Pearl Jam Literature

cwmeyer

Been a Pearl Jam fan for a while now, and everyone close to me knows it. For Christmas I received "Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder: None Too Fragile" from the family. Have yet to put some quality reading time into it, but I looked at reviews online and saw that the book was not well received (although this will not stop me from reading it). That being said, "Five Against One" seems to be the premier book on PJ and "This all encompassing Trip" looks very promising as well. I was just wondering if there were any other good reads out there about the band/band members.

cent208

definately recommend five against one

RiddledWithMetaphors

I'm sure it's been covered on here extensively, try searching the book titles in the archives...

That being said, None Too Fragile is like a two minute version of Pearl Jam's history and is wrong about a few facts. Five Against One is a much better, however controversial book. Many people do not like Five Against One because it paints Eddie and the guys as less than godly... Simply my interpretation. It's a much better, more accurate read and gives insight into the inner-workings of the band, although not always in the most favorable way. It's a fun read and I recommend it to Pearl Jam fans.

None Too Fragile is pure literary trash...

I have to get the new All Encompassing Trip book... Read a little about it and must get it...

sophie

I definitely recommend This All Encompassing Trip. It's a must for any Pearl Jam fan, really capturing the whole fan experience.

Here's more info on the book: http://www.thisallencompassingtrip.com/

And a recent review that summarizes the book really well:
http://www.twofeetthick.com/2011/01/lif ... and-greet/

PushinPaint

I read that book ( Five Against One ) probably 5 years ago or so. But I remember one part where it said Eddie had climbed out on the space needle ledge and unscrewed a light bulb to mail it to someone (To someone who had interviewed him?). Does anyone remember this or if I am way off? If it is true, do you think it really happened?

tinkerbell

I was lucky enough to receive 5 Against 1 and All Encompassing Trip for Xmas from my 10C Secret Santa. I am half way through 5 Against 1, and yes it does mention the space needle light bulb (it was sent to Kelly Neeley the author of the book after she interviewed Eddie for Rolling Stone). I doubt that there will ever be many authorized books out there about PJ as they are all very private,

Brain of Dave

PushinPaint wrote:

I read that book ( Five Against One ) probably 5 years ago or so. But I remember one part where it said Eddie had climbed out on the space needle ledge and unscrewed a light bulb to mail it to someone (To someone who had interviewed him?). Does anyone remember this or if I am way off? If it is true, do you think it really happened?

Yeah I tell that story to people all the time. Thats "Crazy Eddie!"

Brain of Dave

RiddledWithMetaphors wrote:

I'm sure it's been covered on here extensively, try searching the book titles in the archives...

That being said, None Too Fragile is like a two minute version of Pearl Jam's history and is wrong about a few facts. Five Against One is a much better, however controversial book. Many people do not like Five Against One because it paints Eddie and the guys as less than godly... Simply my interpretation. It's a much better, more accurate read and gives insight into the inner-workings of the band, although not always in the most favorable way. It's a fun read and I recommend it to Pearl Jam fans.

None Too Fragile is pure literary trash...

I have to get the new All Encompassing Trip book... Read a little about it and must get it...

I just got None Too Fragile for Christmas as well.

I've read Five Against One and yeah, the band (especially Ed) looks like dicks sometimes, but you don't get to the level they're at by being nice to everyone.

abhijeet

Five Against One is interesting, but it seriously overreaches in it's pop psychology analysis of Eddie's personality.

The book needed a hook and dirt, even if it's barely supported by the facts, is a good hook to sell some copies.

PilateOfTheStorm

I've read both None Too Fragile and Five Against One, and briefly this is what I think:

I read None Too Fragile first - for a book on a band, it contained a few too many inaccurate facts and editing errors. More so that just a typo here or there or a birthday wrong. On the whole it was informative and much of the facts did match up with prior knowledge of the band. Nothing incredibly new for me - but I kind of expected that anyway.

