[Michael Azerrad]Come As You Are : The Story of Nirvana(epub){Zzzzz}

Nirvana came out of nowhere in 1991 to sell nearly five million copies of their landmark album Nevermind, whose thunderous sound and indelible melodies embodied all the confusion, frustration, and passion of the emerging Generation X. Come As You Are is the close-up, intimate story of Nirvana -- the only book with exclusive in-depth interviews with bandmembers Kurt Cobain, Krist Noveselic, and Dave Grohl, as well as friends, relatives, former bandmembers, and associates -- now updated to include a new final chapter detailing the last year of Kurt Cobain's life, before his tragic suicide in April 1994.

Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (September 1, 1993)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385471998
ISBN-13: 978-0385471992

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
My favorite book about Nirvana. For one thing, it doesn't sensationalize, but it doesn't gloss anything over. Having been active in the Seattle music scene throughout Nirvana's obscurity, fame, and demise, I can vouch for the accuracy of its description of the music community in the late '80s and early '90s and Nirvana's role. And being in a band that's currently climbing the ladder, I appreciated the many lessons this book has to offer about the workings of the recording industry.

Best of all, because this book was written before Cobain's death, it is not tinged with the "isn't this tragic" attitude that permeates many books about Nirvana and Cobain. Instead, the book is vibrant with the energy, excitement, and passion that swept local musicians the day "Nevermind" was released, local audiences in the months after, the U.S, and--lest we forget--the world, during Nirvana's more-than-15-minutes of fame.

Review
"Amazingly raw and candid... Come As You Are is as good as rock bios get" -- Billboard.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

A captivating tale of Kurt Cobain...
By A Customer on October 28, 1999
I read this book, Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana, awhile ago, and reread it again because of my enjoyment of it the first time, and it didn't let me down the second time around. The book kept my interest and gave me a new perspective on a few parts of Nirvana and Kurt. I have read other books, such as "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" and "Kurt Cobain" and a few other shorter biographies and compiled books. I know a great amount about our legeng, Kurt Donald Cobain, and yet I still love reading his biographies over and over, especially Come As You Are. CAYA takes you through Kurt's life, starting with Day 1. It leads you right through about 1993, very early 1994, and the new editions have an after-chapter about his death, although not nearly as much about the ending as we would have liked. A good thing about the book is the quotes. The biographer wrote the book based on a series of many interviews with Kurt, so Kurt says a lot. A possibilty of biasism is because of one theory. A bad review was written about Kurt and Courtney in Vanity Fair magazine, leading to trials about custody and having their new baby, Frances Bean, taken temporarily away from them, and making them turn in weekly urine tests. Kurt wanted to quickly create a "good, nice" buzz about him so the aftermath of the article would vanish. They wanted to protect Courtney's name, so they hired a biographer. The book may try to make Courtney seem better than she is. Read "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" afterwards and compare the Courtney in each book. For new Kurt fans, or un-Kurt-ly-educated fans, I would suggest this book, it is simple to read and extremely captivating.

The most complete Nirvana/Cobain book out there....
By Stevo on August 19, 2001
Nirvana was a great band. This book is almost as good as the band itself. It is literally perfect when it comes to Nirvana.
Now, recently, another Kurt Cobain biography was released, "Heavier Than Heaven", by Charles R. Cross. While the book is good, it was written after Kurt's death, and most of the people paint a negative portrait of him, which is unfair, since Kurt cannot speak for himself. Also, most of that book seems to be the "Courtney Love is a wonderful person" story, as the author time and time again paints a wonderful picture of her. Is it any coincidence that Courtney was one of the main people interviewed for the book? Hmmmm......
With that aside, here is why, if you seek information on Kurt and Nirvana, that you should read this book and not "Heavier Than Heaven." It's real simple. It was written with Kurt. Whereas HTH was written with people who knew Kurt (who could make him any type of person they wanted to) CAYA is written with interviews with the man himself. That alone makes this the Ultimate Nirvana/Cobain book.
Aside from that, the book is very thorough and leaves few details out. It's probably the best bio on a musical group I've ever read. Intimate, up front, and candid. You can't ask for much more than that.
So, to sum it all up, if you're looking for a biography on Kurt Cobain, this is the book. If you're looking for information on Nirvana, this is the book. If you're simply looking for a good book to read, THIS IS THE BOOK!
I don't think I can recommend it any more than I have already.