-
Seasonal Offer:
This title is part of our Seasonal Offers promotion.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain (Scepte 21's) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The art of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was all about his private life, but written in a code as obscure as TS Eliot's. In Heavier than Heaven Charles Cross has cracked the code, and this definitive biography is an all-access pass to Cobain's heart and mind. It reveals many secrets, thanks to 400-plus interviews, and even quotes Cobain's diaries and suicide notes revealing an unreleased Nirvana masterpiece. At last we know how he created, how lies helped him die, how his family and love life entwined with his art--plus, what the heck "Smells Like Teen Spirit" really means. (It was graffiti by Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna after a double date with Dave Grohl, Cobain, and the "over-bored and self-assured" Tobi Vail, who wore Teen Spirit perfume; Hanna wrote it to taunt the emotionally clingy Cobain for wearing Vail's scent after sex--a violation of the no-strings-attached dating ethos of the Olympia, Washington, "outcast teen" underground. Cobain 's stomach-churning passion for Vail erupted in six or so hit tunes like "Aneurysm" and "Drain You".) Cross uncovers plenty of news, mostly grim and gripping. As a teenager, Cobain said he had "suicide genes" and his clan was peculiarly defiant: one of his suicidal relatives stabbed his own belly in front of his family, then ripped apart the wound in the hospital. Cobain was contradictory: a sweet, popular teenage athlete and sinister berserker, a kid who rescued injured pigeons and laughingly killed a cat, a talented yet astoundingly morbid visual artist. He grew up to be a millionaire who slept in cars (and stole one), a fiercely loyal man who ruthlessly screwed his oldest, best friends. Cross, the co-author of Nervmind: Nirvana, the definitive book about the making of the classic album, puts numerous Cobain-generated myths to rest. (Cobain never lived under a bridge--that Aberdeen bridge immortalised in the 12th song on Nevermind was a tidal slough, so nobody could sleep under it). He gives the fullest account yet of what it was like to be, or love, Kurt Cobain. Heavier than Heaven outshines the also indispensable Come As You Are. It's the deepest book about pop's darkest falling star. --Tim Appelo
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'This superbly researched and harrowing book...The squalor is ghastly but the sheer sadness of Cobain's brief life is beautifully conveyed here. Cross has painstakingly accumulated a wealth of telling detail...' (Robert Sandall in THE SUNDAY TIMES )
'Cross's research is impeccable... he writes with a fine mixture of sympathy and sense, weeding the myth of all its lies and exaggerations, but never minimising the complexity of his subject. HEAVIER THAN HEAVEN is, or should be, the last word on Kurt Cobain.' (Lynn Barber in the DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'I was very glad to read this biography, the result of four years' research and 400 interviews, not to mention the sainted Kurt's police and medical records AND his unpublished journals. I was in hog heaven all the way through - in a caring, wistful way, of course.' (Julie Birchill in THE GUARDIAN )
'A biography worth reading. The book is especially good once we get past Cobain's squalid early years to the moment when he suddenly wakes up to find himself the most famous pop star in the world.' (James Delingpole in THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
'Cross's portrayal of a shy but prodigiously gifted child, in artistic as well as musical terms, is a joy to read' (THE OBSERVER )
'The secret here is that Cross was allowed unprecedented access to Cobain's world; his diaries, artworks and most significantly the people who surrounded him. Cross may vividly depict the seemingly inevitable demise of a rock star but he also successfully conveys just what all the fuss was about in the first place.' (THE LIST )
'Cross's research is impeccable... he writes with a fine mixture of sympathy and sense, weeding the myth of all its lies and exaggerations, but never minimising the complexity of his subject. HEAVIER THAN HEAVEN is, or should be, the last word on Kurt Cobain.' (Lynn Barber in the DAILY TELEGRAPH )
'I was very glad to read this biography, the result of four years' research and 400 interviews, not to mention the sainted Kurt's police and medical records AND his unpublished journals. I was in hog heaven all the way through - in a caring, wistful way, of course.' (Julie Birchill in THE GUARDIAN )
'A biography worth reading. The book is especially good once we get past Cobain's squalid early years to the moment when he suddenly wakes up to find himself the most famous pop star in the world.' (James Delingpole in THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
'Cross's portrayal of a shy but prodigiously gifted child, in artistic as well as musical terms, is a joy to read' (THE OBSERVER )
'The secret here is that Cross was allowed unprecedented access to Cobain's world; his diaries, artworks and most significantly the people who surrounded him. Cross may vividly depict the seemingly inevitable demise of a rock star but he also successfully conveys just what all the fuss was about in the first place.' (THE LIST )
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Charles Cross's popular biography of Kurt Cobain is alarming reading. I read Michael Azzerad's Come As You Are back in '94 and remember an acutely different tale. Azzerad was fortunate enough to have had extensive interviews with Cobain, unlike Cross, and his book is strikingly disimilar to this.
