Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana

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:

Too much speculation..........2007-10-09

The author presents his own view of the meaning behind the lyrics of some songs as definitive and without qualifications. For example, the book presents "Rape Me" as being an about Kurt's struggles with the lack of privacy accompanying his new fame, while the song was actually written before the release of "Nevermind" and Kurt himself said in interviews that the song was about literal rape and a revenge fantasy of a rapist being raped in jail. The book doesn't even mention the second meaning, and perhaps both are valid, but the presentation in the book is one-sided. This error was very obvious to me when I read the book and destroyed the credibility of the whole work.

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.

Average customer rating:

Hell on Earth
An anticlimactic finish to a promising trilogy
"Nichols is the best American author since John Steinbeck"

The Nirvana Blues: A Novel
John Nichols
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0805063404

Book Description

The seventies are over. All across America, the overgrown kids of the middle class are getting their acts together--and getting older. The once-tight Chicano community of Chamisaville is long gone, and the Anglo power brokers control almost everything. Joe Miniver--faithful husband, loving father, and all-around good guy-is about to sink roots. To buy the land he wants, he dreams up a coke scam that will net him the necessary bread. Joe is also about to embark on a series of erotic adventures with three headstrong women, bringing him face-to-face with the terrors (and absurdity) of the modern man-woman scene.This final volume in the New Mexico trilogy, like its predecessors, is a lusty, visionary novel that blends comedy and tragedy, reality and fantasy, tenderness and bite, to illuminate some very troubling truths about America--truths no less pointed and accurate today than they were twenty years ago.John Nichols is the author of nine novels and six works of nonfiction. He lives in Northern New Mexico.

Customer Reviews:

Hell on Earth.......2006-03-07

Joe Miniver, an every-man type, living in the New Age community of Chamisaville, New Mexico, has a dilemma -- he dreams of purchasing a prime piece of land from an eighty year old native, the indomitable Eloy Irribarren, the only virtuous person in the town, and the only non-white (not a surprise, considering Nichol's negative attitudes towards white surburbanites). Unfortunately, other townsfolk, who are much more powerful and richer than Joe, covet the same piece of land as well, but Joe has one advantage: Eloy recognizes some good preservationist values in Joe that the other potential buyers don't share, and wants to sell only to him. Alas though, Joe, an educated garbage hauler with a wife and two children, has no cash, which is why he, and two of his friends, decide to purchase and sell uncut cocaine. Unfortunately it's the worst kept secret in a town full of gossip and innuendo, where every secret seems to be instantly known, and Joe finds that he has made a number of enemies set to destroy him and steal his cocaine. Along the way (the book takes place over about a week long period) he has affairs with three different women, each with their own bizarre issues and agendas, and, at the same time, has to deal with his difficult family.

And that's where it all gets really strange. Chamisaville is basically a town filled with new-age weirdos, calling themselves "Hanumans," who share some similarities to Scientologists, but engage in monkey worship and idolatry. In fact, one of the major characters of the book is a demonic monkey named Sasha, owned by one of Joe's lovers. The cast of characters, which includes people named Nikita Smatterling, Angel Guts, and Nick Danger, all have dealings and conspiracies with each other that are almost impossible to follow, and I highly doubt that the author expected the reader to keep track.

I knew something was particularly off-kilter about the story when Joe tries to escape the town, but can't get out because of various construction projects and other obstructions, which mysteriously vanish when he returns to the center of town. Similarly, wherever Joe seems to go, whether to the town diner, the hospital, or stuck in a traffic jam, he encounters a number of the central characters who just happen to be present at exactly the same moment. Many townsfolk take issue with Joe's attempt to buy the land, but no one seems to care all that much that he's selling cocaine to raise the necessary funds. And just when you think it can't get any stranger, it does.

"Nirvana Blues" is the third installment of a trilogy which began with "The Milagro Beanfield War," followed by "Magic Journey." I never read the first book, but I rated "Magic Journey" five stars, finding the writing to be extraordinary. Although there was a fantastical element to that book as well, this didn't dominate the story as it does here. Sometimes it just seems that the author couches his antipathy towards white surbanites seeking to escape the rat race, in supernaturalism and hyper-exaggeration.

