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On June 25, 2009, when the 911 call came into the Ronald
Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, medical staff had
no idea they were in the middle of pop culture history. The
emergency operator and the paramedics he dispatched didn’t
know the identity of the man they were asked to help, but
they learned soon enough that their patient was Michael
Jackson.
For Jackson, it had been a long, rough road to that moment.
Throughout his life, he’d survived loneliness, physical
abuse, estrangement from family, accidents and scandals.
Outwardly, he was a survivor, driven, a perfectionist.
Behind closed doors, though, there was something more
sinister.
In the days following the making of a commercial in which
Jackson so famously received scalp burns, he was
understandably in pain. Doctors administered narcotics to
alleviate his suffering and, consequently, Jackson became
increasingly dependent on drugs. Later, he complained of
insomnia, and he visited several medical providers for more,
different prescriptions. He even asked for help from the
doctor his children had been seeing for their allergies.
Dr. Conrad Murray was happy to oblige.
Whether Murray was officially hired to be the
personal physician for Jackson’s come-back tour is a matter
of opinion but the authors say that Murray needed money, and
assuming Jackson’s care was his chosen method. That included
giving the singer drugs which allowed Jackson to sleep but
which fueled his addiction. It didn’t take long before
Jackson needed more-powerful drugs, which Murray procured in
large quantities.
And on June 25, 2009, one of those drugs shook the world…
It’s rare for me to like a book before I even get to the end
of Page One, but that’s what happened with 83 Minutes.
This is an easy book to dive into.
Starting with what became a crime scene, authors Matt
Richards and Mark Langthorne then take us back 50 years to
show how Michael Jackson’s death seemed to be decades in the
making. To rehash Jackson’s biography may seem redundant –
haven’t there been enough MJ books? – but it’s actually a
fascinating scene-setter for the re-creation of the dramatic
events of seven years ago.
Richards and Langthorne go on to imagine what may have
happened, based on what’s known. Was Michael Jackson
murdered – and if so, by whom? Their hypotheses are
intriguing, especially in light of the aftermath of
Jackson’s death, his will(s), and the legacy he left.
They say you’ll always remember where you were when you hear
of certain tragedies, and 83 Minutes takes you there
again. For fans, definitely, as well as students of pop
culture and true crime aficionados, immersion in this book
won’t take long.
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