The Front Cover Of The Book

Compiled by Susan Black, this book was released by Omnibus Press in England in the year 1993. As in other “In Their Own Words” titles it gathers assorted quotes from all through the years and mashes them together by theme. I used the verb “mash” deliberately, as the book could use some editing – there are quotes that appear multiple times under different headings, and such a thing can turn out to be certainly annoying.

Some of the featured chapters include “Songwriting”, “”Money & Possessions” and (of course) “Clothes & Accessories”. The most comprehensive section is thankfully the one named “The Records”, and we can see facets of Elton that are not necessarily palpable through his music in the chapters “Sports” and “Politics”.

Believe it or not, the true star of the book end up being not the quotes which are featured but rather the pictures that decorate its pages from front to back. There are some double-page spreads that are terrific, including one of Elton jumping while playing that I tried to find online to include on the general introduction to no avail, although I could find a similar picture. Other highlights (or low points, according to your perspective) include a picture of Elton with KISS poking out his tongue (!), Elton as a Victorian Lady (!!) and Elton as Tina Turner (!!!!!). These quite frankly are what make the book worth its price, and if you find it used (like I did) that price is going to be absolutely negligible. Other than that, there is nothing here to get too excited about.