Bernard Jay

The first thing I have to tell you about "Not Simply Divine" is that Bernard Jay is NOT a storyteller. He is a competent recorder of facts, and as Divine's long-time manager, he has a wealth of facts at his fingertips, but little talent for turning those facts into a compelling narrative. I picked up this book after falling madly in love with the Antony and the Johnsons track "Divine", and finished the book feeling like that 3.42 minute track gave me more than this 200 page bio did.

Divine's former personal manager takes readers through a labyrinth of American subcultures, countercultures, and glimmering nightlife to tell this no-holds-barred story of a man who did anything to become a star.