Michael Jackson Book Club Review: “My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man”

August 19, 2021

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My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man
Rating: 3/5

“My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man” by Frank Cascio

This is not another Michael Jackson biography. It is a memoir from a young man who had the good fortune to have grown up in Michael’s inner circle and as a young adult became one of Michael’s closest aides.

As a literary genre, memoirs are useful documents; they are first-hand accounts which allow the reader to gain a particular perspective on their chosen topic of study. Michael Jackson is the topic of study for the reader of this book and there is plenty that has been written about him. Since his untimely death in 2009 there have been numerous memoirs and biographies written by colleagues, family members, music journalists, cultural critics, and biographers. However, the value of this memoir lies in Frank Cascio’s outsider status; he is not a writer, he is not a family member, he was neither a peer nor worked in an artistic capacity with Michael.

Frank Cascio’s memoir offers us a glimpse through the French doors of the hotel balcony, behind the blackened window of the SUV, behind the gates of Neverland and because of the mystery that surrounded the artist’s public persona, the reader will find this book compelling. Cascio’s youthful yet fragmented memories of visiting Michael on tour, at home or of Michael spending time at the Cascio family home in New York, allow the seasoned MJ reader to corroborate much of what they already knew about the artist’s private persona. According to Cascio, Michael was a practical joker, extremely generous, well read, and had strong moral convictions which made him a great mentor and role model for the Cascio children and other young people he spent time with. For the everyday reader, Cascio does an excellent job of humanising a superstar and provides a glowing character reference for the often-misunderstood artist.

Cascio is one of many young people Michael befriended but he is the only one (so far) to have written a memoir about his experience. This adds further value to the book because understanding Michael’s affinity with children, teenagers and young adults has grown in importance since its publication in 2011. Cascio’s memoir offers an important counter-narrative to correct the media distortion that followed Robson and Safechuck’s failed civil-suit. For those readers who have absorbed this damaging narrative, reading ‘My Friend Michael’ will certainly restore their faith in Michael’s reputation as an outstanding role model to young people.

All this aside, memoirs do have limitations as primary sources for the researcher. Firstly, they are one person’s interpretation of a time-period, context, or event. Michael Jackson’s life was multi-faceted, complex and unlike no-one else’s life in history. One person’s memoir will not be able to adequately capture this. For the reader hoping to gain a biographical or creative overview of Michael’s life; they would be better served by other books. Equally, in the final chapters of the book that deal with Frank and Michael’s relationship as employee / employer, the narrative is more about Frank making sense of his own changing relationship with a friend which may leave the reader frustrated.

In summary, I recommend this book to fans and non-fans due to its unique nature. It is interesting, easy to read and available in hardback, e-book and audio book formats.

Jeannette Simpson

Michael Jackson Book Club Member