Nick Drake: The Biography

Nick Drake's whole life can be summed up by his song "Fruit Tree." He wound up acheiving the sort of eternal fame that befalls those in the public eye who die young. Like so many of us, Patrick Humphries wonders why this happened. Does this biography answer that? No, not really. It recounts his whole life, from childhood to the start of his musical career to his fatal depression and suicide. Humphries seems as bewildered as many he talked to about why this happened. The whole book leaves a lingering bittersweet taste. Anyone who enjoys Drake's music will love this book: it gives detail about his life and songs that any fan would want to know. Even so, there is that sadness in the book about what might have been and what really was. The same sort of thing that was his life.