With its flaws and all, "Nirvana Blues" still clearly demonstrates how well Nichol's can write. Plus, although I found many of the attempts at humour futile, occasionally Nichol's succeeded, such as when a Mafia-type capo tries to threaten Joe by shooting at a grapefruit in his pool with Joe's face drawn on it. Except he can't hit the grapefruit even through two clips of bullets. When he orders his bodyguard to retrieve it, the bodyguard, a non-swimmer, almost drowns and Joe has to save him.

I suppose as an allegory for Hell on Earth, "Nirvana Blues" works in some way. I just didn't think it was nearly as good as "Magic Journey."

An anticlimactic finish to a promising trilogy.......2000-07-17

Normally, I prefer not to be a harsh critic, but I feel compelled, given the very positive review above, to offer my own appraisal. I have found THE NIRVANA BLUES to be a disappointment. Nichols' THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR is a well-crafted novel, and worthy of the praise (and even the Steinbeck comparisons) that it receives. The novel's characters display idiosyncracies that are both intoxicating and revealing. THE NIRVANA BLUES attempts to duplicate this, and yet its idiosyncracies, in my opinion, become irritating: more hijinx without substance. Furthermore, the erotic element to the story seems more self-indulgent than necessary. If you have read THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR, and are looking forward to the same quality in the rest of the trilogy, you may be disappointed as well.

"Nichols is the best American author since John Steinbeck".......1997-09-15

A gripping American novel "The Nirvana Blues" captures the richness of the late 20th century. Nichols creates characters that nearly rival Steinbeck's Doc and the entire Joad clan. Nichols excels in both humor and human compassion. You don't know whether to laugh or cry. He is by far one of the best writers to come out in the last 30 years, "The Nirvana Blues" should be considered required reading for colleges and universities.

TEEN SPIRIT: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song

Average customer rating:

Good book
I love Kurt forever
Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song
Great!
true

TEEN SPIRIT: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song
Chuck Crisafulli
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0684833565

Customer Reviews:

Good book.......2002-03-26

This was a very good, but I was a little misconceived by what it was about. There was more about the recording of the songs and whatnot, as opposed to what they are actually about, which is what I thought the book was about. But either way, the book is very good and an easy read.

I love Kurt forever.......2001-11-28

I don't own the book because I don't think that a mere author of a book can tell me what Kurt was thinking or feeling when he wrote these songs. I know in my heart what Kurt was thinking and feeling. I love him. I probably will buy the book just because I collect everything Nirvana. So, if you're a true Nirvana fan -buy it but have your own interpretation.

Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Nirvana Song.......2001-06-07

Was a decent read, but covered a lot of ground covered elsewhere. The meanings of the songs were more the author's interpretation, and it is questionable as to whether or not this is really the message the song was meant to convey. Okay, but not worth twelve bucks.

Great!.......2001-05-24

Great picures, doesn't have ALL songs, but almost all. Very good buy though.

true.......1999-10-19

any true nirvana fan doesnt need this book becuase i personally understand exactly what kurt is saying and surely dont need a book to tell me!

Book Description

Unflaggingly faithful to its punk rock roots, Nirvana was the catalyst behind a sea of change, the likes of which the music world had not seen since the Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion more than a quarter of a century before. Spawned in the intensely fertile music scene that blossomed in and around Seattle in the late 1980s, Nirvana instantly distinguished itself from the bulk of its peers by virture of the singular passion that drove its leader, Kurt Cobain. The singer was imbued with incredible personal magnetism, as well as an uncommon gift for articulating the chaotic emotions of what has been called a lost generation. Although the band released just five albums, Nirvana's influence is certain to be felt for many years to come. This book examines the multiple reasons behind that impact, chronicling the band's earliest beginnings to rock superstardom, pinpointing the genesis of each of the band's original songs and exploring the sources from which they chose the cover songs that punctuated their records.

