Nirvana: The Biography

Customer Reviews:

Good, But Not Great..........2007-07-13

I found this to be pretty interesting, and without a doubt in-depth bio of the band. Similar to the guy that wrote the Neil Young bio, "Shakey," a couple years back Everett True spends too much time talking about himself and spewing his own opinions though. We get it man-you drank a bunch back then and forgot what happened at a lot of the shows. You don't have to remind us of this fact every five pages. The book does turn into a Kurt and Courtney bio in the last quarter-which is kinda a bummer since it would have been interesting to learn more about how the Foo Fighters came to be a full-time band and how Pat Smear (who seemed to be closer to Kurt than Dave was towards the end) ended up in the original line-up of the Foos. True didn't get any new direct interviews with surviving band members for this bio, but he does talk with many an insider who certainly give some interesting perspective and dish. There are a ton of footnotes and chapter ending "addendas" which make this bio stray a bit from the usual formula. I think the footnotes could have been bi-passed (especially since they often seem there just to include even more of True's opinions on different bands) but many of the addendas do prove interesting. I dunno, I just wish more music bio writers would just reign in their egos a bit and tell the story of the musicians they're writing about instead of letting us all know their personal opinion on every other band that was releasing records at that time. If you want a couple of good examples of this, read "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Azzerad, or the Keith Moon bio "Moon" by Tony Fletcher. Those are rock bios done right. I think True's voice also kinda hurts this book because he seems to have kinda fallen out of love with rock and roll. He just comes across as kind of bitter and spiteful. I like music writings by the likes of Michael Azzerad, Chuck Klosterman, and Nick Hornby. The enthusiasm these guys have for music really comes out in their work, and therefore makes it much more enjoyable. Overall the feel of this book kinda matches that stereotypical early 90's "grunge" vibe-it was kinda brilliant at points but it's so pessimistic and self-loathing that it's tough to take it too seriously.

Lucky to have Everett True.......2007-05-17

The story of Kurt Cobain is one of incredible potential. Potential realized, and potential unrealized. It is astonishingly simple, and yet multi-faceted and complex, full of paradoxes and eternal conflict. This was the cultural terrain which was transversed by Nirvana, at a time when the American Dream was pursued with unquenchable fervor as it was questioned and rebuked.

Kurt Cobian's life has been framed in terms of the American Dream in 'Heavier than Heaven' by Charles Cross. And, I have to admit, it worked as a page turner for me, tho, it really seemed offset and confusing in the end. The thesis that Cobain had 'suicide genes' and had some tragic mystery in his soul waiting to find its escape does a disservice to its subject and audience in the end. It's cheap, and really antithetical to its own truth.

The honor and respect Everett True has for his audience and his subject is the real gift in the great work he has created. I don't believe a better a book could have been written even by someone more intimate with Nirvana or Cobain. Everett lets the voices of the story speak for themselves (some of the best and most illuminating of which is through Cali, the ex-nanny and personal assistant to Kurt and Courtney during the last weeks of Kurt's life), and we are able to see Cobain and the cultural landscape of the early 90s youth culture through the eyes of a truly admirable, and truly Alive human being.

An excellent addition to the Nirvana library.......2007-05-14

Having read Thackray's previous book "Live Through This: American Rock Music in the Nineties," I was not sure what to expect with this book. "Live Through This" almost read like an open love letter to Courtney Love, and The Legend! seemed way too enamored with his own role in the story, so I was worried "Nirvana" would be the same. But that wasn't the case at all (or at least not nearly as much.) Perhaps enough time has passed for Thackray to look back with a more objective eye.

"Nirvana" is an excellent account of the band's rise and fall, and it is indispensable for anyone who wants the entire story. This book does not contain the entire story itself, mind you, but it contains a lot that is not in other books. It reads almost like an oral history of the band, with a lot of quotes from Seattle/Olympia/etc. insiders. I have seen and heard criticism of this book for focusing on Cobain too much, but I can't imagine writing a book on Nirvana that didn't focus on Cobain. While it seems that Grohl and Novoselic were "cooperative" with True according to his acknowledgements section, there aren't a lot of quotes from them in the book. I think if he could have interviewed the two of them extensively, he could have written the perfect Nirvana book. It's pretty cool to see extensive quotes from Channing and also some from Smear in this book though.

I would add this book to the top of the list of books every Nirvana fan must read, along with Azerrad's "Come As You Are" and Cross' "Heavier Than Heaven." If you have not done so, I would read the Azerrad book before the True book if you can. The True book references the Azerrad book fairly frequently. You won't be lost if you haven't read it or anything like that, but the Azerrad book is a good source for an introduction to the history of the band, and from my experience I think it is good to read True's account with the Azerrad framework already in place.

I really liked the Cross book and definitely recommend reading it, but I don't feel it is nearly as essential as the Azerrad book or this True book. Cross took a lot of artistic license, especially in his account of Cobain's last days which is almost entirely fictional considering that neither Cross nor anyone Cross cites was actually present for any of the events he writes about. Accordingly, Cross has to be taken with a big grain of salt. But then again, Everett True has to be taken with a pretty big grain himself. I guess the lesson is, as with anything else, you have to consider the source and the context with whatever you are reading...

everett's story, and oh yeah,.. Nirvana were there too.......2007-04-02

On page 131, our author states, "I used to say that the only goal I ever had with my writing was to make people jealous of me." That doesn't necessarily make our author a likeable character, and pretty much overshadowed my enjoyment of the book for about the first half. The chapter where he met Courtney, is a total waste of space. It has nothing to do with the band and he's just alluding to how close they supposedly got, like he's baiting us to care.

