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A review by bookysue
Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett
4.0
Thanks to my older sister, I grew up listening to the Eels, but like many people, I never knew anything about Mark Everett. And, while I liked the Eels, they were never my favorite band, so I never knew he had written his memoir, nor would I have thought much of it if I'd known.
And this is where I want to emphasize that this book stands on its own, regardless of whether you are a huge Eels fan or not. He does include some passages of lyrics in the book, when his writing them fits into the story, and it was nice to have a working knowledge of what the songs he was talking about sounded like, but it's certainly not necessary. Because, yes, he's the frontman of a fairly popular band, but that's not what makes this book great. Instead, it's the fact that he's led such an interesting life, only part of which is due to the fact that he's the frontman of a fairly popular band.
The book is sad and funny, and his voice is so honest and conversational that it feels more like sitting down with your favorite uncle while he tells you some interesting parts of his life. And some parts are more intimate and feel almost like reading someone's journal. I think that's one of the things that stands out to me about this memoir in particular -- Everett writes not just of events that happened or action that will move the "plot" along; he often explains in detail how he was feeling at a particular point in time, or what he was thinking and how he came to do a certain thing. It made for a really interesting story.
One thing that brought me down a little bit while I was reading was that there are several passages where he gets a bit cocky, despite his claim that he's really not like that, and it made me like him (and therefore "his character") a little less. These parts were half-joking, like when he talks about the Prettiest Girl in Junior High trying to get on his tour bus, or when he schools some other lame person who's not as rich and famous as he is, but they just gave me a creepy vibe and took me out of the story for a moment.
Another thing I thought worth noting is that it's funny to read someone's memoirs in THE AGE OF THE INTERNET because if you're interested in something they say, you can potentially look it up and find out more about it. In this book, that was the plane crash he mentioned happening in his neighborhood when he was "around 12." I was curious about it, and I thought there couldn't have been that many plane crashes in McLean, Virginia in the '70s, so I googled it. Turns out it happened when he was 14, and it was actually a corporate jet with only 4 people on board, including the crew. So when he says there were body parts all over his neighborhood, and a group of bodies in the park, it's weird to be able to find out that that's partly his 14-year-old imagination running a bit wild. I mean, I realize it would still be a traumatizing event, and he was a kid, so of course he's not going to remember it 100% accurately, and I'm not faulting him for that. It was just interesting to find out what really happened that night, and to see the differences between what he remembered and the facts.
Anyway, I really recommend this one from the memoir genre. My dad's been talking about writing his memoirs for years, and this was the book I sent him to gently remind him to get to work.
And this is where I want to emphasize that this book stands on its own, regardless of whether you are a huge Eels fan or not. He does include some passages of lyrics in the book, when his writing them fits into the story, and it was nice to have a working knowledge of what the songs he was talking about sounded like, but it's certainly not necessary. Because, yes, he's the frontman of a fairly popular band, but that's not what makes this book great. Instead, it's the fact that he's led such an interesting life, only part of which is due to the fact that he's the frontman of a fairly popular band.
The book is sad and funny, and his voice is so honest and conversational that it feels more like sitting down with your favorite uncle while he tells you some interesting parts of his life. And some parts are more intimate and feel almost like reading someone's journal. I think that's one of the things that stands out to me about this memoir in particular -- Everett writes not just of events that happened or action that will move the "plot" along; he often explains in detail how he was feeling at a particular point in time, or what he was thinking and how he came to do a certain thing. It made for a really interesting story.
One thing that brought me down a little bit while I was reading was that there are several passages where he gets a bit cocky, despite his claim that he's really not like that, and it made me like him (and therefore "his character") a little less. These parts were half-joking, like when he talks about the Prettiest Girl in Junior High trying to get on his tour bus, or when he schools some other lame person who's not as rich and famous as he is, but they just gave me a creepy vibe and took me out of the story for a moment.
Another thing I thought worth noting is that it's funny to read someone's memoirs in THE AGE OF THE INTERNET because if you're interested in something they say, you can potentially look it up and find out more about it. In this book, that was the plane crash he mentioned happening in his neighborhood when he was "around 12." I was curious about it, and I thought there couldn't have been that many plane crashes in McLean, Virginia in the '70s, so I googled it. Turns out it happened when he was 14, and it was actually a corporate jet with only 4 people on board, including the crew. So when he says there were body parts all over his neighborhood, and a group of bodies in the park, it's weird to be able to find out that that's partly his 14-year-old imagination running a bit wild. I mean, I realize it would still be a traumatizing event, and he was a kid, so of course he's not going to remember it 100% accurately, and I'm not faulting him for that. It was just interesting to find out what really happened that night, and to see the differences between what he remembered and the facts.
Anyway, I really recommend this one from the memoir genre. My dad's been talking about writing his memoirs for years, and this was the book I sent him to gently remind him to get to work.