Customer Reviews
Disappointed - By: Saul Richman, 25 Mar 2008 
I'm not a Queen fan but I bought this book by "glücklicher Zufall" - happy accident, after literally stumbling into Freddy's statuein Montreux Switzerland. The Swiss just don't do statues & I was really touched as people came up to kiss & touch this fantastic image of Freddyin what became his adopted city.
Two weeks laterin Paris (sorry for blatant name-dropping) I saw the book & bought it immediately. I wanted to know "the real Freddy Mercury" & with wife & kids away I plonked myself down eagerly looking forward to reading this "intimate memoir by the man who knew him best" (Cover page).
Oh dear. A great disappointment.
I found out about lots Freddy's tastein curtains, linens & bathroom fixtures, but precious little I didn't already know about the man. No dirt, no sleaze - not an issue for me, but I just didn't feel I knew this man any better even after 250 pages. It was just mundane & superficial anecdotes. Memorable tales? No.
Sorry Queen fans, there must be better biographies on the market.
But I would say to you - go to Montreux if you've not already been & see how the Swiss have have commemorated this great musician & entertainer. I think you'll enjoy your trip.
A fake story fron fake friend - By: Mariam Akhundova, 07 Nov 2007 
This man was officially presented as Freddie close friend. But really he is a servant who made himself famous spreading dirty stories about Freddie private life. And everybody believein it because his lie officially supported by Queen Productions, Queen official fan club & Queen manager Jim Beach. This man is a total liar, his stories - a total fiction, his photos - cheap fake. The people who worked with photoshop laughed hysterically when they saw this kids created photos with "Freddie & his loves".
So, it's taken from this book.
...this lady arrivedin the early part of the concert days with the intention of orally catering of the physical needs of as many people as possible involvedin the show. It goes without saying that Freddie had admiration for this woman's severance, technique & capacity!
So, teenagers can buy it! Shame.
Life Behind The Keyhole. - By: JUDE, 20 Apr 2007 
As a card carrying member of the Queen Fan Club, circa 1977, I was really looking forward to reading this. It wasn`t bad, but some of the detail regarding Freddie`s house furnishings was downright dull. I wasn`t really sure whether it was written by the house-keeper of an outrageous rock star or Lloyd Grossman. There is absolutely no scandal or tittle-tattle, & believe me, I was looking forward to tittle-tattle. Freestone mentions how Freddie`s ex-manager had hurt him without going into any detail, I read later that he had sold stories to the press. The book has it`s really good moments such as describing Christmas & New Year at Garden Lodge, & the last years of Freddie`s life. The final times are really poignant. It is obvious the author cared deeply for his subject, &in some ways life at Freddie`s place was like a gay Gracelands. Everyone did their duty whether it was feeding the cats or cooking the dinner. Freddie had nothing to do except be Freddie. And he never got doing that for anywhere near long enough.In the end, the greatest rock star ever seen just faded away because of that awful disease. Interestingly, Freestone makes no reference to his own sexuality, we are unaware whether he is gay, straight or bi. What amazed me was the apparent lack of contact between Queen`s lead singer & the other members of the group. There are some good pictures, although everyone looks the same, short hair & black moustache. It was hard to spot Fred. The most disturbing photo showed a bunch of happy men, all wearing hats, allin the prime of life & all mugging for the camera. It was possible to draw a line through the group to connect Freddie, his ex-manager & one of Freddie`s ex-lovers, & realise they were now all dead. Tragic.
Freddie Mercury The AfterLife by David Evans and Peter Freestone. - By: Susan, 03 Mar 2007 
I wrote this because all the other reviews seemed to be about the first book & not this second book, so I thought this second book, Freddie Mercury The Afterlife, needed an actual review, so here goes: The front cover is a lovely, sweet picture of Freddie & Miko, the back cover is a portion of the final arrangements made for Freddie. I wasn't expecting to see that & it made me very sad even though I know he has been gone 16 years now. This second book takes up where the first one left off & is a description of Peter (Phoebe) Freestone's life since Freddie's passing. He talks about the various things he has been doing throughout the years. Peter mentions what the people talked aboutin the first book are doing as of 2003. There are some pictures I hadn't seen before within the book. Peter describes a visit he paid to Garden Lodgein 2003, where he met with Mary Austin & got to see Delilah again. He discusses some of the many books which have been written about Freddie & what he thinks of them. I only mentioned some things, the book contains much more than what I mention. David Evans speaksin it too & there's even Recipes of the different foods that would be made for Freddie.
Personally, it helped me to read this second book because it cleared up some confusion I had about some things writtenin the first book & too, even if it is silly on my part, it was nice to learn that Peter was okay, I had wondered since reading the first book.
Can't make up my mind - By: Shazzeth, 11 Jun 2006 
This was the first book about Freddie (and generally Queen) that I'd read (I have more now haha), & to be honest when I first read it I idolised it. Now, thinking back on it, it's not all that impressive.
Freestone seems to drone on & on about the tours & doesn't really pick up on anything particularly interesting whilst doing so. It's a bit of a case of "They dressed up, they performed, then Freddie & I (best chums that we were) went out clubbing". It just all got a bit repetitive for my liking, & incredibly confusingin others. I ended up finding it very difficult to distinguish between the characters mentionedin the book, & although I did find some parts genuinely interesting; I found Freestone's style incredibly boring. There didn't seem to be much passionin the book. Yes, I did cry upon reading the end because it is a genuine tragedy no matter who has written about it - but generally the book was a disappointment.