Please don't take the 3 star review to mean this is not an enjoyable book. It is. I flew through its nearly 600 pages in a couple days and it was quite the page turner. But all of this "this is how it really was" talk seems kind of hard to believe. For starters, Mr. True was supposedly drunk all the time so it's hard to really believe he remembers facts from these events so long ago. Also, when Kurt and Courtney hook up, he takes on the annoying practice of referring to them as "Kurtney." The book doesn't mention Dave Grohl much at all, and a lot of his stories DO seem to be only to make you wish you were him. But hearing countless stories of waking up with vomit caked to your clothes, or being wasted everynight, or waking up naked in a strange apartment, really kind of kill that desire. He calls himself "the man who invented grunge" and a Legend.. and I have no love for such arrogance. In the introduction, he constantly gets off topic and then rights himself, saying "This is a book about Nirvana." I wish he did this DURING the book himself. Wasting countless pages on Calvin Johnson, Mudhoney, and Melvins worship.

Another problem with the book is the sheer amount of errors of things we could actually prove (events recorded for all to see.) Mistakes are that Lori Goldston played cello with the band on Saturday Night Live in '93. Mistakes are messing up the order of events for the Dallas 10-19-91 show. Or the setlist for numerous shows. He'll say a song was played 12th ("More than a Feeling/Teen Spirit") at Reading '92 when it was really 13th (14th if you count "The Rose.") Nothing huge, but why bother reporting 12th? He says they played "Floyd" 4-9-93 when they didn't. The order of songs for 7-23-93 are all messed up. There are mistakes for other shows, but others where Everett turned out to be correct.

You really get the feeling he is writing all of this from memory and not trying to track down the facts first. You get this impression because of the above errors (like saying "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" from the Beavis and Butt-head Compilation was from a Brazil session, when it wasn't.) You also get the impression because he quotes people a handful of times with his own British terminology thrown in. He has Kurt saying "postman" when Americans call him "mailman." Again, not a serious thing, but it's hard to believe he is actually "quoting" people when he'll admit not having the tape on during a 15-16 year old interview.

Everett says Nirvana were possibly late to Reading '92 because of a show the previous day in another country/area. It's easy to prove there was no such show. He doesn't correct people that make mistakes either. Jack Endino says at the late Oct '92 session he did with the band, that Frances Bean was 2-3 weeks old. In reality it was over 2 months. He said Kurt's mom put out the 'missing persons' report on him, but it was really Courtney using her name. He said MTV didn't even air Unplugged until after Kurt died, which isn't true. It was originally aired on 12-16-93. He said the controversy over "In Utero"'s commerciality ended when a few songs were mixed and some of the "noisier" songs "removed"!! I really wish I kept a list of thing like this throughout reading the book, because right now I'm drawing a blank on some others.

When it gets to Kurt's mysterious and controversial death, it doesn't pull the argument much one way or the other. Cali, the male nanny, has a much bigger role in this book. His relationship with Kurt and Courtney is more established and explained. It's strange, though, after 2-3 doctors at the rehab facility Kurt fled say they didn't find him suicidal, and one day (or later on the same day) that Cali's friend talks to him in a supposedly great mood, Kurt kills himself without much warning. The Rome "suicide" note is mentioned. Courtney's overall shadiness is discussed. Her affair with Billy Corgan is mentioned. Her demands on Kurt to make money and her inability to meet him in Europe until a few weeks late is troubling. Not to mention Kurt OD'ing in Rome the same night Courtney finally arrives. It also paints a picture of her as setting out to conquer Kurt. And how he went hardcore into heroin when she came upon the scene. A lot of time is spent on when Kurt and Courtney met. Where a few contradicting stories are told and nothing really established. He DOES point out Courtney's motive for saying she met him way earlier then she did.. being she didn't want to be seen as a golddigger or riding on his coattails. Well, she was.

Maybe this book IS the truth. Maybe Nirvana's story is this dark and unfortunate. How Kurt ever got it together to play a show after hearing all this, is truly something to wonder about. But little is talked about in regards to Kurt's relationship with his band members. Dave is almost non-existant, and it pretty much shows Krist having washed his hands of Kurt after the recording of "In Utero." Some stories make no sense and video evidence refutes a handful of these things. But I still recommend this book to all Nirvana fans who read the Azzerad and Cross books. It fills in holes and is probably closer to the truth than most. You just have to overlook Everett's placing of himself in many scenes and take the "quotes" with a grain of salt. It's a fun page turner that any fan of the band would love. This exposes more like on the darkness of Kurt's mind in reaction to fame and major lable committments, but you still feel like the complete story is still out there somewhere.

