Books: Moonwalk

The Michael Jackson biopic Michael lit up the box office for the past few weeks, but for any child of the '80s and '90s, even a big-budget 2026 production is but a pale imitation of the real thing. That's why I read through Moonwalk, Michael Jackson's 1988 autobiography.

Like the recent movie, Moonwalk was published in 1988, before the child abuse allegations and drug addiction that consumed the last years of Jackson's life. At the time Jackson told his story to writer Shaye Areheart, he was nearing the peak of his powers. He would play the Super Bowl halftime show five years later, he would be charged with child molestation fifteen years later, and he would die twenty years later.

The autobiography itself is pretty anodyne, as you might expect. There are some hints of the issues to come (passages where Jackson says he's never tried any drugs, explanations of why he loves the company of children, etc.).  The closest Jackson comes to being defensive is his frank admission of having multiple plastic surgeries - not a big deal, according to Jackson, since everyone in Hollywood gets work done. On the other hand, the book doesn't brag about the huge amounts of time and money Jackson donated to charity, either.

Whatever you think of Michael Jackson (and his legacy is being posthumously litigated now more than ever before, with documentaries and counter-documentaries left and right), he was the one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived. The best parts of the book go behind the scenes of his hit songs, his music videos, and his dance moves. If you've ever wondered where hits like "Billie Jean" or "Beat It" come from, or how the "Thriller" music video came together, well, this is one of the only places to hear it from the man himself.