Under Pressure

“In this provocative, cutting-edge, and gorgeously written book, Max Brzezinski complicates the conventional understanding of the duet by making sense of David Bowie’s and Freddie Mercury’s distinct contributions while arguing that the subject of the song is people. Brzezinski’s interpretations are simultaneously clever and historically grounded, leaving no stone unturned. Under Pressure sets the bar for popular music writing.” - Richard T. Rodríguez, author of A Kiss Across the Ocean: Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk and US Latinidad

“Max Brzezinski’s riveting and learned account of Queen and David Bowie’s ‘Under Pressure’ could not be more timely. Given the turns of recent events too gruesome but also too well known to enumerate, the song’s outro lines—‘This is our last dance / This is our last dance / This is ourselves’—hit the spot marked X in our present moment.” - Eric Lott, author of Black Mirror: The Cultural Contradictions of American Racism

“The power of an anthemic song . . . is not just that it is enjoyed by mass audiences, but it is also dense with meaning to be unpacked by critical investigation. . . . The reader might wonder if one song merits an entire book. The answer is by and large ‘yes.’” - Ola Johansson, AAG Review of Books