The END.......2007-03-21

Basically this book "fills in the dots" that was left after you read "Heavier Than Heaven" and "Come As You Are" and came out having more questions than answers.
This book answers all those questions (well most of them-until Krist/Dave write a book about their experiences).
The book also goes on to 'correct' some of the myths that surrounded the band. Charles Cross' book is such a ridiculously melodramatic book, it's a joke (yeah it's gripping like a novel) it's just so pompous and lame. Maybe a lot of that stuff happened but it was so dramatic and heavy that Cross should be embarrassed for writing a book about a movie -just like any other bio/movie that are out today-nothing unique and NOTHING special. Sorry Charlie-LAME! I re-read it Charlie and it doesn't age well.
True's book is funny (ex. Bums wearing Mudhoney T-shirts!)-I actually laughed out loud while reading-I don't think I've ever done that before!
This book may or may not be the essential Nirvana book but I'd lean towards yes since in my opinion it (includes excerpts from CAYA & HTH) just tells the truth.
The only thing "new" is insight from Everett True himself and new interviews with: Tobi Vail, Slim Moon, Mudhoney, & most importantly several nannies that were with Kurtney from when Frances Bean was born up until Cobain died. Cali Dewitt's info is disturbing and the highlight of the book.
Courtney is a monster...or at least was.
Only thing that really sticks out is it finally tells why a man would commit suicide-he had a broken heart.
He was on drugs, no one was his friend, people all had reasons to hate him or use him as a scapegoat and most importantly-his wife and mother of his child was cheating on him and fell out of love with him.
The end.

365 Nirvana Here and Now: Living Every Moment in Enlightenment

Average customer rating:

A big little book about the only time that matters... now
Gentle reminders when faced with uncertainty
365 Nirvana Here and Now:Living Every Moment in Enlightenment
Not just a compendium, a companion
eternally gratifying

365 Nirvana Here and Now: Living Every Moment in Enlightenment
Josh Baran
Manufacturer: Thorsons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0007163584

Book Description

This book helps readers experience the power of enlightenment moment by moment.

Customer Reviews:

A big little book about the only time that matters... now.......2006-07-12

I'm very happy to have encountered this little book... its size is conversely related to the wisdom of its content.
It has openned my eyes to a "new" reality and little by little is opening my heart to the present moment and nothing else.
The quotes or stories come from very different backgrounds and authors, all pointing to the same direction (or no direction at all) No matter what you believe or don't believe please allow your heart to enjoy the wisdom that you will find in this book, or more accurately, in you own heart.

Gentle reminders when faced with uncertainty.......2005-12-26

My husband bought this for me for Christmas. We're faced with giving birth in February to a child who will require several open heart surgeries. I've been struggling with the anticipation and fear - mostly of the unknown. It's made the days hard to get through.

I've picked up this book no less than 10 times in the few hours since he's given it to me, and each page contains a small wisdom that reminds me to focus on where I am at this moment - even if it means embracing the anger and the fear. Each page is a gentle reminder that the moment is where we are; to dwell in the unknown is to miss living fully in the now. All the rest, everything before and beyond the now, is out of our control - and this book makes that concept a little less frightening.

Highly recommended.

365 Nirvana Here and Now:Living Every Moment in Enlightenment.......2005-07-30

Very inspiriting. Great read daily to give a person focus.

Not just a compendium, a companion.......2005-05-06

I love Josh Baran's 365 Nirvana Here and Now. The first time through, I read it linearly. Now I pick it up when I desire a dose of truth, a moment of contemplation. Each of the short selections is rich in an of itself. Additional golden nuggets from Baran provide a deepening of experience, a context that reaches across traditions. A comprehensive, thoughtful and lovely book.

eternally gratifying.......2005-03-31

I decided to dog-ear special selections in this book. There are a lot of dog-eared pages! It is eternally gratifying because one inquires further into various authors and masters quoted (they are listed in the bibliography) and the journey continues-or just stop journeying, stop doing and enjoy just being as suggested on every page. Wow, Josh Baran did all the years of research and all I have to do is open the book.

Life on Planet Rock: From Guns N' Roses to Nirvana, a Backstage Journey through Rock's Most Debauched Decade

Average customer rating:

Pilgrim of Rock
Life on Planet Rock is Great
Rock in A Hard Place
average
Outstanding Read!

Life on Planet Rock: From Guns N' Roses to Nirvana, a Backstage Journey through Rock's Most Debauched Decade
Lonn Friend
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0767922085
Release Date: 2006-07-11

Book Description

For the generation coming of age in the years from 1987 to 1994, RIP magazine was every bit as crucial as Rolling Stone. Life on Planet Rock describes how Lonn Friend, the editor of RIP, became the Zelig-like chronicler of the biggest musical moments of that time—from introducing Guns N’ Roses (in nothing but a top hat, underwear, and cowboy boots) to sitting in during the making of Metallica’s Black Album. Life on Planet Rock provides revealing portraits of artists as varied as Kurt Cobain, Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper, Axl Rose, James Hetfield, Steven Tyler, and many more. Part oral history, part candid and humorous memoir, it is a wormhole back to a fast-moving time in music that saw tastes flash from new wave to hair metal to grunge, told as only someone who was there through it all could tell it.

Customer Reviews:

Pilgrim of Rock.......2007-09-13

Lonn's Life on Planet Rock: a sincere account of a time when the glamor of the eighties was unraveling, making way for a stripped down fledgling grunge. Frank, unsparing tales of his personal relationships with the artists themselves, and a few porn innovators, allows you to wander comfortably through a chaos riddled era almost as if you were there. A tour of the times, lead by the RIP editor and rock pilgrim, Lonn Friend with honesty, eloquence and an endless knowledge of rock and roll.

