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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
This was great, it took me quite a while to get through but I enjoyed all the details about Kurt’s childhood and loved the photos!
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
must read for everyone who has a slight interest in Nirvana/Kurt Cobain and/or music history. a very detailed inside look.
What a shame. I was really keen to read this, but I'm afraid the appalling writing has just defeated me. I only made it about 1/6 of the way through, and had only really read about Kurt's childhood.
The author seemed to have some good points about the state of music in the early 90s, and had obviously interviewed the band-members and family extensively, so my problem was not one of content. My problem was the disjointed, incoherent, quote-heavy writing. Perhaps some vicious editing would have been this book's saving grace. I will need to seek my Nirvana knowledge elsewhere.
The author seemed to have some good points about the state of music in the early 90s, and had obviously interviewed the band-members and family extensively, so my problem was not one of content. My problem was the disjointed, incoherent, quote-heavy writing. Perhaps some vicious editing would have been this book's saving grace. I will need to seek my Nirvana knowledge elsewhere.
The section detailing the band's activity between Bleach and Nevermind can drag on, but this is an invaluable compendium of information about Kurt and Nirvana as an entity. My 2001 copy contains an afterword/final chapter addressing Kurt's death, and it ties up the book rather well.
A great biography of a very influential grunge/90s era band. Loved the book.
I read this book after watching "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" on HBO. Like many reviewers have written, the author is clearly protective of Cobain in some parts of the book. However (especially since I read this for fun and not any sort of academic purpose), I like that Michael Azerrad became close to Kurt and added a personal touch to his writing. It made the book more engaging and not dry like some biographies tend to be. Plus I imagine it encouraged the band members to disclose information they otherwise wouldn't have.
Wow! This book is fantastic! Big surprise, huh? Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a Nirvana fanatic. This book was written based on more than 25 hours of interviews with the band members, families, friends and a few people on the more corporate side of things. I really enjoyed hearing experiences told from all perspectives. And each member, including their cycle of early drummers has their time in the spotlight.
This book heavily benefits from being written while the band was still together. It negates the retrospective martyr syndrome a lot of pieces on this subject fall guilty to. It was written at the request of Kurt and Courntey, after the prolific Vanity Fair scandal. Even though Azerrad was close with the band he writes honestly, showing the highs and lows of everyone's experiences and personalities to give us a fairly unbiased account of the years.
At times the story is contradictory and even jumps timelines and one has to read between the lines, but that makes it kind of fun! It is all usually intertwined enough that everything pieces together.
This book was originally published six months before Kurt Cobain took his life, and the story ended with the recording of In Utero. Azerrad did add a "new final chapter" in 2001 which was done in a very respectful, reflective manner. You can tell he knew Kurt personally through the care he takes with that section and didn't just write it for sensationalism. (I'm looking at you, Charles R. Cross) However, I would have loved another chapter added between these two covering the release/reception of In Utero, the Heart-Shaped Box music video, Pat Smear, MTV Unplugged and everything else between .
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this portrait of the band. I already hyped four friends into reading it before I was finished! This is 'the' Nirvana biography I would recommend to anyone wanting to know more about the band.
This book heavily benefits from being written while the band was still together. It negates the retrospective martyr syndrome a lot of pieces on this subject fall guilty to. It was written at the request of Kurt and Courntey, after the prolific Vanity Fair scandal. Even though Azerrad was close with the band he writes honestly, showing the highs and lows of everyone's experiences and personalities to give us a fairly unbiased account of the years.
At times the story is contradictory and even jumps timelines and one has to read between the lines, but that makes it kind of fun! It is all usually intertwined enough that everything pieces together.
This book was originally published six months before Kurt Cobain took his life, and the story ended with the recording of In Utero. Azerrad did add a "new final chapter" in 2001 which was done in a very respectful, reflective manner. You can tell he knew Kurt personally through the care he takes with that section and didn't just write it for sensationalism. (I'm looking at you, Charles R. Cross) However, I would have loved another chapter added between these two covering the release/reception of In Utero, the Heart-Shaped Box music video, Pat Smear, MTV Unplugged and everything else between .
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this portrait of the band. I already hyped four friends into reading it before I was finished! This is 'the' Nirvana biography I would recommend to anyone wanting to know more about the band.