Nirvana: Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Song (Stories Behind Every Song Series)

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Nirvana: Teen Spirit: The Stories Behind Every Song (Stories Behind Every Song Series)
Chuck Crisafulli
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1560255587

Book Description

Unflaggingly faithful to its punk rock roots, Nirvana was the catalyst behind a sea of change, the likes of which the music world had not seen since the Beatles spearheaded the British Invasion more than a quarter of a century before. Spawned in the intensely fertile music scene that blossomed in and around Seattle in the late 1980s, Nirvana instantly distinguished itself from the bulk of its peers by virtue of the singular passion that drove its leader, Kurt Cobain. The singer was imbued with incredible personal magnetism, as well as an uncommon gift for articulating the chaotic emotions of what has been called a lost generation. Although the band released just five albums, Nirvana's influence is certain to be felt for many years to come; Teen Spirit examines the multiple reasons behind that impact. The book follows Nirvana from its earliest beginnings to rock superstardom, pinpointing the genesis of each of the band's original songs and exploring the sources from which they chose the cover songs that punctuated their records. Dozens of superb photographs illustrate Nirvana's amazing story.

Nirvana Tribute: The Life and Death of Kurt Cobain the Full Story

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It wasn't suicide
condemning kurt cobain is not a tribute to nirvana.
Cobain
I believe i am kurts biggest fan
I'm not like them (but I can pretend)

Nirvana Tribute: The Life and Death of Kurt Cobain the Full Story
Suzi Black
Manufacturer: Omnibus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0711942447

Customer Reviews:

It wasn't suicide.......2004-01-23

Kurt did not commit suicide. Spread the word, because people need to know the truth. Go to justiceforkurt.com and I promise you will change your mind for good.

~Alma, 15

Rest in peace dear Kurt, I'll always love you.

condemning kurt cobain is not a tribute to nirvana........2003-09-05

i have no idea what kind of nirvana tribute suzi black hoped to accomplish by writing this book. i have just finished reading the book, and i'm angry and hurt by all the unfounded, condemning, moral judgements she made about kurt cobain's suicide.

the book itself is an unimpressive repetition of everything we all know and have read elsewhere about kurt -- and some of it is misquoted and wrongly stated in this book. it's just a lame attempt to cash in on the huge market created by kurt's death. but it's all passable until the very end where she jumps into the jury seat and begins to judge and degrade kurt for his choice of suicide, citing the usual moral cliche nonsense that we hear from those who've never been truly depressed or desperate enough to contemplate ending their lives. nobody has the right to judge anyone until they've walked in their shoes for a mile. this bit of wisdom is totally lost on the author of this book. she is way out of line writing such harsh and inaccurate judgements on a man off of whoes death she's making money. there are far better books out there written on kurt. save your money on this one. i have a world of love and respect for kurt cobain, and i will always cherish and honor him. that's why i'm going to throw this book in the garbage can and write a letter to miss black requesting that she keep her uninsightful and condescending opinions to herself. how dare she judge a man who was in so much pain as to want to die.

R.I.P. dear kurt. we will love you forever.

Cobain.......2002-03-15

Kurt Cobain is a god in the music world, and he is also my god, i love him and i hate that he is no longer around i will always miss him.

kurt cobain is the man

I believe i am kurts biggest fan.......2001-05-10

Ive read it as well as countless amounts of other material yes it is a good book but kurt didn't kill himself and it has other incorrect information as well. If your going to write a book get the facts strait

I'm not like them (but I can pretend).......2000-04-07

This was a very informative yet depressing book...many times -- most of the time actually -- I cried. And I don't cry a lot. I am a HUGE Kurt and Nirvana fan (as well as a Courtney Hater) and I thought I knew a lot about Kurt but I didn't and I learned a lot more through this book.

Average customer rating:

Seattle dreams and many flings
when's the freakin' movie coming out!?
Possibilities
Almost a Seattle guide
pretty.

Never Mind Nirvana: A Novel
Mark Lindquist
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 067946302X
Release Date: 2000-05-02

Amazon.com

Twentysomething New York had its Bright Lights, Big City. Pre-grad L.A. had its Less Than Zero. And now thirtysomething, post-grunge Seattle has its Never Mind Nirvana (a less-than-clever twist on the title of a seminal album). In Mark Lindquist's third novel, we find Peter Tyler at a crossroads. He's traded in his gig as a bassist with a quasi-successful grunge band for a respectable career in law. Instead of flannel he wears suits, and instead of taking the bus he zips around town in a Volvo. Emotionally, however, this paragon of maturity is still a kid: he hangs in the same bars, treats women merely as potential conquests (only now he's dating the little sisters of the strippers and groupies who used to notch his bedpost), and still slips the same old CDs onto his stereo.

