by Josh Shiels

Created on: October 17, 2008   Last Updated: October 19, 2008

Here is a outdated book review at the least, but with the film in the talks of being made I thought it is necessary, the 2002 biography of one of the most interesting and influential musicians of the early 90's and of all-time . Kurt Cobain lead singer/guitarist and main creative source of Grunge/Punk band Nirvana.

"Heavier Than Heaven"

Charles R. Cross brings Cobain back to life and puts it into words better and more beautifully than anyone before. The biography "Come as you are" by Michael Azerrad failed to truly capture the spirit of the troubled genius and you often found yourself shaking off the sugar that he coated Cobain's life with. After Cobain committed suicide, and was found dead in his Washington greenhouse on April 8, 1994, rumors and opinions about the death began to circulate the world like a deadly virus and what Cross does is sticks to the script which is what was needed and more importantly told the truth no matter how dark and dirty it was. In the beginning, the book takes you to a New York hotel room where Kurt is laying without a heartbeat on the floor next to his bed after overdosing on pills, which is one of the many things Azerrad failed to inform the reader about, "Come as you are" was based on interviews and was basically proof read by Cobain himself and after you read "Heavier than Heaven" you learn to know Cobain was a storyteller a man too ashamed of himself to tell the truth and made up stories to keep his privacy, which he craved, he didn't talk about his attempts at suicide and he down played his addiction to heroin. Cross has proved to the writing world he wasn't going to mix up a quick cocktail of already known information about a superstar that anyone would be happy to read anything about, he did his homework and it shows.

After exclusive access to Cobain's unpublished diaries, four years of research, a golden array of documentation and over 400 interviews with family members, close friends, and even quotes from local junkies, it just goes to show that there is still a writer out there with the capacity to put together a biography that can truly hypnotize the reader no matter what their views are on the musician. It takes you on a ride through his childhood through his years of being a popular loner as a teen then shows you the end product which is far from pretty. From the moment he took his first breath of air, to the moment he took his last, the first days of school to his first live gig, his first sip of beer to the time

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