Charles R. CrossHeavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain

I enjoyed reading this book. I never felt like Cross meandered in random directions or went on tangents about unrelated material; there is a fluid progression chronicling Cobain's life from beginning to end. Cross writes well and the flow of the story is excellent. I would have liked more detail about what went into the making of each album - more about the process - but this is a biography of Kurt Cobain, not a detailed history of every facet of the band.To address some of the criticisms:- Some lines are cliché: there is some of that here and there, but these instances are few and far between and they aren't a distraction. I feel that Cross's focus on flow/progression outweighs these complaints by miles.- Courtney Love provided a lot of the info: What is fact versus revisionist history? Sure, Cross didn't know Kurt personally on such a high level, so he gets his information from around 400 interviews, plus Kurt's journals, taped interviews and album material. I am not in the conspiracy-theory camp. It's not any different than an author today writing about a dead president they weren't alive to meet. As with any biography, or even autobiography, you have to determine for yourself what is true or not true. I wasn't there, and Kurt's not around to ask.- The ending chapter(s): There is definitely some artistic license Cross used in describing those events. It's unfortunate and off-putting. Only Kurt knows exactly what he was doing and thinking. I really had to think about how much that impacted the rest of the book, but it's really only those chapters that seem to make such a leap. That's not to defend Cross for writing it that way, as it could've been written differently, but reading this now so long after Cobain's death, I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't change the actual outcome of his final decision.

The absolute best book I have ever read regarding Cobain, could not put it down! It brought me back to those days when Nirvana was new, AIC, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many others broke out of Seattle!

I found this sad biography of this talented artist very well written and factual. Much better than a previous biography I read. This book touched on Kurt's life thoroughly and in all aspects. I recommend this book for any fan who really wants a good factual book about his life.

A lifetime biography of Kurt Cobain, Heavier Than Heaven delves into the real life man Cobain was. The portrait that emerges is a somewhat contradictory and strangely unsettling in terms of who the artist was who my generation has so readily taken as our representative sacrificial artist.It was a great biography, and was challenging in some aspects - that is, the work itself was both detailed and sparse, objective and subjective, truthful and anecdotally uncertain in many portions. At some points, I felt that the author was doing the man justice, while at other times I felt like the corpse of one of my favorite artists was being dragged through the streets through some very emotional and passionate writing that may not entirely have been anything less than creative writing.It did make an interesting story, however, and as a whole I was able to get a good handle on a portrait of a man that I truly did not understand, entirely. Cobain was in many ways a victim of America and the unnatural expectations of the media, the atomic family, and a myriad other questions that I ask myself as an artist, father, husband, consumer, and a million other things. Cobain's approach to answering these difficult and existential questions, along with a debilitating problem with his digestive system his entire life, led to a response that was not entirely the best option for him - and clear mental illness that seemed to plague him would simply lead to self-destruction no matter if he was famous or he continued to be the janitor of his high school.I enjoyed this book, and I found myself looking up the performances and specific recordings that the author constantly made references to - that said, the back story of many of them led to a new found respect for the band and for the man Cobain was. I found myself comparing myself to him and understanding him and his responses in ways that I cannot really explain... But I wish I knew him, and I feel through this biography that I do a little more. Greatness was who he was, but it didn't really become him even though it is simply what he wanted and needed.A great text, and I really enjoyed reading it, but I do want readers to understand that there were a lot of liberties taken with this piece, and just like any piece of nonfiction writing it is at times not entirely objective journalism and contains some of the author's emotional and personal observations, which is not entirely truth.

I didn't expect to enjoy a book about a doomed musician so much. Kurt Cobain coped with his emotionally neglectful childhood using his talent and ingenuity, culminating in a brief, brilliant career. Eventually the deprivation and confusion won, but the author makes the journey fascinating, compassionate, and even amusing at times. An outstanding book.

Essa biografia é fantástica. A leitura é leve a despeito da densidade de informações contidas no livro. Recomendo.

Interesante

I’ve been a Nirvana fan for a long time but was reluctant to read this biography of someone I admire. I have read a different unauthorised biography and Kurt came across as someone who whines lots and was in no way near as in-depth as this.This one is very detailed and sums up the life of Kurt from the beginning to his unfortunate end.The book has been well researched with those that knew Kurt, the narrative has been well written and progresses along well making it very easy to read. Chapters are well played out and are from periods of time.Overall the book is well written, researched and arranged.

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