Here is a outdated book review at the least, but with the film in the talks of being made I thought it is necessary, the 2002 biography of one of the most interesting and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After exclusive access to Cobain's unpublished diaries, four years of research, a golden array of documentation and over 400 interviews with family members, close friends, and even quotes from local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 he traded a beautiful life for a dirty heroin filled needle.
The way Cross puts Cobain's life into words is truly a work of art. It is a romance, a comedy, a story of sexuality, a dramatic, terrifying rollercoaster ride where the end was always expected to be a sad one, though Cross explains to the reader the finest details of Cobain's last moments which have been the centre piece of so many other books and films that always seemed to fail to capture the true emotion, he explains everything, right down to the album he listened to when writing his suicide letter, the moment he grabbed the shotgun out of his closet, the eeriness of the hallway he walked down for the last time, the temperature of the shotgun barrel when he placed it in his mouth, even the empathy Cobain had for others by bringing a towel into the greenhouse for the unlucky person who had to clean his brain of the wall, he almost brings a sense of happiness almost a beauty to death without glorifying the inner beast that is suicide, it begins to seem like it was one of the happiest moments in his short life. You feel and understand the horror Courtney Love as a wife and mother was feeling when she was on the edge of her own life chasing time itself in the hopes she would stop Cobain before he did finally kill himself.
Cross takes you into the Nirvana tour van where Kurt was at his peak and was the happy-go-lucky twenty-something punk rocker that he should had always been. You feel his happiness, you feel his anger, and you feel like you could have saved him. As a fan of Nirvana you would think it is easy for me to say it was a fantastic trip into Cobain's mind, though it was a story about more than just a "Punk Rock God", it is a story more in-depth and exciting than any fictional novel, you just couldn't make this up, and you definitely can't put it down. If you're not a fan of the music this book will convert you, if you're already a fan this will take the music to a whole new level.
Heavier than Heaven, the punk rock bible so true you begin to believe Cross held the gun himself. 5/5