In the midst of this adolescent purgatory, a date-rape case lands on Peter's desk, and he finds himself prosecuting an old rock-star friend for committing an act he himself may have committed in the past. Time to grow up? Unfortunately not: throughout Never Mind Nirvana, the intricacies and ambiguities of the case often take a backseat to Tyler's drunken angst. When his hero is grappling with the grayest, most subtle aspects of the trial, Lindquist does imbue him with a certain depth and compassion. Otherwise, his novel can seem a mere exercise in name-dropping: the washed-up rock stars who populate Seattle's nightlife, the bartenders who serve their scotch, and the bouncers who toss them out into the rainy streets. And it's no consolation to discover that Lindquist's portrayal of Seattle is technically accurate. Substituting fact for fiction, he's used a map and a phonebook--and not enough imagination. --Tod Nelson

Book Description

"Hip deep in music, Never Mind Nirvana is a telling inside view that perfectly captures the rhythms and sights of late-nineties Seattle."
— Peter Buck, guitarist of R.E.M.

Pete Tyler is at a crossroads. Eight years ago he dropped out of a seminal Seattle grunge band to try his hand at a more grown-up calling. Now he's thirty-six ("almost forty!"), a deputy prosecutor (a suit), still hanging out at the same clubs he played ten years ago (the ones that haven't shut down), and still dating the same kind of girls (except now they tell him how much their older sisters loved his band).

Pete decides it's time to get married—he just doesn't know to whom. Possibilities include Beth, his first love, who has disappeared; Winter, his on-and-off stripper girl-friend, who has been living the grunge life too long; and Esme´, a Sub Pop A&R executive who has some life decisions of her own to make. When a date-rape case lands on his desk—the accused is a local rocker Pete's age, the accuser an eighteen-year-old from the scene—Pete finds his past and present facing him from both sides of the aisle, and he finally has to decide where he stands.

Pete Tyler is a cooler version of Everyguy, and Never Mind Nirvana is a hilarious and unexpectedly moving story of a man with one foot stuck in adolescence and the other planted in adulthood. Richly textured with references to classic rock and the music of Seattle's legendary alternative rock scene, it is also a fascinating, bittersweet riff on a particularly American zeitgeist.

Download Description

Never Mind Nirvana is a hilarious and unexpectedly moving story of a man with one foot stuck in adolescence and one in adulthood. Richly textured with references to classic rock and the music of Seattle's legendary alternative rock scene, it is also a fascinating riff on this particularly American zeitgeist.

Customer Reviews:

Seattle dreams and many flings.......2006-06-22

Author Mark Lindquist writes a simple story in "Never Mind Nirvana." There is nothing overly flashy or anything that adds a monumental aspect to the realm of English literature, however, here sits a fine piece of storytelling that works nearly like Bret Easton Ellis novel but more like a movie on Showtime.

For anyone of the late Generation X-movement, this book is for you. While not as cutting edge as Ellis' novel, "Glamorama", "Never Mind Nirvana" features many celebrities in appearances no different than Ellis' previous works. Several grunge rockers show some face and there's a throwback to past memories that anyone who listened to radio or music in general from the 90's can relate to.

It's text with a soundtrack.

The story follows the prosecution of one aging rocker that is a bonafide celebrity in the dear music scene of awesome Seattle, Washington. The prosecutor is a former musician and finds himself on the edge of the next level of his life, contemplating his past and asking himself, "Who was I? What am I now?"

There are countless short romances, the club goers, the drinks, and sing a longs that almost entrance the reader to throw down the book and head bang for a bit.

Lindquist is about simplicity and this book is an easy read for a quiet afternoon on the couch or a rainy day at a cafe. While it's not a book for everyone, it's enjoyable to the majority...

when's the freakin' movie coming out!?.......2005-04-09

this is the coolest book and it would make the coolest movie! It's like the movie's already written, it just needs someone with a camera and some actors. Someone suggeted Vince Vaughn play Pete Tyler, I say Johnny Depp. Whatever, someone should just hurry up 'cause "I can't hardly wait!" If you know what song that line is from, you'll love this book. You'll probably love it anyway.

