Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain

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Dozens of books have been written about Cobain and his band . . . Heavier Than Heaven is the best, by far. — Portland Oregonian Jeff Baker

IvyPanda. "Heavier Than Heaven - the Story of Cobain’s Life." April 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/heavier-than-heaven-the-story-of-cobains-life/. Cross also noted that he understood it was a hard task to reveal a story of a man who was drug addict. So, he knew how serious his task was. He coped with this task and created a story for those “with courage to tell the truth, to ask painful questions, and to break free of the shadows of the past” (Cross xi). Having such an honorable goal Cross had to learn the whole truth about Kurt Cobain.this book is almost equal parts fiction and Courtney Love approved versions of "actual events." it gives some information, but it should be taken with a grain of salt. there are TONS of proven historical errors. i don't blame the author for the misinformation, however, as he had to have everything cleared by Courtney Love. he did lose his credibility, though. i can't believe they used him on "busted circuits and ringing ears: the TAD story" dvd that came out a year ago. The burden of his family's history would turn Cobain from a seemingly popular high-school student into a fully fledged drug addict and drop-out, with a petulance and anger that would increasingly surface only in his music and drawings. But what petulance and what anger. Cross took the name "Heavier Than Heaven" from a tour Nirvana did with the band Tad in the United Kingdom. The lead singer, Tad Doyle, was very obese; the name which was thought up by the tour promoters, was meant in part to poke fun at the inaccurate idea that Tad alone weighed more than all of the members of Nirvana put together. He really, deeply, truly loved his wife and daughter. Why else would he name his albums In Utero the year after his marriage and daughter’s birth?

As I read the biography, I had thought that I would become so invested in its main character that I would be very sad for him when he died. Unexpectedly, there were three other moments instead that were intensely painful to vicariously witness. First was a short conversation he had with his estranged father where they actually exchanged an awkward and heartfelt “I love you.” Then there was the moment when he held his daughter for the last time and whispered into her ear before he went off to kill himself. Finally, there was Cortney’s reaction to his death. She had covered herself in layers of his clothes that still had the lingering scent of his body. Like all deaths, it’s the ones left behind that suffer. Kurdt was charismatic, drawing people into his life with his sincere kindness and empathy as well as the siren song of his art. One of the themes most prevalent throughout the Biography of Kurt Cobain was that you can achieve almost anything if you keep at it. You can achieve almost anything because Kurt’s record tops the charts, he becomes famous worldwide, and he never listened to anyone who said he couldn’t do it. As anyone casually familiar with Cobain knows, he was constantly trying to strike a balance between his strong punk sense of morality and his desire to get his music out to a large audience. Deeper than just a creative marketing ploy, Cobain seemed genuinely torn between stardom and artistic integrity. This can be seen in the way it effected him in not only his professional life but his private life as well. Cobain seemed to always be a best friend or a bitter rival, with little in between. He hated being a junky but couldn't live without heroin.I question some parts about Courtney Love. The author made her seem like the more stable of the two. Which seeing what a mess she has been in recent years, I just question the way the author portrayed her in the book. The definitive biography of The Beatles, hailed as "irresistible" by the New York Times, "riveting" by the Boston Globe, and "masterful" by Time. It is a bit of a cliche of celebrity, but Kurt Cobain really was an incredibly contradictory personality. Part of the fun of Heavier Than Heaven is trying to take all of the evidence, presented in amazing detail by Charles R. Cross, and trying to piece together what kind of person he was. A fascinating read that manages to be respectful . . . and also critical. The short, unhappy life of Kurt Cobain now has its worthy biographer.

Having grown up and considering myself a child of the 1990s, Nirvana was a staple my youth. With that came the legend and myth that was Kurt Cobain. We all knew he had taken his own life at young age, but not many of us truly knew much about the man. What was fact and what was fabrication. So that reason is why ‘Heavier Than Heaven’ had been on my radar for a while now.That's just one reason why this book about The Voice of Your Generation is valuable: it's proof that no one is born punk or even cool, but that it's an attitude one accrues by hanging around the right crowd. That's why the real heroines here aren't named Courtney but first girlfriend Tracy Marander and Bikini Kill drummer Tobi Vail, from whom KC learned most of his sexual politics. Interesting fact No. 1: KC's first concert was not the Melvins or some such punk band, but Sammy Hagar, who has shown surprisingly restraint in not naming a brand of tequila after the now-Converse branded icon. That day, Cobain had finished his performance on the national television show, Saturday Night Live. In the early hours of the morning, he deliberately injected himself with an overdose of heroin. His breathing stopped, and his muscles stiffened. Fortunately, his fiancé, Courtney, found him in time and saved him. These narrow misses would soon become commonplace.

Cobain diaries to be made into film". TheGuardian.com. October 19, 2007 . Retrieved September 19, 2023. Cross did a great job allowing readers a glimpse into Cobain’s life and mind. I’m a bigger fan of Nirvana after reading the book. As I read his descrīption of Kurdt in the actual act of suicide, the image of him abandoning family, friends, and millions of adoring fans who had linked their hearts and souls with his caused me to whisper under my breath:Published to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Nirvana's landmark Nevermind album, this is an engaging, comprehensive biography of the group's resident genius, the much-lamented Kurt Cobain. Utilizing more than 400 interviews and Cobain's unpublished diaries, Heavier than Heaven recounts the meteoric rise and sudden descent of the Seattle-based singer. bn.com