Fink Posted May 26, 2002 Report Share Posted May 26, 2002 Does anyone know any good Biography books out there to read? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted May 26, 2002 Report Share Posted May 26, 2002 i really enjoyed lauren bacall's book id recommend that ...- I am currently reading the gene simmons book, it's ok and came highly recommended, but has failed to really grab me... for non famous, there's Obasan joy Kogawa its about a japanese canadian family from van interned during www2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fink Posted May 26, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2002 I have read the Gene Simmon's book. I thought it was pretty good. Very interesting I must say. Over 4000 women...WOW The Micheal J. Fox's book is excellent. I recommend that to anyone who watched Alex P. Keaton back in the days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted May 26, 2002 Report Share Posted May 26, 2002 really? i couldn't get past the first 3 chapters of the david crosby book - ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2002 Report Share Posted May 26, 2002 That new Neil Young biography just came out -- called Shakey. (Funny cause in that last "books to read" thread a few weeks ago I was asking if there was a good Neil biography out there yet). Its over 800 pages. I'm skeptical though.. I read an article on it, and the article sketched Neil out as a baffoon! Apparently, at first the book had Neil's full approval and they did extensive interviews and stuff, but then somewhere down the line (like 6 years ago now), Neil got pissed and disassociated himself with the whole project. A big lawsuit followed and now the book is finally out. It could be a good book. But it could also be extremely biased. They should write a book on writing the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottieking Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 David Crosby- should have been called Lucky to be Alive but good. Trudeau - Memoirs Hmmm that's all that's coming to mind right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 The biograph of Bill Evans, "How My Heart Sings" by Peter Pettinger, is great, as is "Straight, no chaser : the life and genius of Thelonious Monk" by Leslie Gourse. Both are available from the Ottawa Public Library. Aloha, Brad (currently listening to Bill Evans' "Conversations With Myself") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcO Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 quote:Originally posted by KevO: [QB]That new Neil Young biography just came out -- called Shakey. (Funny cause in that last "books to read" thread a few weeks ago I was asking if there was a good Neil biography out there yet). Its over 800 pages. I'm skeptical though.. I read an article on it, and the article sketched Neil out as a baffoon! /QB]Hey, I've been working my way through "Shakey" for the past couple of weeks. So far, not bad (I'm about a third of the way through). It's laid out so that the writer can introduce key figures and how they enter Neil's life, and although he does make some judgments on these people, it's not particularly problematic. And then Neil has a running commentary throughout the book, commenting on what people have said. It works for me. I've read a few books on Neil: "A Dreamer Of Pictures", "Neil and Me", a couple of non-descript bios with titles I forget, and this is probably the best, inasmuch as the writer got access to most of the key players, some before they died. It does shed light on his childhood in Canada, his battles with epilepsy and doesn't seem to get too mired in lurid details of sex and drugs like other rock bios (read "Living With The Dead" by Rock Scully? Yuk!). Right now, I'm at the part where his 1st solo album has bombed and CSN is just forming, with Y yet to be added. Crazy Horse is just being introduced to the story. Interesting stuff, definitely a must-read for big-time Neil fans. It's not perfect but it seems to be the most authoritative bio on Neil going right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 Thanks MarcO, Now I just may check it out! Theres so many books I want to read right now, problem is it takes me forever actually read 'em. Right now I'm reading Cannery Row by Steinbeck (still). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcane Posted May 27, 2002 Report Share Posted May 27, 2002 The Richard Feynman biographies: "Adventures of a Curious Character" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" Bradm, do you remember which one is first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberHippie Posted May 28, 2002 Report Share Posted May 28, 2002 If anyone is looking for a non Biography book for some entertainment, pick up "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates" by Tom Robbins... I just finished it last night and found it highly amusing/entertaining/thought provoking. Check it out! (Another Road Side Attraction is awsome too, I'm working my way through Tom Robbins books) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted May 28, 2002 Report Share Posted May 28, 2002 quote:Originally posted by arcane: The Richard Feynman biographies: "Adventures of a Curious Character" and "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" Bradm, do you remember which one is first?The first one you listed (which most people know as "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman", subtitled, "Adventures of a Curious Character"; the second is subtitled "Further Adventures of a Curious Character") came first. Both are essential reading. They're not dry textbooks: as well as being curious, Feyman was somebody who *lived* his life. His stories about his relationships with women (e.g., picking them up in bars or at parties, and his stories about his wife's decay and death due to TB), for example, are a joy to read. One other book on the Essential Reading List, especially for the music junkies here, is "The Real Frank Zappa Book", by, you guessed it, Frank Zappa. It gives a lot of insight into the man, his music, and the times in which they both were around. Aloha, Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h Posted May 28, 2002 Report Share Posted May 28, 2002 i'm gonna grab those books, you so smart you two - i forgot about the zappa book, it is great. i gave that to somebody... was it you bouche? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asparagus Posted May 28, 2002 Report Share Posted May 28, 2002 Good call Arcane, Anything Feynman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcane Posted May 29, 2002 Report Share Posted May 29, 2002 quote:Originally posted by bradm: The first one you listed (which most people know as "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman", subtitled, "Adventures of a Curious Character"; the second is subtitled "Further Adventures of a Curious Character") came first.Thanks, Brad. Obviously I wasn't thinking very hard when I wrote that. (Actually, I was, but about shutter pin signals.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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