bowie came from a blurry region of British society that encompasses the educated working class, the socially precarious petite bourgeoisie and what could be called the uncomfortably-off middle class, i.e. professional or office workers whose income didn’t quite match their aspirations.

He was even more widely beloved than I’d realized, because every culture and every generation had its own Bowie

at the center of it all, your eyes.” (As another one of his creations sang years ago, on his way to a similar exit, “Tell my wife I love her very much