Timothy White's Catch A Fire (The Life Of Bob Marley) is a biography that can claim for itself a status nearly equal to its legendary subject. Well, almost. Dubbed among the top musical biographies on many top ten lists, this 4th "definitive" edition is appropriately admired for its exhaustive research and intimate details.
Reggae Star Was Author's Hero
First published in 1983, not long after the Reggae superstar's untimely death at the age of 36, Catch A Fire delves more deeply into Marley's life, music, family, and spirituality than any of the more-than-two-dozen books on his life have since. White's investigation of the legend's life is anything but a hastily written "bio" meant to take advantage of a premature demise. Six years of research alone went into this book.
In her "notes on the new edition", White's widow Judy, who oversaw this 4th Edition, states "Bob Marley was Timothy White's hero." While that sort of admiration shines through the writing from time to time, the author does not hold back on the dirty details or attempt to paint Marley with an unrealistically pristine patina.
Moreso, White simply tells it all. He was able to do so by gaining the trust of Bob Marley and the tight-knit group of Jamaican family and musicians surrounding the star. As a result, White was granted access to family memorabilia and documents that no one else outside that group ever has.
From Tiny Jamaican Village to Superstardom
Catch A Fire proceeds chronologically from Robert "Nesta" Marley's illegitimate 1945 birth in the tiny Northern Jamaica village of St. Ann, through his extraordinary life to his early death from Cancer in 1981. It even chronicles the nasty in-fighting over Marley's multimillion dollar estate that continues to this day.
Readers that have come to expect a straightforward, authoritative voice from a biography may, at first, be surprised or put off by the style/voice White chooses to relate the story. He enters "creative nonfiction" territory (long before it was common) in the creative license taken with conversations and scenes he could have little knowledge of beyond hearsay.
For example, a scene between young mother and baby, containing every nuance of movement, every thought, even the smell of the thunderstorm. Once adjusted to, however, this novelistic approach enhances the story rather than making the reader suspicious.
A Many-Sided Biography
Beyond the ups and downs of the life of Bob Marley, and the dealings of the Wailers, which will be left for the reader to discover, Catch A Fire has many other aspects to recommend it. The colorful and authentic Jamaican "patois" between the characters gives the entire story an appropriately Caribbean feel.
Because Marley's music was so often steeped in politics and spirituality, White wisely spends enough time on the rocky Jamaican political system and the basics of Ethiopian Rastafarianism for the reader to gain some context. This edition also contains an exhaustive 70-page discography of every piece of music ever recorded by Marley, the Wailers, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, and all members of the Marley family.
Most importantly, however, Timothy White's Catch A Fire does what the best of biographies do: turn a larger-than-life, often mysterious icon into a real person. For the more casually interested reader, this book should stir an interest in Bob Marley. For fans of the Reggae giant, Catch A Fire will provide a deeper understanding of the man and his music.
White, Timothy. Catch A Fire. 2006, Owl Books (ISBN: 978-0805080865)
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