Close to Biography Nirvana (Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain - Charles Cross)

Member Name: IainWear

Product:	Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain - Charles Cross
Date:	23/07/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Incredibly well researched

Disadvantages: Lack of pictures

I'll get the controversial bit out of the way right from the start: I never rated Nirvana. In fact, I count them as one of the most over-rated music acts in recent memory, if not ever. If it wasn't for all the controversy and the untimely suicide of lead singer Kurt Cobain, I don't think they would still be remembered now. Perhaps the endurance of their music is proof of the old adage that it's better to burn out than to fade away.

Whatever I may feel about his music, there was enough of interest in his life and death to make me curious enough when I came across Charles R. Cross' "Heavier Than Heaven". The other selling point, having just read a dreadful biography of Slash by Paul Stenning, was that this appeared to have the support and assistance of Cobain's family and friends. Indeed, on the cover it was praised for the depth of the research, which was something seriously lacking in Stenning's work.

Kurt's life begins in a small Washington State town where, at least to start, he seemed a normal, happy child. However, his parents' divorce made him feel unwanted and he suffered a huge sense of rejection when both later remarried, feeling he was no longer the major person in their lives. His sense of isolation from many of his peers at school and later outstaying his welcome with his parents and at friends' homes helped foster this.

This was a feeling that would haunt him for his entire life from this point, leaving him to doubt that anyone truly loved him. Throughout his young adulthood and his music career, he always felt unappreciated, even when playing to crowds of thousands who had all come to see him. This, in turn, led to relationships troubles with family and friends and resulted in heavy drug use to dull the emotional pain.

What immediately struck me about this book was the huge amount of detail it contains. Cross' research has encompassed virtually every member of Cobain's extended family and nearly everyone he was ever close to during his professional or personal lives. He has had seemingly unlimited access to Kurt's personal and private writings and this is reflected in the content here.

It seems as if there isn't a moment of Kurt's life that isn't accounted for in some way here. Considering how many of the people he spoke to had their own drug issues, this is quite incredible. Putting in this amount of research and effort makes this to most comprehensive book on an individual I ever recall reading, even compared to some history textbooks. I've never seen a biography with this level of detail and even autobiographies rarely cover the writer's life in this kind of depth, partly due to self-editing and largely due to lack of memory.

Given how dark Kurt's psychological state was for most of his life, this is a surprisingly readable book. This is a book that travels into the deepest, darkest recesses of Kurt Cobain's mind, which at times is a frightening place to be. Cross more than adequately describes how this darkness reflected into Cobain's life and from there into the lives of those closest to him. This does make it a slightly uncomfortable read at times, but that's not the author's fault in any way.

Equally is the slightly repetitive nature of the book. Once Nirvana achieve their success, Kurt's life revolves mostly around his work with the band and his drug taking. There are stories of tours and recording and Kurt's attempts to find drugs and attempts to get him into rehab, usually unsuccessfully. Whilst his lifestyle is frequently fascinating, especially the in depth psychological examination of it, even the traditional rock 'n' roll lifestyle of excess does get a little boring when it's repeated over and over.

The only aspect of this book that makes it slightly less interesting than many biographies is the lack of photographs. Considering the access Cross had to Cobain's family and, one would presume, to their photograph albums, there is a distinct lack of them here. Given that the book is printed in a relatively small type and does have these dark undertones, these would have help break things up a little. Such pictures aren't essential to a biography, but they would have added a little splash of colour which is obviously missing here and would have been very welcome.

Despite this, it's certainly the best researched biography I recall reading, covering a life in excellent and, at times, excruciating detail. It's dark and sometimes frightening to witness Cobain's descent into addiction and mental turmoil, but for someone with interests in both music and psychology that I have, it's also quite fascinating. For anyone wanting to see the darker side of fame, or anyone who liked Nirvana more than I did, this is an essential read, even more so considering it can be found from a penny at the Amazon Marketplace or from 50 pence from eBay.

Summary: The most detailed biography I've ever read