Things the Grandchildren Should Know (original 2008; edition 2008)

I love this guy. Really. He constantly needs a hug, and I will totally provide.

The author is the lead singer/head honcho of the band Eels. I've loved his music for years. Just the perfect combination of happiness in musical form with dark and disturbing lyrics. Love that juxtaposition. He even has a sense of humor, getting excited when he makes a whole album without using the term "pushing up daisies."

I confess: I bought this book because I already knew the music by heart. Not being the type to dig deeply looking for personal information about artists (and wholeheartedly believing that if I, as an appreciator, am meant to know something it will be in the art) I was excited to get a few more pieces of this particular brain.

I would have been happy to lick this brain even if I had never heard a single note. Really. It is that good. That interesting. That personable, if that is a reasonable thing to say about a book.

I've always thought that E would probably be the sort of guy whom, if you actually met him, you'd wish you hadn't. He seems, in the music, to be too much of a "creation" and not enough of just a person who would be interesting to have a drink with. If you feel that way, read the book. It will change your mind. If you have never heard the music, then that is your loss. But you should read the book. It will make you listen.

edited to add: And while you are listening, buy his solo stuff if you can find it. I have Broken Toy Shop and A Man Called E on CD, and they have both seen a lot of play over the years. So don't think Eels is all there is. Though, there are occasional horns... ( )

Mr E writes about the crazy, difficult life of his which turns out to be wonderful after all. He shows that every life is full of surprises and maybies and a story of its own. ( )

Being unpopular kid from a weird suburban family living in Virginia, getting out of it, seeing a great sister drowning in substance abuse, wasting time in bad company, losing father, getting famous, losing sister, losing mother, losing too many people too early and making something out of it all. No great philosophic theories. Just "keep going".
An easy & insightful read as a book, not the easiest one as a life. I had never listened to the Eels before this book (Eels just didn't come my way & I really dislike(d) the cover art for the "Beautiful Freak", no idea why). Of course after 150 something pages it made me get every Eels album I read about & play swallow them on repeat. But it didn't make me a fan, though. At some points I was thinking the text is too plain, but in the end - it's well vowed biography, full of intelligent humor despite the tragic of the story. It was warm & suprisingly unbiased, flowing, with a touch of irony, a view into a life of a very talented guy who lives and breathes music... My copy came with a sticker that said: "ROCK MUSIC! DEATH! CRAZY PEOPLE! LOVE!" - and that's what you get (but without exclamation marks). Good book!

After finishing the book I was hit with two things:
1. This reminded me a lot of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (and that is a VERY good thing.
2.How the hell did I not know that this was about THAT Mark Oliver Everett before reading it.

The Eels frontman has crafted a witty, tongue in cheek work that still has a heart that easily shines through the jokes. Everett definitely has a future in the written medium whenever he decides to hang up the guitar for good. ( )

I was not familiar with the music of Mark Oliver Everett before reading this book, but it makes me want to explore the Eels. He has had alot of tragedy in his life but it doesn'e bring him down. The autobiography is told in a relaxed, easy way, as if I were sitting with him at a table chatting. ( )