The Rough Guide to Nirvana 1

by Gillian G. Gaar, Rough Guides

"The Rough Guide to Nirvana" uncovers the magic and tragedy of this iconic 90 s grunge band - from small-town gigs to the last days of Kurt Cobain, delve into the story of the life and afterlife of this extraordinary, all too short-lived group. This essential guide for Nirvana fans is written by Gillian G. Gaar, a Seattle music journalist who has personally interviewed many of those involved in the story. No other book explores and documents Nirvana s history, critiques every Nirvana album, single, EP and compilation, including the rare, stray Nirvana tracks and solo projects, and summaries the array of other Nirvana books and Nirvana films, in one volume. From Nirvana s early days on the burgeoning Seattle music scene, the birth of grunge, their global success from "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Nevermind" to "In Utero" and the untimely death of lead singer Kurt Cobain, "The Rough Guide to Nirvana" delivers a wealth of musical insight as the definitive guide to Nirvana.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

258 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

I write regularly about music, entertainment, and travel. I enjoy taking pictures for my articles and books as well. My very first book was "She's A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll," first published in 1992, and updated in 2002; Yoko Ono wrote the book's preface, and it still gives me a thrill to see her name on the cover. Other areas of expertise include Nirvana, the Beatles, and Elvis, all of whom I've written books about. I've also written for a variety of publications around the world, including Mojo, Rolling Stone, Goldmine (where I had regular Beatles and Elvis columns), and many others. I was also a senior editor at legendary Seattle music publication "The Rocket."

Reviews

[Jay Clement · Rating 3 out of 5]

20-2024. A quick biography of Nirvana. As with too many such rock docs, I get distressed as to how destructive some of the band members were with their drug use. So much talent, and maybe wasted. Just three albums and a live album, but seriously great music.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect companion on my road trip to Aberdeen, WA.

[Alyce Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I knew a lot about Nirvana. I was wrong.
If you're interested in the band for their music and their story, rather than just because of Kurt Cobain's suicide, you'll love this book. It's in-depth, filled with quotes and chapters separating out their early years and each of the albums as they released and worked on them. It features run downs of the 25 essential Nirvana songs, extensive lists of other books and films about the band, and even touches upon Dave Grohl's new band Foo Fighters - you might have heard of them - even if the age of this edition does leave their story following the release of 'Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace' back in 2007.
Would be interesting to see this updated with everything that's been done in the years since this was published, particularly with the recent release of Montage of Heck.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this book as part of scattegories game. It is a quick read. since i knew nothing about this group while i read i looked up some of there songs also. not tout kind of music i normally listened to but am always open to learning about others. it was interesting. the only thing was not crazy about was there selected language used at times.

[Lindsay Diggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was very well written with lots of good information. I liked the format of it the way that during the different chapters she broke it down into sub sections and then even smaller ones ALL-may i add-with good pictures