Possibilities.......2005-01-11

This is a great light read. The comparisons to Hornby are justifiable, but Lindquist does create an original storyline. The idea of coupling Seattle pop culture laden material with courtroom drama seems odd, but he pulls it off. A lot of the reviews I read pertaining to this novel mention pace and rightly so. The book becomes increasingly hard to put down once you start, as cliche as that sounds. And the music references! Love It! I spent the night digging through hundreds of old CD's after I read this. The characters are believable and easy to relate to, especially for those of us who are just like or know people just like them.

Almost a Seattle guide.......2004-10-07

I really enjoyed this book. It is all about growing up - we follow the protagonist, a former local rock star who is now 38 ("almost forty") and a prosecutor in the final stages of his process to become an adult. It is no coincidence that the story is situated in a post-grunge Seattle - the city is going through a similar grow-up process after Kurt Cobain's death. The references to the city are very accurate; you could use this book as a traveler's guide to Seattle's nightlife. Still, a very good read in the style of Jay McInnerny, Tom Wolfe or Nick Hornby.

pretty........2003-05-30

this book is great. when i grow up i want to be winter. in a much more responsible and secure sort of way...
xoxo

Average customer rating:

Unsentimental Tale of Teenage Hustlers
Prettyboys onthe Street in PDX(and a few female stereotypes)
I Can't Stop Thinking About This Book
Non-Perishables
Good Insight To Street Life

After Nirvana
Lee Williams
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A stunningly realized post-grunge novel in the tradition of John Rechy's City of Night from a truly provocative new voice in literary fiction

Set in the Pacific Northwest, After Nirvana follows a small bunch of drugged-out street kids. The narrator, Davey, chronicles his life on the street with a group that includes his girlfriend, Nikki; a boy he loves, named James; a violently twisted older kid called Branch; and assorted tricks and dealers. With astonishingly gritty depictions of America's underside, author Lee Williams brilliantly captures daily existence for these anesthetized teens and includes hypnotically raunchy scenes of gay and straight sex -- usually performed for cash or drugs, some times for lust or love. After Nirvana employs a unique vocabulary (for example, sex is always called slither) and verbal pyrotechnics to tell a riveting story that is sometimes funny, often grim, but always tremendously moving. It is as powerful and original as any novel published in recent years and as real as the kids sleeping on the streets in any city or town in America.

Customer Reviews:

Unsentimental Tale of Teenage Hustlers.......2005-10-14

This novel tells the story of Davy, Nikki, James, Jody and Branch, a group of street kids living in a squat in Portland, getting by on "slither" for pay, in other words, hustling. We see their day-to-day existence through Davy's point of view, a loose and rambling prose that relates every incident in the same casual style, whether it be negotiating the use of a coupon to buy deodorant in a grocery store or a paid sexual encounter turned unexpectedly violent. While Davy's matter-of-factness makes the book's more unsavory, possibly disturbing, aspects more palatable, it also purposely, and cleverly, masks any potential despair over his lot in life. To his credit, Williams doesn't try too hard to make the vernacular sound overly hip or colloquial; he strikes just the right tone so the reader can believe that these are the hurried, slightly scattered thoughts and voices of teenagers. In addition, the Pacific Northwest of the grunge-era nineties is nicely evoked as the kids flit between various locales and fuss over the more popular rock bands.

Although Davy and Nikki are the high school sweethearts who hitchhike from Eugene together at the start of the book, the true love story at the heart of the novel is between Davy and James, a sensitive young hustler they hook up with in a Portland park. Davy's special affection for James becomes apparent only very slowly, emerging in direct correlation with the escalation of danger and discomfort in their lives, of which James has a lower tolerance than the others. While most of the book's sex is quite clinical and impersonally portrayed, there is one scene between these two that is quite different. Davy and James are encouraged by their pimp, Branch, to spend their "vacation day" in a gay bath house and once there, they have an incredibly erotic, but surprisingly tender, sexual encounter that takes the concept of PDA to a whole new level. Very hot.

Rather than indulge in a lot of navel gazing or dwell on the tragedy of his life, Davy merely focuses on getting through each day. Watching the mundane struggles of these kids, whether it be in securing a new squat, feeding themselves, earning money, shopping or negotiating free time, we come to recognize ourselves and our own very compromised, often unsatisfying, lives. Highly recommended.