I then read Five Against One - which is very controversial in how it delves into the life and mind of Eddie. There is a lot of information about the beginnings of the band - Mother Love Bone and Andy's story, which was interesting and mostly new for me. That was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed reading that. The only downside to the book, which unfortunately makes up most of the book, is Neely's detailed description and analysis of Eddie; his life, his mind, his personality. All of it - she unpicks so much.

Now, for me, I'm not opposed to any book that might portray Eddie as less than perfect - they are just humans too and I am completely accepting of the fact that people don't like the band, or Eddie or whatever. But Neely has some kind of agenda against Eddie which is evident in how she portrays him and this isn't helped by the fact that the people she interviews about Eddie are Dave Abbruzzese and his stepfather.

And this agenda leads to what irked me the most about the book - the amount of information about Eddie's life. I felt intrusive reading it - I really just didn't want to or need to know this stuff, but I read on regardless because I had to finish the book. And her agenda lends her to presenting his whole life, every little action, in a less than attractive way. So it lends itself to being a biased book.

Overall, it's an interesting read - contains a lot of factual information (particularly the early years of the band) and is definitely a "juicier" read than None Too Fragile.
I'd recommend it to a fan who just wants to read about the band BUT with a small warning - there is lots on Eddie, not all good.

abhijeet

I have less trouble with her presenting the facts compared to the author's interpretations of them. She paints a picture of a man who is making up his entire image as he goes along, while I can easily understand how Eddie could feel the way he does and not view it as a contradiction and assume he's faking.

I think the only part that really reflects negatively on Eddie is the Dave A firing situation. It's pretty clear that it was down to Eddie not liking to guy, so he had to go. But that's the way with a group of people pretty often, especially in a band when you;re thrown together all the time. The rest of the book, with it's attempt to do a complete hack job on Eddie come close to causing disgust at times.

pjradio

THE definitive EARLY PJ read....

This is a PDF version...I was lucky enough to get a hard copy...GREAT READ!!

http://www.twofeetthick.com/2010/10/199 ... mini-book/

tremors

PilateOfTheStorm wrote:

I've read both None Too Fragile and Five Against One, and briefly this is what I think:

I read None Too Fragile first - for a book on a band, it contained a few too many inaccurate facts and editing errors. More so that just a typo here or there or a birthday wrong. On the whole it was informative and much of the facts did match up with prior knowledge of the band. Nothing incredibly new for me - but I kind of expected that anyway.

I then read Five Against One - which is very controversial in how it delves into the life and mind of Eddie. There is a lot of information about the beginnings of the band - Mother Love Bone and Andy's story, which was interesting and mostly new for me. That was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed reading that. The only downside to the book, which unfortunately makes up most of the book, is Neely's detailed description and analysis of Eddie; his life, his mind, his personality. All of it - she unpicks so much.

Now, for me, I'm not opposed to any book that might portray Eddie as less than perfect - they are just humans too and I am completely accepting of the fact that people don't like the band, or Eddie or whatever. But Neely has some kind of agenda against Eddie which is evident in how she portrays him and this isn't helped by the fact that the people she interviews about Eddie are Dave Abbruzzese and his stepfather.

And this agenda leads to what irked me the most about the book - the amount of information about Eddie's life. I felt intrusive reading it - I really just didn't want to or need to know this stuff, but I read on regardless because I had to finish the book. And her agenda lends her to presenting his whole life, every little action, in a less than attractive way. So it lends itself to being a biased book.

Overall, it's an interesting read - contains a lot of factual information (particularly the early years of the band) and is definitely a "juicier" read than None Too Fragile.
I'd recommend it to a fan who just wants to read about the band BUT with a small warning - there is lots on Eddie, not all good.

Well put. I read Five Against One once, years ago - and I think you are right, she did have an agenda. Maybe she thought it was her duty to puncture the EV myth. Some of it didn't ring true for me - but I can't really remember the detail now.