Life on Planet Rock is Great.......2007-05-22

myspace advertised a book called "Life on Planet Rock" written by RIP magazine bigwig Lonn Friend. If you are a fan of music, with emphesis on 80's metal, go no further. This book is a timelined bible for those of us who lived during the great moments in metal and rock and roll. His stories roll in exact time with the memories we had as normal rock and roll lovers, EXCEPT he gives you the feeling of actually being there and throws in tons of extras we never knew about. This book is a must read simply because Lonn Friend's love of music and gentle expression of said love is an experience that im finding so hard to express in my own words. GO OUT AND BUY (NOT BORROW) THIS BOOK NOW !!!

Rock in A Hard Place.......2007-04-15

I picked up this book expecting full-on rock stories with behind the scenes and great tales of rock excess as in the pages of RIP and Lonn's other ventures. The book has great rock content and stories (i.e. Aerosmith, Metallica, Bon Jovi), but also a large part of the book is about Lonn's "rise and fall" within the music industry, and his settling the score and getting on with his personal life.

average.......2007-03-27

I found this book to be a little slow and boring.There were some interesting stories.I enjoyed the Bon Jovi chapter since there is so little written about them. But mostly it was like reading a very long magazine article.Very basic nothing facinating.I kind of felt like either he was holding back or just didn't have much to say. I would suggest to borrow the book and then you won't be disappointed.

Outstanding Read!.......2007-03-09

"Life On Planet Rock" by Lonn Friend is a tremendous book written by a man who is not only an outstanding literay legend but also a passionate fan of the music he covered.

As the editor of RIP Magazine from 1987 - 1994, Lonn Friend and his staff took the readers, backstage and behind the scenes of some of the most monumental moments in the history of rock. Because of Lonn's credibility with the artists, RIP was given unprecedented access to the making of many of the era's monsterous albums such as Metallica's "Black Album" and Guns N' Roses' "Use Your Illusion". Each month the reader was allowed to slip into the shadows and find out what really happened on the road as Lonn was given exclusive access of some of the biggest tours in history including Guns N' Roses, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi. As a reader I lived vicariously through the words in RIP and I often found myself wondering what it was like to be that "fly on the wall".

In "Life On Planet Rock", Lonn Friend shares that "fly on the wall" view in a very personal way. Not only does he give further insight into the personal lives of the likes of Alice Cooper, Metallica and Aerosmith, but Lonn also conveys how many of the artists and events he covered affected his life and values. For years I devoured the monthly articles that graced the pages of RIP and now more than a decade later I have found myself more enthrawled than ever with each chapter of "Life On Planet Rock".

Average customer rating:

The definitive Nirvana book
Good if researching Kurt's life
don't bother
Couldn't put it down
Tells the full story

Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana
Michael Azerrad
Manufacturer: Main Street Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385471998
Release Date: 1993-09-01

Amazon.com

My favorite book about Nirvana. For one thing, it doesn't sensationalize, but it doesn't gloss anything over. Having been active in the Seattle music scene throughout Nirvana's obscurity, fame, and demise, I can vouch for the accuracy of its description of the music community in the late '80s and early '90s and Nirvana's role. And being in a band that's currently climbing the ladder, I appreciated the many lessons this book has to offer about the workings of the recording industry.

Best of all, because this book was written before Cobain's death, it is not tinged with the "isn't this tragic" attitude that permeates many books about Nirvana and Cobain. Instead, the book is vibrant with the energy, excitement, and passion that swept local musicians the day "Nevermind" was released, local audiences in the months after, the U.S, and--lest we forget--the world, during Nirvana's more-than-15-minutes of fame.

Book Description

Nirvana came out of nowhere in 1991 to sell nearly five million copies of their landmark album Nevermind, whose thunderous sound and indelible melodies embodied all the confusion, frustration, and passion of the emerging Generation X. Come As You Are is the close-up, intimate story of Nirvana -- the only book with exclusive in-depth interviews with bandmembers Kurt Cobain, Krist Noveselic, and Dave Grohl, as well as friends, relatives, former bandmembers, and associates -- now updated to include a new final chapter detailing the last year of Kurt Cobain's life, before his tragic suicide in April 1994.

Customer Reviews:

The definitive Nirvana book.......2007-08-19

As the owner of every book written on this subject Come As You Are stands out as the definitive Nirvana book. With the exception of the final chapter the entire thing was written before Kurt's death. This gives fans an honest objective view on Kurt and Nirvana that is absent in just about everything written since his suicide. The marketplace has been flooded with books focusing on sleaze and conspiracy theories instead of the man and their music. Here the writer stayed on course and gave us what truly matters while managing to keep this entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about Kurt's life and his rise from troubled child to reluctant rock star.

Good if researching Kurt's life.......2007-02-28

The author depended way too much on Courtney's version of her husband's life.

don't bother.......2006-11-10

This book is very difficult to get into. Poorly written and in poor taste. As a big Kurt Cobain fan, I was disappointed.

Couldn't put it down.......2006-08-08

I couldn't put this book down. As it was a biography of Nirvana, not just Kurt Cobain, it felt more complete. It didn't focus as much on the other members, but at least they had a very recognized presence. It also does not focus extensively on Cobain's death because it was written beforehand. However, this turned into a very positive thing because the whole book does not revolve around the drama of his death, but the wonder and hardships of the band until that point. There has been a lot of controversy over the happenings of Cobain's life in particular, so it's hard to say which book is more accurate. However, this book was convincing and very interesting.

