I like reading books about music and bands I like but I'm not sure any of the ones out on PJ or the Seattle scene are worth bothering with.

Five Against One by Kim Neely is quite informative and enjoyable. A very negative review by Caryn Rose at Five Horizons tainted many people's impression of the book when it first came out but I have always felt that it is a great read and almost essential for a hard core fan. The main criticism of the book was that it focused too much on Eddie Vedder and aspects of his personal life before the band's success. Ms. Rose also felt the book portrayed Eddie in a negative light in terms of being domineering in trying to control the direction of the band in the mid-90s (which history has more or less confirmed was true to a large extent).

The book goes up through the Yield era. I recommend giving it a try, if for no other reason than the fact that it's really the only book of its kind out there about the band.

yep, i recommend five against one as well. caryn rose is kinda nutty.

how cool would it be if Kim Neely updated the book à la Pigs Might Fly/Inside Out (books about Pink Floyd) where the authors published up-to-date versions after enough stuff to fill a chapter happened?


i still haven't read Five Against One though

That's not entirely true. Mick Wall put out a book that covered the band up until 1995, the start of the Jack Irons era. It was an unauthorized biography where the band's history was pieced together from quotes culled from interviews given to various magazines around the world. You have to take books like these with a grain of salt in that they're full of half-truths largely based solely on the writer's perception of the band. You only get one person's opinion about the band. Its not worth your money. If you recall, Mick Wall was one of the writers Axl Rose called out in Get In The Ring, a song aimed at shoddy journalism.

An Amazon.com review sums it up:

1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible info on the band, January 1, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Pearl Jam (Paperback)
"filled with inaccuracies, seemed like a quick way to make a buck. will satisfy only the fan who has to constantly read about them, even if the info is wrong. reading this after "five against one" is almost comical. do not waste hard earned money."

That's cool. I'll check out the 5 against 1 book, figured any book would overly focus on Vedder and I'm not nearly as interested in his life before PJ as after but I'll have to grab it.

kinda?

batshit insane?

If px liked Pearl Jam, she'd be Caryn Rose.

px?

blues you have missed a good period in time of the pj internet.

Caryn. Hilarious

Is it the Eddie vedder biography thats supposed to be the real shitty one? None too fragile i think?

I thought None Too Fragile was not too bad. I've also enjoyed that Mick Wall book.

And although not about Pearl Jam, but the thread title only says Pearl Jam related, so... you need to read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. From the band: "This book was passed around during the last recording (i.e. Yield) session, and we pass it on to you... You could almost go as far as saying that the liner notes to the record are in there."

Thanks for the tip but I'm looking for more biography and behind the scenes music related.

This!
Except for non too fragile, haven't read that one yet.

Along this same route, Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita was the inspiration for "Pilate", and Howard Zinn's You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train was the inspiration for "Down".

People wouldn't shut up on AMPJ about Ishmael after learning it was involved with Yield. I was bombarded with posts on the evils of civilization and modern society and related stuff.

kinda?