Ultimately, I think Cross's account is the more accurate of the two. It is also somewhat different in tone, being a biography of Kurt Cobain, not Nirvana. Cross pulls no punches, and his book is the better for it.
Cobain's duplicity as recorded here is astonishing. This is a compelling account of a man who desparately sought fame and recognition, who invented a history for himself barely worse than his actual past and, inevitably, this is a story of serious drug abuse.
The second half of the book - detailing the years 1991 to 1994 - is overwhelmingly concerned with Cobain's addiction to heroin. Contrary to popular belief, the singer was rarely clean for more than a few weeks during the last three years of his life. This is not light reading; it is the painful account of a young man's weakness and mental decay.
Throughout the book, Courtney Love is respectfully portrayed by Cross as a loving wife and supporter of Cobain. No doubt this is true in some respects, but you get the impression Cross backed-off detailing much of Love's character. In return she provided him with access to Kurt's diaries, some entries from which are published here. It was a reasonable trade-off, I suppose, but not terrific journalism.
Interesting and often horrific, Heavier Than Heaven is a valuable biography for its honesty, and the only essential piece of writing on Cobain so far. Recommended.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book was very informative, and I learnt a lot of things about Kurt Cobain that I never knew before. It was sad to read about how he felt like he didn't belong anywhere, and had a lot of turmoil involving his family. It brought a smile to my face when I read that Kurt used to like sledding down a hill near his home as a child, but as the book went on it became sadder and sadder because of his downwards spiral in life. The suicide was written in such deal and with such care that upon finishing the book I was in tears, and I wasn't the only one - so was one of my friends who has also read the book. I would recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, or just music in general as it is a fascinating insight into what made him the legend that he is today. A fitting tribute to a man who changed the face of music forever.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Where this book really scores is in the portrayal of Cobain's troubled early life and his years before fame. The seeds were sown for what was to follow, his inability to come to terms with almost overnight mega stardom. In being terrified by being regarded as the spokesperson for a generation there are obvious comparisons with Dylan, almost 30 years earlier. But unlike Dylan, the disturbed Cobain lacking mental strength and a stable background, was unable to ride out the storm. Coupled with undiagnosed health problems, heroin addiction preceded his suicide.
My reservations concerning the latter part of the book result from the major input of Courtney Love. It is very tainted. With all of her own demons she could not have provided the support Cobain so desperately required. This does not come through in the book.
My reservations concerning the latter part of the book result from the major input of Courtney Love. It is very tainted. With all of her own demons she could not have provided the support Cobain so desperately required. This does not come through in the book.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
One of the most informative texts about Kurt Cobain
This biography, despite all the criticism around it, describes in an excellent style and order the life of Kurt Cobain. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Liam
Sanitized
Covers most of the chronology - but for me in a curiously detached, uninvolving style. Comparing it with other Cobain biographical literature, I am also more struck by what it... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Miketang
Not first person story telling
Don't expect something like Slash's book, where the story is told in first person, this was made by researching alot about Kurt Cobain and with alot of interviews, Miss. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ley
excellently written
cross says he spent four years researching and interviewing for this book and it certainly shows. i've read other biographies (not just about kurt) and often the writer will fall... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Hannah
Amazing book, and so cheap.
Amazing book with photos inside, so cheap as well, it is such a good read and I would recommend everyone to read it. :)
Published 4 months ago by shirmelala
BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN,BUT IS IT ALL TRUE?
I will admit i really enjoyed this book,though i did wonder if Courtney was being painted as a nicer person than she actually is. Read more
Published 11 months ago by BAZ316
Avoid purchasing - Boycott this book
I was so angry I burnt the book. Cross has copied from Michael Azerrad biography, only had turned everything just as his friend Courtney wanted. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Brittany
Overall bad
The writer goes on and on about pointless details, but it is well written.
I found the biography hard to read and it made me feel depressed, about a quarter in and when ever I... Read more
I found the biography hard to read and it made me feel depressed, about a quarter in and when ever I... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Amazon buyer
Best biography I've read in ages.
Just finished reading Heavier than Heaven. I found it really hard to put down. It gave me an understanding what drove Kurt to the things he did. Read more
Published on 27 May 2009 by Ms. Am Kennedy
the truth will out.....please.....
The book gets a star just for the leg work Cross put into it, but no more than that. And where to begin in dismantling the contradictions? Read more
Published on 25 May 2009 by The Sky Is Empty
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Film, Television & Music > Music > Rock & Pop
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Rock & Pop > Styles
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