Tells the full story.......2006-02-02

Nirvana has been lionized by many different people from writers to film makers so it's refreshing to read something that seems to have come from an honest place. More than a decade after his death Kurt is still missed and the passing of time will do nothing to lessen the band's impact on rock music. Good book.

The Seven Steps to Nirvana: Strategic Insights into eBusiness Transformation

Average customer rating:

The best about e-business
The best book for e business strategies
Ditto: Hiroo Yamagata
The Seven Steps to Nirvana a must read
Excellent Book on E-strategy

The Seven Steps to Nirvana: Strategic Insights into eBusiness Transformation
Mohanbir S. Sawhney , and Jeff Zabin
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Kellogg on Technology and Innovation

ASIN: 0071375228

Amazon.com

While some might find the title's promise of transcendental beatitude a trifle overreaching, The Seven Steps to Nirvana nonetheless provides some excellent insight into the design and implementation of an e-business game plan at "low-tech, smokestack" companies that have heretofore shied away from cyber-strategies. Mohan Sawhney, the McCormick Tribune Professor of Electronic Commerce and Technology at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and Jeff Zabin, a consultant, writer, and speaker, have produced a thought-provoking yet practical entry point for senior managers and other leaders at these firms. The book progresses from creating an overarching initial vision and initiating other critical preliminary preparations to "putting your money where your mouth is, and getting people in the organization to embrace the oft-threatening new world of e-business." Particularly notable are sections on "thinking like an architect (to) open your mind to new possibilities for business innovation" and mitigating channel conflict--or "dissension among the existing institutions"--by making sure the electronic enhancements you are about to append are truly synchronized complements to what you already have. The ideas behind it all are solid and, perhaps most commendably, are anchored to the needs of a real-world customer base. --Howard Rothman

Book Description

Today¿s most successful companies never sit still. Even as they introduce their newest e-business initiatives, their next generation of improvements is already near completion. Traditional organizations¿especially larger, low-tech businesses¿must reinvent themselves if they are to hold their positions against these new business competitors.

The Seven Steps to Nirvana leads managers through the systematic stages needed to transform traditional businesses¿regardless of their industries¿into fierce competitors. Combining hard-hitting analyses with case studies of businesses that made the transition, this concrete, practical tour de force opens readers¿ minds to:

Essential differences between e-commerce and e-business
The evolutionary stages of e-business intervention
Strategies to overcome inertia and organize for speed

Written by one of BusinessWeek's 25 most influential e-business innovators, The Seven Steps to Nirvana is a trove of innovative techniques for brick-and-mortar businesses to meet--and overcome--the challenges of today's faster, nimbler e-upstarts.

Download Description

The Seven Steps to Nirvana is a compass for senior executives as they embark on the journey of e-business transformation.

Customer Reviews:

The best about e-business.......2001-12-13

After reading to many books I found this one, and I could say right now I have a better knowledge of e-business.

I consider my best book about e-business.

The best book for e business strategies.......2001-11-02

If you are looking for a book that talks about e business strategies, I advocate this should be your choice. It's not just b'cas this book is from the guy who is rated as 10 most influential people in E-business, but b'cas he know his audeince very well.

I am sure irrespective of your exposure to e-business, this would change the way you think of e-business.

Ditto: Hiroo Yamagata.......2001-08-09

I'm an American and I too confirm Mr. Yamagata's review: the "quotes from zen or Buddha, or some folk story to make themselves sound profound" is highly irritating (straight talk will do just fine)... and, "Ah,we knew that all along!" borders on arrogance. The book seems to have come from the -publish or perish- world of academe. Need solid information to do the real work ahead, don't look for Nirvana. Sorry, but I could find no new insights from this book, just a contrived rehash of information clearly written elsewhere --in business language, backed by well defended assertions ... my $2 mantra is just fine, thank you.

The Seven Steps to Nirvana a must read.......2001-07-21

As a practitioner in the field, I believe, this is one of the best books on the subject. The book is inspirational and clarifies a lot of confusion that has been created by false start of some e-business initiatives. I highly recommend it to any one interested in understanding the true meaning of e-business.

Excellent Book on E-strategy.......2001-07-05

The so-called "mysterious" world of e-business is covered very well. Categorization into seven steps and further classification of them makes this book very interesting and easy to follow. The case studies and examples are excellent, however it seems that most of them move around some 10-15 companies. Although, this book is targeted to top executives but the language is so easy that any one can comprehend and get benefited. I found the E-volution and E-strategy topics very useful. They provide very good insight on how a company should view and plan e-business initiative. Recommended to any one who is involved in any kind of e-business initiative, this book can take the efforts to much more deep and meaningful level.

Average customer rating:

Ok
Excellent
The final word on the post Nevermind sessions
From "In Utero" to birth
Organized collection of Information.

Nirvana's in Utero (33 1/3)
Gillian G. Gaar
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0826417760

Book Description

Instead of sticking to the "grunge pop" formula that made Nevermind so palatable to the mainstream, with In Utero Nirvana chose instead to challenge their audience, producing an album that truly matched Kurt Cobain's vision of what he had always wanted the band to sound like. There's no sensationalism in this book - just the in-depth story of a great band, in the eye of a storm, striving to recapture their punk-rock ethic.

Customer Reviews:

Ok.......2007-09-18

I've read several of the 33 1/3 series, and this is an ok book, really nothing extraordinary. Basically it gives a background on the last cd of the With the Lights Out set.

