James McBride's book, a combination of James Brown's biography and a meditation on the social structures and the society in which he lived and made some of the most memorable art (esp. of the 50s 60s and 70s), shows how placing such an enormous task in the hands of a storyteller rather than a biographer/historian can yield much more than a standard chronology of facts. 

McBride's task is to tell the story of a man who 'didn't want to be known' and who had a non stop stream of acquaintances who all claimed to have a piece of the man. 

McBride's writing explores Brown's complexity, the distrust that led him to stash cash in a wide variety of places making his estate a nightmare to settle, the problems of poverty and southern culture that would be impossible to escape even after great success, his harsh treatment of those closest but also his loyalty, the mythmaking that often did a disservice to Brown's shrewdness, and the way a business surrounded by so many who wanted a piece could evently wear him down but long after it destroyed others in the entertainment business. 

This is not an attempt make him heroic. Nor does the book make him a caricature - a great exploration, warts and all, that will also teach things about the 60s and 70s, Augusta and South Carolina, the Soul and Rock music industries, and about relationships. Challenging if you're trying to reduce a person's identity to one simple thing.