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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
slow-paced
The story, as a whole, was interesting. However, the book was terribly written (even worse than the “50 Shades of Grey” series!) The author skipped around, making it difficult to follow the story. Poor grammar, sloppy sentence structure and messy editing were all an issue. I made it through the book only because I’m a Nirvana fan. My recommendation would be to choose a different Nirvana biography to read.
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Come As You Are is a fascinating time capsule. It claims to be the Story of Nirvana, and in a way it is that as well, but mostly it's a snapshot of Kurt Cobain at the height of Nirvana's fame, shortly before his well known suicide in 1994.
The book mainly focuses on Cobain, largely because it's based on extensive interviews Michael Azerrad conducted with Cobain. It covers his childhood and adolescence as well as Nirvana's origins and rise to fame.
The tone of the book is sometimes a bit strange, because it reads like one of those "what is famous rockstar X like in real life" interviews you see in teen magazines, possibly due to the tone and constantly calling the central three band members almost exclusively by their first names. But maybe it's a hard problem to avoid in a book that's largely based on interviews with a handful of people.
It's kind of telling that the chapter that worked the best in my ears was the final one, added as a late epilogue to the end of the book following Cobain's suicide, because there and only there Azerrad steps away from merely reporting what people are saying, and allows his own views, thoughts and feelings to shine through. In a way the book might have been a better read if it had been written entirely after the fact and in this style, but then it would be a completely different book.
As it stands, it allows a very personal and uncensored view into the life of Kurt Cobain just before the end. It isn't a polished PR piece, because Kurt often comes across quite unfavourably, but that's not a detriment in any way.
The book mainly focuses on Cobain, largely because it's based on extensive interviews Michael Azerrad conducted with Cobain. It covers his childhood and adolescence as well as Nirvana's origins and rise to fame.
The tone of the book is sometimes a bit strange, because it reads like one of those "what is famous rockstar X like in real life" interviews you see in teen magazines, possibly due to the tone and constantly calling the central three band members almost exclusively by their first names. But maybe it's a hard problem to avoid in a book that's largely based on interviews with a handful of people.
It's kind of telling that the chapter that worked the best in my ears was the final one, added as a late epilogue to the end of the book following Cobain's suicide, because there and only there Azerrad steps away from merely reporting what people are saying, and allows his own views, thoughts and feelings to shine through. In a way the book might have been a better read if it had been written entirely after the fact and in this style, but then it would be a completely different book.
As it stands, it allows a very personal and uncensored view into the life of Kurt Cobain just before the end. It isn't a polished PR piece, because Kurt often comes across quite unfavourably, but that's not a detriment in any way.
“Not only was the music compelling and catchy, it captured the spirit of the age.”
This book is thorough; insightful and heartbreaking. I was too young to really appreciate or understand Nirvana in the early 90s. It didn’t help that my older brother blared them constantly and I got SO tired of hearing them all the damned time. I never became a fan.
Now, my brother is burning me a CD with his favorite Nirvana songs. How very 90s of him!
This book is thorough; insightful and heartbreaking. I was too young to really appreciate or understand Nirvana in the early 90s. It didn’t help that my older brother blared them constantly and I got SO tired of hearing them all the damned time. I never became a fan.
Now, my brother is burning me a CD with his favorite Nirvana songs. How very 90s of him!
really good book... i never was into nirvana growing up but i learned so much about the people in the band and their lives and their music. This book was published before Kurt killed himself so while reading there was this sense of doom because i knew how the story ends, but the characters and writer didn't... The lives of these three men was so dramatically changed with the release of Nevermind, and obviously fame had good effects and some intensely negative ones... but when it came down to it these people just liked to play their music and piss of baby boomers... can't say i really disagree with that! I'm glad that i read this book because Nirvana was a defining band of the 90s and of the youth of the 90s... I dont think that i was really missing out on anything, but now I'd like to listen to their songs more carefully with a different point of view.
So far I've read this book about 5 or 6 times. I really like it because it transports emotions so well. Sometimes it
feels like it's Kurt Cobain who's telling his own story and you completely forget that you are 'only' reading a book.You get inside on Kurt's life before Nirvana, you learn about everything that influenced him somehow, from his parents' divorce to the first time he heard about Punk Rock. How difficult his time at school was and how hard he was trying to start a band and keep it going. You also see how the fame changed everything for him, how much he was suffering, all the problems he was having.
Sounds a bit silly but this book touches you heart. It's so hard not to cry when you read the end and Kurt's letter. I think Michael Azzerad managed to capture Kurt's life, his thoughts and his feelings just perfectly.
Go ahead, read it :)
feels like it's Kurt Cobain who's telling his own story and you completely forget that you are 'only' reading a book.You get inside on Kurt's life before Nirvana, you learn about everything that influenced him somehow, from his parents' divorce to the first time he heard about Punk Rock. How difficult his time at school was and how hard he was trying to start a band and keep it going. You also see how the fame changed everything for him, how much he was suffering, all the problems he was having.
Sounds a bit silly but this book touches you heart. It's so hard not to cry when you read the end and Kurt's letter. I think Michael Azzerad managed to capture Kurt's life, his thoughts and his feelings just perfectly.
Go ahead, read it :)
Only book on Nirvana you need to read , written while he was alive at the height of Nirvanas success-91-93- with the whole bands input so none of the lore of the last 30 years to taint it. Very good insight on Chris and Dave too and gives better context to how and why Nevermind was so huge. Highly recommend.
This book doesn't get five stars because it's Nabokov or anything, but as a solid profile on a band that defined a generation, Azerrad nails it. I read this book when it came out, and then recently again because I'm a ex-grunge drummer writing an essay on the subject. What I took away way back then was a fair view of Cobain as a person, versus the media maelstrom. Azerrad also projects a thesis that while band might be good or even great, it only becomes a phenomena if it has a scene—and hits the zeitgeist nerve of the times. Now I'm no longer in the thrall of rock stardom. But it was fun to go back in time, back when this band mattered to a bunch of us.
Decent read. Covers the history of Nirvana up until like 5 months before Kurt's suicide. Engaging book but nothing too crazy. I preferred Azerrad's "Our Band Could be Your Life".