Excellent.......2007-07-14

This is exactly what you want from a 33 1/3 book. There's no boring filler, the author doesn't dwell too much on things like pop culture at the time or Kurt's deat -- everything in it relates directly to the making of the album. It covers In Utero from every angle, it's very well researched, and it moves along great.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen more of is technical details about the recording process, such as the mics and equipment used. The bottom line though is that it's interesting from beginning to end.

The final word on the post Nevermind sessions.......2006-12-08

Anyone that is interested in questions like what Nirvana outtakes are still in the vaults or how many takes of a particular song were recorded will love this book. Most of the interviews are brand new and add insight to Nirvana's post Nevermind recording sessions. Let hope Gillian gets a chance to write books on Bleach and Nevermind for 33 1/3 as well..

Chris

From "In Utero" to birth.......2006-10-07

At the time of its release in 1993, Nirvana's final studio album, "In Utero," was so hotly anticipated that controversies arose before most people had even heard it. As a successor to a bajillion-selling behemoth ('91's "Nevermind," in case you've been under a very large rock for the last 20 years), how could it not be? Of course, once the album hit stores, and especially since Kurt Cobain's suicide, none of the backstory seemed to matter. Now, more than a decade later, author Gillian G. Gaar (apparently, a true "G") revisits the album that confirmed that Nirvana was a serious rock band and not some grunge-pop poseurs (and I can't tell you how many times I've had to defend my Nirvana t-shirt to passers by back in the day!).

This short book, one of Continuum Publishing's 33 1/3 series of books about classic pop music albums, focuses mainly on known facts. Therefore, many chapters detail the varied recording sessions that eventually resulted in the finished album. For instance, in the first chapter, Gaar covers the history of the song "Sappy," the best song the band wrote that never made it onto a proper album. We find out about the musical and lyrical changes the song had over the years. Unfortunately, Gaar doesn't print most of the lyrics from any version, so it's hard to appreciate these changes, much less interpret them. This sets up a pattern for the rest of the book, so mostly we get a string of dates and studios with relatively little context.

Also absent are details about the state of Cobain's physical and mental health during the "In Utero" sessions. Of course, based on the lyrics he wrote (we learn that Cobain would wait until the day of the vocal recording to finish them), it couldn't have been very good. These questions go beyond idle gossip even for fans, so it would've been good of Gaar to include that. Of course, this kind of material is covered tastefully in other books (most notably Charles R. Cross' Cobain bio, Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain), so some further reading may be required.

What Gaar does have, and in spades, is access. She was a project consultant on the Nirvana box set "With the Lights Out" (it gets referenced almost too much for my taste), and therefore some major players granted interviews. These include surviving band members Krist Noveselic and Dave Grohl, and the album's producer, Steve Albini. The notoriously acerbic Albini is rather restrained here, heaping praise on the band and holding back his feelings about DGC Records. One of the biggest controversies surrounding the album were press reports that the label felt the harsh, noisy album was "unreleasable." Nobody in the book seems to know if this was actually the case, and the company executives either weren't interviewed or still won't talk. As it turns out, the finished album was considered a triumph of artistic integrity, even with the remixing on a couple of tracks by R.E.M. producer Scott Litt.

Still, the book provides a fascinating snapshot of the band's creative development. It's definitely reccommended for Nirvana fans, as well as to all kinds of music obsessives. Even though some questions remain, this is a satisfying, if brief, read.

Organized collection of Information........2006-09-28

Great Read, there are lots of tidbits that have come out over the years organized for you to make sense out of. There are several previously points that are clarified as the author did a thorough job researching the ambiguous nuggets of information and rumors floating about. She interviewed those in the know close to the band, members of the band, as well as renowned experts in the field of live recordings and concerts. Is everything in this book a revelation? No, but with Nirvana existence 12 years in the past and with all session and demo information that we've learned about over the years, the constant expectation of something groundbreaking and new is probably going to leave you disappointed more often than not. There is some new info, yes. Did I buy it for that? No, not at all. Personally, I like hearing information that we've known presented in a nice, organized, and well written fashion as much as (if not more than) new information. The new stuff is just icing on the cake. Great job on the book, Gillian. I hope that you continue to share Nirvana with us in all the various ways you have already.

Average customer rating:

definitely useful!
Disappointingly narrow viewpoint
Very Useful

From Here to Nirvana
Anne Cushman
Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 1573220868

Amazon.com

If your dreams of traveling to India include some sort of spiritual exploration, here's an essential guide that will help ease your planning and your mind. Coauthor Anne Cushman is senior editor at Yoga Journal magazine, and along with Jerry Jones has researched hundreds of yogis, gurus, ashrams, and temples to make this "the first comprehensive book on the art of pilgrimage in the subcontinent."

After some useful general background material, the book devotes the bulk of its pages to a directory of ashrams, yoga schools, and meditation centers. The listings are presented alphabetically by state, and include facilities and food, fees, schedules, how to get there, other services, books, and tapes. Descriptions are entertaining and informative. Here's a sampling from the introduction to Prasanthi Nilayam Ashram in Andhra Pradesh: "With over ten million devotees worldwide--and 1,638 centers in 137 countries--Sathya Sai Baba is undoubtedly the most famous of India's living gurus. He's believed by his disciples to be an avatar, a human incarnation of God, and his plump, frizzy-haired visage can be spotted on rickshaw dashboards, cash registers, phone booths, and altars all over India, alongside more traditional deities like Krishna and Ganesh."

