THORNE, MATT

A geeks' guide to a performer steeped in funk and sex? It seems a curious fit, but perfectionist Prince has always attracted obsessives, for whom The Vault (the Paisley Park chamber packed with abandoned demos and unreleased tracks) assumes grail-like significance. Novelist Thorne's completist approach can be exhausting: he gives more time to the later period of side projects, reinventions and light jazz than to Prince's 1980s pomp, while reviews of virtually every show and aftershow of his 21-night-stand at the O2 take up almost 30 pages of this footnote-packed tome. Thankfully Thorne has both a profound enthusiasm (I'm already revisiting Prince's back catalogue) and a refreshing candour – lesser tracks are slated and creepy habits dissected (a publicist grumbles about being repeatedly dragged to London club Tramp to gaze silently at women and drink Drambuie and blackcurrant). The many interviews (including Revolution stalwarts Wendy and Lisa) shed light on Prince's music and career, as well as his experiments with record distribution and fan sites, and touch on his journey from genre-fusing radical to preaching recluse. But the endlessly talented and frustrating man himself remains as unknowable as ever. (The Guardian)