Prettyboys onthe Street in PDX(and a few female stereotypes).......2002-08-09

A bit vapid, a bit glamorized...Williams' view of street life is one that seems right on if you are a gay prettyboy and your tastes in drugs run more to ecstasy and the psychadelics. As someone with two strikes against me (being that I adore opiates and that I do not possess a penis), I found this book somewhat lightweight. Perhaps because Williams either is or is fascinated by gay males himself, the female characters in this book seemed one dimensional and peripheral. They exist only to prop up the males' existence and do not have the same pathos, torment, and beauty as the male characters. Now, 99% of all films/books have this problem so I should really blame society for this flaw, not Williams...but if you are at all irked at this tendency, particularly in portraits of countercultures, do not buy this book. If however you are lucky enough to be an attractive young hipster boy you will probably adore this book and its depictions of sex, drugs, sleazy johns, parties, and Portland street life.

I Can't Stop Thinking About This Book.......2001-06-07

Sometimes you read a book, and it never leaves you. Well, I can't get this book out of my mind. It was just so good because it was so 90s, so post-grunge, so my generation. Who can't relate to listening a worn tape of Bleach through your headphones? This is THE book for anyone who remembers what it was like right after punk broke.

Non-Perishables.......2000-11-19

At one point, the characters Lee William's first novel, After Nirvana, find themselves in a Safeway with a coupon book shopping for a single stick of deodorant to handle the five hustling runaways. They are five street kids teens, two girls and three boys, who banded together to watch after each other and collectively earn what they can in the park bathrooms, highway rest areas, and adult video booths along I-5 between Eugene and Seattle. This mission to buy deodorant is probably one of the most complicated tasks undertaken in the course of the story, which sort of makes After Nirvana sound like a chronicle of five mental deficients, but really illustrates how alien buying dry goods like make-up or toilet paper are to these street kids. They loiter in front of the confusing row of choices.

"I was standing next to Branch in the soap and pit-stick aisle and he was going through the Soft $ Dri's, popping the tops, sniffing and holding them out to me, one at a time, asking `Does this smell like snatch?' but before I'd say anything he'd sniff the stick again, say, `Yeah, too much,' put the top back on, put the thing back on the shelf. "Dude, there's gotta be one that doesn't reek like chick."

But before they stop at this Safeway to buy some deodorant they accomplish a series of tasks with as much fluent ease as my own tired trips to the Thriftway where I automatically pick up non-perishables and odds and ends, that is the things I need to survive and the various not essential to my survival items like deodorant to hide my own stinky presence. These kids have identified johns and hustled tricks at dusk in Eugene. They have hustled in video booths. They have engineered an appearance in a cheap triple x video and sold acid in back water towns in Oregon. But they can't manage to buy one stick of neutral deodorant to cover the smell of the five of them.

Lee William's doesn't seek a cause and effect chain which ultimately leads to a prime mover, some action or sequence that resulted in these kids ending up the street. There isn't any moral in this book about abusive parents or drug use. And there isn't a progression toward recovery or redemption or any other artificial Aesop style moral. Unlike the movie of a couple of years ago that plays out the hackneyed story of street kids, Where the Day Takes Us, which aside from flat characters followed the street exploits of a character named Lion who benevolently watched over his pack, After Nirvana is a naked narrative following the story of how these kids meet together and then aren't together anymore.

Consequently, the narrative feels effectively fragmented and episodic. The novel isn't about why these kids are like this but shows the way that they are. This book is sex, drugs, and rock and roll irony lived out on thirteen year old bodies where the equations are so basic that irony is the only form of clothing these kids have. Such values as straight or gay or love or powder fresh pH balanced really are just a little more expensive than they can afford.

Good Insight To Street Life.......1999-09-01

This book was of fairly good quality. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much though, if I were to live outside of Portland, OR and know nothing of the area. It was very good at offering insight into the world of street kids and their lives. And of course it was good for the familarness of the Portland setting.

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COME AS YOU ARE THE STORY OF NIRVANA

Manufacturer: Doubleday & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H99BFY

The continuing story: Post nirvana miracles of Sri Raman Maharshi

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The continuing story: Post nirvana miracles of Sri Raman Maharshi

Manufacturer: Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Other Eastern Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 8185378762

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