Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing by Benjamin Nugent
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Book Reviews of Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
Book Review: "To Show What It's Like to Be a Person"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is what Smith said about his decision to leave behind the harder Portland sound and move to fill a void in what Nugent
rightly calls the hole in late '90s music, the hole where rock's songwriters should have been. Man is he right. Whether Smith himself saw this as a hole or not, I remember this time as vividly as hearing Needle in the Hay for the first time at my college record station. Indie was becoming increasingly wonky and experimental and/or twee, which was all well and good but there really did seem to be a big fat hole in the singer songwriter category. Jets to Brazil seemed to fill it on their first album, but that was really it and their lead singer's career wasn't so unlike Smith's in terms of moving from Jawbreaker's heavier rock sound to more melody driven poetic songs. In any case, I'm not a musician, but I was a fan of Smith's and I think Nugent captured the mood and scene of the late '90s especially well. Rarely was I in the same place as Smith, though there were overlaps, but I was lucky enough to catch a few shows and this book does such an amazing job capturing what it was like--the feeling the air, the people, and enough of Smith's world without ever feeling like a reach or an exploitation. I've already read it twice since buying it and would recommend it to anyone touched by Smith's music or pretty much anyone alive and going to shows in the mid to late '90s.
Book Review: XO
Summary: 5 Stars
I hold this book to high standards because it's a bio of somebody whose songs I love and the fact is that this is very thorough and sympathetic (but balanced) portrait, with really long interviews with Elliott Smith's friends (just not all of his most famous friends). And where the hell else are you going to get a description of how he recorded Roman Candle from his girlfriend? And how he got in fights with frat boys? And his rehab treatments? And how he didn't tune his guitars quite right all the time (on purpose)? As a musician I learned a lot from this book.
And, yeah, the best writing per se is in the afterword. But it's pretty good throughout the whole thing, and sometimes lovely, like in the descriptions of where he grew up.
Book Review: Best Afterward Award
Summary: 5 Stars
Just read the paperback edition which contains an afterward by the author. For those of you who come down hard on this dude, you really should pick up this edition (couldn't find the afterward on the web anywhere). There's some truly original writing (clear, level headed, fair, but passionate) on Elliott and the process of writing a book about him. He address a lot of the controversy around the book and even addresses amazon reviewers in a particularly funny moment. I wasn't prepared to like this book as much as I did and I hope he writes more music related stuff. Nugent's book lacks so much of the pretentious, tired writing that poses for music criticism and bio these days.Book Review: Got my Attention
Summary: 5 Stars
A friend who is active in Indie music gave me this book and I couldn't put it down. Nugent constructs a compelling narrative about a fascinating character who had a huge influence on progressive popular music. While I wasn't a big Elliott Smith fan before I read the book, I know have CD's and Smith loaded on my MP3 player. Nugent's book convinced me to give Smith a second listen...and I'm glad I did. Well worth reading.Book Review: Great Book
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're an Elliott Smith fan you will enjoy this book. There are many interesting stories and funny side notes. If you're looking for a murder mystery look elsewhere.