In addition to a useful "Indian Philosophies and Religions" section and a glossary, intriguing sidebars include: "All About Sadhus," "Neo-Buddhist Headquarters," "Exploring Tibetan Buddhism," "The Hindu Pantheon," and "Festivals of India." --Kathryn True

Book Description

Beneath the humble facade of a yoga and retreat guide lurks one of the most entertaining books I've ever read about India. You could do a lot worse than to plan your whole India itinerary around this book. --Jeff Greenwald, author of Shopping for Buddhas The Lonely Planet may help you get your shots and visa, and get you from palace to restaurant, but until now there has been no in-depth guide devoted exclusively to spiritual India. Whether you are a curious beginner or a seasoned pilgrim, From Here to Nirvana is your essential companion. They provide detailed directions and contacts that cannot be found anywhere else--lists and sidebars, photos and maps--everything you need to know. Interspersed with personal stories, quotes from gurus, and local legends, this readerly guidebook is as funny, inspiring, and fascinating as it is useful. Now that Americans have become as devoted to yoga as they are to jogging, and Buddhism seems as familiar as Catholicism, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are headed to India by the thousands each year. They are going to ashrams and yoga

centers, to meditate with a famous guru, or simply to sit under the Bodhi Tree as the Buddha himself did twenty-five hundred years ago. These aren't really vacations they're taking, they are journeys. And is the book they all must have.

Customer Reviews:

definitely useful!.......2004-06-24

Thanks to this book, I was able to arrive in Delhi at midnite, go to the taxi stand at the airport and not wonder where I would end up for the night. I had already made arrangements to stay in an ashram in Delhi that night. And taxi drivers don't give you the hotel runaround when you tell them to take you directly to a particular ashram. For that alone, this book was worth every penny to me.

I would recommend reading it before you go because some of the places/people to be contacted must be done ahead of time. and you may find that contact information can change sporadically in India (one of the many beautiful challenges you'll find on your travels there).

Disappointingly narrow viewpoint.......2003-01-25

This book would be excellent for people seeking ashrams. However, there is nothing about major temples, festivals, or other local observations. There is a little bit of information about local pilgrimage sites but it is laughably inadequate.

Very Useful.......2000-07-21

This is a great book.It was written for those of us who want to travel to India and learn more yoga, meditation etc.Not all places are described in equal length and depth but you will always find useful information about yoga schools, ashrams and monasteries in all the parts of India.In a lot of cases, the writers have been there and they took the classes for you, sat through the satsangs and tried the food and water.The book talks about each place separately and gives you info on "Teachers & Teachings", "Facilities and Food", "Schedule","Fees","Contact Information","How To Get There",etc.A very helpful guide for spiritual seekers who intend to travel to India.

Nirvana: Nevermind, with Notes and Tablature

Average customer rating:

Great song book!!!
books are fun.
Good band, Good Tabs. Just all around GOOD!

Nirvana: Nevermind, with Notes and Tablature
Nirvana
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0793523923

Product Description

Mathcing folio to the revolutoinary album that brought grunge to the masses. 12 songs, including: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come As You Art, Lithium, Breed and more.

Customer Reviews:

Great song book!!!.......2005-09-29

Please don't hesitate and do buy this book! It is one of the greatest albums ever and also the most famous happening in the nineties of the previous century.The tabs are strictly grunge and you'll be enjoying nirvana of your own playing these tablatures. The solos are also wonderfull and the notes are tabbed easiest way possible to be played in a harmonic ways with our own being. I think so or... Enjoy it yourself!

books are fun........2004-01-24

awesome book. buy it if you have sense. have a nice day.

Good band, Good Tabs. Just all around GOOD!.......2003-12-04

If you are looking for a book that perfectly tabs out all of Nevermind for the guitar you have found your baby!

Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies

Average customer rating:

Highly recommended
Captivating
A terrific book and a way fun read!
Blissful
A Jokester Sage at the Movies

Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies
Dean Sluyter
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1400049741
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Book Description

Movie fans and spiritual seekers, unite! In Cinema Nirvana, meditation teacher and award-winning film critic Dean Sluyter illuminates the hidden enlightenment teachings of Casablanca, Jaws, The Graduate, The Godfather, Memento, and ten other classic films, revealing spiritual wisdom in everything from 007’s secret weapons to the colors of the Seven Dwarfs’ eyes.

So grab your popcorn, sit back, and prepare to have your mind opened. Cinema Nirvana is a funny but wise, practical but wildly entertaining guide to finding enlightenment—one movie at a time.

Customer Reviews:

Highly recommended.......2005-11-05

Reading Cinema Nirvana was an exceptionally gratifying experience. It was hard to put the book down, and every time I tried to do so, I was drawn back to it. The reading of it was a comforting experience, as well as being entertaining and making me laugh. When I poked my head out of its waters, I felt like I had been meditating for quite a while.

But it actually did more than that. Sluyter's life experience and committment to seeking consciousness infuses this book with a clear and cogent energy that passes on to the reader. Not many books have this magic. In the reading of it, I felt something in me unlock, taking me deeper within myself, a priceless experience.

