My girlfriend bought me this book for my birthday and I couldn't wait to get started on it because I'm a huge Pumpkins and Corgan fan. After about the fifth page I was already disappointed. I could hardly stand reading the author's long, drawn out, overly dramatic way of informing the reader. Every sentence felt like work to read because the author goes out of her way to try and impress with her large vocabulary and endless, dragging, dry descriptions on every single event.
I couldn't agree more with all the bad reviews written before me. If you strip all the dry filler from this book you wouldn't have much left, and of that most SP fans probably know 75% of it already. Don't be fooled by the good reviews that attack the intelligence of the people criticizing this book. I understand the words the author uses, but it makes for difficult reading that doesn't flow well at all. Like I said, reading this was like work. I'm very disappointed. I've never liked/disliked a book so much that I would actually write up a review, but I don't want others out there to go through what I did and waste their (or their girlfriend's) money. You can get better information about the band by studying their lyrics and finding interviews with them online.
I couldn't agree more with all the bad reviews written before me. If you strip all the dry filler from this book you wouldn't have much left, and of that most SP fans probably know 75% of it already. Don't be fooled by the good reviews that attack the intelligence of the people criticizing this book. I understand the words the author uses, but it makes for difficult reading that doesn't flow well at all. Like I said, reading this was like work. I'm very disappointed. I've never liked/disliked a book so much that I would actually write up a review, but I don't want others out there to go through what I did and waste their (or their girlfriend's) money. You can get better information about the band by studying their lyrics and finding interviews with them online.
The first, and only biography I have ever read of smashing pumpkins, and the worst biography I've ever read by anyone. Hanson over-utilises long words and skirts around even the slightest hint of any member of the band's private life in a bid to appear intellectual and inoffensive. In actual fact this only serves to irritate the reader. The photo section is the only real piece of green in this boring concrete patchwork, but even that is thin and devoted to the gish days. Although hanson clearly has a respect and perhaps a love of the pumpkins, her over-egging of songs like I am One and Siva is annoying. The real fault of the book though is its effort to appeal to indie kids who think they're clever, but even they would probably hate this clinical trash. I don't normally write amazon reviews, in fact this is only my second, but any prospective fan thinking of buying this book should look towards the mellon collie or adore CDs. Don't buy this, if you see a good review of this book, the person who wrote it was bribed. This is long, boring, irritating and over-intellectual with no real let up.
