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labunnywtf's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't start out a Nirvana fan. My sister was four years older than me, and she would blast "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and I would be annoyed.
To be fair, I still don't much care for that song. It wasn't until "All Apologies" that I covertly started paying attention to what she was listening to. I recall being in a car with her, and her best friend, singing along quietly. Her friend told my sister I was cool, and my sister grumbled.
I was 11 when he died. Which feels really, really young looking back, but it really did affect us. I was in Catholic school, and only a handful of my classmates were fans, but for just a minute, we were bonded with sadness that there would be no more Nirvana. We would never get to see them live.
I'm still unhappy about that one. It's on the list, when I finally meet The Doctor. We're going back.
This book is fantastic. Halfway through, I started texting my best friend (another huge Nirvana fan, but we didn't meet until three or four years after he was gone) facts. I also pointed out that this is a very short book, and she'll have plenty of time to read it between child wrangling before it has to be back to the library.
I love this book not just because I'm a Nirvana fan, but because of what it is. It's how the world was affected by one man, by one band. I live for this stuff. It's the butterfly flapping her wings in a rainforest.
I want more books like this. I want to know how other musicians, other pop culture icons, have affected the way the world is, long after they're gone.
Mind, I'm picky. I don't want to know how Anna Nicole Smith or Britney Spears changed the world. Only important people.
I do wish this book had pictures. I don't know if it's a licensing issue or not. But I spent an inordinate amount of time googling to find the pictures discussed, and I was intensely irritated that I couldn't find Nirvana on SNL in 1992 on Youtube.
To be fair, I still don't much care for that song. It wasn't until "All Apologies" that I covertly started paying attention to what she was listening to. I recall being in a car with her, and her best friend, singing along quietly. Her friend told my sister I was cool, and my sister grumbled.
I was 11 when he died. Which feels really, really young looking back, but it really did affect us. I was in Catholic school, and only a handful of my classmates were fans, but for just a minute, we were bonded with sadness that there would be no more Nirvana. We would never get to see them live.
I'm still unhappy about that one. It's on the list, when I finally meet The Doctor. We're going back.
This book is fantastic. Halfway through, I started texting my best friend (another huge Nirvana fan, but we didn't meet until three or four years after he was gone) facts. I also pointed out that this is a very short book, and she'll have plenty of time to read it between child wrangling before it has to be back to the library.
I love this book not just because I'm a Nirvana fan, but because of what it is. It's how the world was affected by one man, by one band. I live for this stuff. It's the butterfly flapping her wings in a rainforest.
I want more books like this. I want to know how other musicians, other pop culture icons, have affected the way the world is, long after they're gone.
Mind, I'm picky. I don't want to know how Anna Nicole Smith or Britney Spears changed the world. Only important people.
I do wish this book had pictures. I don't know if it's a licensing issue or not. But I spent an inordinate amount of time googling to find the pictures discussed, and I was intensely irritated that I couldn't find Nirvana on SNL in 1992 on Youtube.
shawn_annets's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
bethgee's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting quick little read. Learned more about this musical legend than I knew before and enjoyed the author's interesting perspective on Cobain's lasting influence.
randolph_carter's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
daveinyourface's review against another edition
2.0
As one may suspect this book is very subjective. Its clear the author couldn't separate his closeness to the subject matter to make a more objective argument.
Some of his points can come off as down right laughable. The whole section about Converse shoes came off like Converse are only around still since Kurt wore them, like no other musician or culture icon wore them before or since Kurt.
If you are a huge Kurt/Nirvana fan you will eat this up, if you are a more objective music fan like me you will probably find this book lacking.
Some of his points can come off as down right laughable. The whole section about Converse shoes came off like Converse are only around still since Kurt wore them, like no other musician or culture icon wore them before or since Kurt.
If you are a huge Kurt/Nirvana fan you will eat this up, if you are a more objective music fan like me you will probably find this book lacking.
jewelianne's review against another edition
4.0
This book is not a biography of Kurt Cobain or of Nirvana. There are plenty of those available already. (You can find most of them on my "Seattle" bookshelf here on Goodreads.) Instead, this book examines the ways that Kurt Cobain's life and death have continued to have an effect on various aspects of our culture in the twenty years since his death. It's a really interesting book, although there are times that I wonder if Cross is sometimes reaching. It's obvious that Kurt Cobain had a huge impact on Cross both professionally and personally, just as he has affected the lives of countless teens and twentysomethings of the last few generations. But that's all very personal. I don't know if it's possible to make overarching claims about his life and legacy on society at large, outside of the realm of music of course. Anyone would probably agree that the Nirvana sound has influenced some really good rock bands (and also a lot of really crappy bands; I hate you Nickelback!), as well as other less obvious musical acts. But I don't know if I quite agree with everything Cross claims, say in relation to the treatment of drug addiction. Then again, he does make a convincing enough case, and I'm sure he's more qualified to make such statements than I am to refute them.
The Nirvana fangirl in me LOVES this book. But I'm not convinced that Kurt Cobain, or more broadly, Seattle grunge bands have any really lasting impact on larger society. If they did, how could we have bands like My Darkest Day (haha, I jest. Kind of). How could they, when "grunge" didn't even really exist? Again I think that most of the lasting impact affects the fans on a personal level. So I would definitely recommend this to hardcore fans. I guess it could also be interesting to people with a more general desire to learn about the cultural zeitgeist that was early 90's slackerism and "the Seattle Sound."
The Nirvana fangirl in me LOVES this book. But I'm not convinced that Kurt Cobain, or more broadly, Seattle grunge bands have any really lasting impact on larger society. If they did, how could we have bands like My Darkest Day (haha, I jest. Kind of). How could they, when "grunge" didn't even really exist? Again I think that most of the lasting impact affects the fans on a personal level. So I would definitely recommend this to hardcore fans. I guess it could also be interesting to people with a more general desire to learn about the cultural zeitgeist that was early 90's slackerism and "the Seattle Sound."
taylortummons's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0