Sluyter's ability to recognize and interpret the presence of spiritual guidance in the movies is amazing. But it is not just this skill, nor just the knowledge imparted, that makes this book shine. It is also his willingness to be real, to share his passion and to bare his heart. I highly recommend it.

Captivating.......2005-05-21

Thoroughly enjoyable capture of the nuggets of dharma illustrated in film. This was a grand gift of a book.

A terrific book and a way fun read!.......2005-05-05

Cinema Nirvana is a terrific book and a way fun read. I want to go over some of it again because it is quite thought provoking for me. I got a non-New-Age-Oh-Wow-How-Cosmic-Dude look at roots of some of my own beliefs and practices. Completely unexpected, and pleasantly surprising.

Blissful.......2005-03-22

A lot of spiritual writing succumbs to the platitudes of new-asge mush. Not so with this book. Cinema Nirvana is extraordinarily well written, creative and insightful. Basically, Sluyter does an analysis of cinema in terms of Buddhist teaching. Each analysis made me think again about the movies I had taken at face value - I even ended up reading some of them twice. I have definitely reconsidered the way I approach popular culture as a result of Sluyter's critical technique. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Buddhist philosophy, wants to steer clear of the new age drivel, and enjoys well wrought, intellectually stimulating critical writing. Even those who don't have much knowledge of buddhist philosophy, but want fresh crticial insight into cinema should give this book a reading.

A Jokester Sage at the Movies.......2005-03-18

After searching through the Spirituality section of my local Barnes & Noble, I finally found this book shelved under Film, keeping company with the Marilyn bios and Leonard Maltin guides. That sort of makes sense. Like Certs ("It's a breath mint AND a candy mint!"), "Cinema Nirvana" is an oddball but well-informed romp through the world of classic American film, as well as a savvy guide to meditation and spiritual growth. Sluyter writes like someone who's been around both of those blocks more than once. He excels at noticing the overlooked (the shark in "Jaws" has been terrorizing the beach, but the three heroes illogically hunt it down in deep water, out of sight of land) and squeezing epiphanies out of it (the ocean represents the deep waters of the infinite, where familiar moorings are left behind). Sluyter's brand of spirituality is mostly - but not dogmatically - Buddhist, with the plain-spoken, common-sense approach of the best Buddhist writers. His writing is extremely clear and often very funny. His wit and his skillful use of personal stories (his saga of involvement with a cultlike group in the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" chapter, or his account of the psychedelic 60's in "Easy Rider") make for top-notch entertainment. But what's most entertaining is watching him make astonishing connections - his cosmic interpretation of the lyrics of "Jailhouse Rocks" will blow your socks off.

Kurt Cobain: Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind (American Rebels)

Average customer rating:

I salute you!!!
Amazing!!!!!
kurt cobain "oh well,whatever,nevermind"
A journalist wrote this
Best Kurt Cobain Book to Date

Kurt Cobain: Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind (American Rebels)
Jeff Burlingame
Manufacturer: Enslow Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0766024261

Customer Reviews:

I salute you!!!.......2007-06-04

A great book. I graduated with Jeff. He's talented and this book demonstrates his writing abilities. A definite must for any Nirvana fan. One day my daughter will enjoy it (she's only 22 mos). I wish him success with his future books.

Mark

Amazing!!!!!.......2007-03-14

I was totally amaze when i read the story of the greatest song writer and artist Kurt Cobain....It helps me a lot to understand what was his life all about....Anyway the only thing i can say is I was laughing and crying i was deep into it every pages..My thoughts and my deepest gratitude to my very best idol Kurt Cobain....I highly recommend this book to those who believe and a truly NIRVANA fan...Thanks to the author u do such a great job...keep it up....

kurt cobain "oh well,whatever,nevermind".......2007-01-10

i think it is great reflection of kurt cobain and nirvana it has loads of usefull info and any nirvana or kurt cobain fan should read jeff burlingame is one of the years best authors

A journalist wrote this.......2006-11-25

A real honest-to-goodness journalist wrote this book. More to the point, this is a reporter who worked for the newspaper in Kurt's hometown of Aberdeen AND grew up there. That means Jeff can capture the image of Aberdeen and what it was like for Kurt growing up in the timber town like the expert he actually is. This isn't just a book. This may be part of a grand memoir defining the everyman of Aberdeen while at the same time talking about Kurt's life as a whole. And because Jeff is a journalist, the freshness of his interviews are solid and his objectivity is clear. Unlike some other biographies out there, there are no made up theories here. Recommended for all ages.

Best Kurt Cobain Book to Date.......2006-11-09

I was waiting to buy this book until I read some reviews, then I saw a review online at the Nirvana Fan Club and decided to give it a shot. This book is written for an audience of teens and older so I wasn't expecting any new stories and was surprised that there are. There's a saddening story about Kurt's mom's reaction told by someone who was with her just after she heard about Kurt's death. There are some photos I've never seen before and pictures of two things Kurt drew, which I found most fascinating and there's an update on a memorial committee in Kurt's hometown that's trying to honor him there. The author knew Kurt when they were younger and the book says he is part of that group.

The book is a high-quality hardback and isn't dumbed down like I thought it might be. If you want to know every detail of Kurt's life, there are other books out there that do the job better (though often in error or by making things up). But if you want to know "just the facts" and learn some new stories along the way you should buy this. I was pleasantly surprised with its quality and was happy to add it to my Cobain collection.

Michael Mac

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