Five against One by Kim Neely Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Five against One
Book Review: an unfair and poor depiction of the band
Summary: 1 Stars
Any loyal Pearl Jam fan who picks up "Five Against One" will be extremely dissapointed. The entire book is an opinion flooded unilateral depiction of the band. "The Pearl Jam Story" line in the title is not warrented-- Ms. Neely is highly unfoucused and concentrates most of the book on Eddie and his past. She even had the audacity to interview and quote Mr. Vedder's step father without presenting any comment from Eddie himself. I am very dissaponted and advise you to wait till this book gets a bargain sticker slapped on it until you buy it.Book Review: entertaining but lacking
Summary: 3 Stars
After I read this book, I was left wondering if the band had had any fun whatsoever in their entire career. It started off very interestingly with a nice detailed description of how things were in the Seattle area and how the band was formed. However, the book spends a little too much time painting a negative picture of Eddie and seemed to be skeptical of everything he claimed. While it is good for a book to be honest, it is also important for a book to be fair and this book is a little too one sided. It tells many one sided stories from "sources close to the band." I'm sure Eddie Vedder has made some mistakes over the years, as have we all, and I'm sure he'll admit that, but this book makes him look like a real jerk sometimes and he is not deserving of that after all that he's done for music. I also felt that some of the accounts of Vedder's childhood were private and should not have been described in this book. I hope that no one looks up my school record if I ever become successful. It's funny though because this book is well written and yes you should probably read it if you are a Pearl Jam fan because some of the early information is interesting. Just don't believe everything you read. If you believe that Pearl Jam is for real then don't let this book leave you to think otherwise.Book Review: great book for an indepth analysis of the band, but...
Summary: 4 Stars
... i think many pearl jams fans will be disappointed by the constant focus on eddie vedder. i mean, dont get me wrong, he is my biggest idol, but many of us fans are just thirsting for knowledge on the other band members, especially mike. the biggest complaint i had with this book is that it is the non-stop crucification and damnation of eddie vedder, mainly from sources that he has had bad blood with in the past. many admirers of eddie himself will be even more confused on where he stands on his views concerning fame. this book seriuously and repeatedly questions eddies sincerity and credibility. the book is also very slow to start and has a very disappointing ending. on a more positive note, it is very indepth in terms of tours, ticketmaster, and his childhood. however, many diehard fans will not appreciate the majority of the book being centered around TEN, i mean there are 4 more albums and many many great imports. i still reccommend this book to prospective buyers and readers due to the incredible factual info. but my warning to all you eddie fans out there is this: your opinion may change of him drastically. keep in mind he is just one member and its the music that really counts. the sources used in this book can be greatly exagerrating anyway. happy reading.Book Review: hard to measure
Summary: 5 Stars
Though this book was very informative and captivating (my professors asked me many times to quit reading it during their lectures and when out, i found myself looking forward to getting home so i could read more) the book is undoubtedly very negative towards the band and paints Ed in an almost "excentric bratt" light. Not to sudgest that Ed is the most normal person in the world (or maybe he is the appitamy of normal) the book subtly interveiws only persons who have been offended by Ed such as Dave Abrussezzes, his step-father, Chris Carufto, and other such characters. It would have been nice to hear from his mother or brothers or wife or publicist or someone who liked him. Though the recounts are literarity factual, they are focused through a negative filter created by bitter aquaintances. The discography of the band starts well, but by the end of the book, it seems like the author has become somewhat bored of writing about the actual music, and would rather focus on raucus and provocation. Unfortunately, individual biographies are very limited to all but Ed and that's too bad, because we can find out about Eddie in the music, but no one seems to let us know much about Stone, Jeff, Mike, or Dave/Jack's up-bringings. Oh well. Some good information. Definitely a must read for ne true fan, but u'll still feel dissapointed by book's end.Book Review: interesting and full-covered biography
Summary: 4 Stars
this is a quite full and interestnig biography concerning the first years of the PJ history also relating to the beginning of this (and other) seattle bands, which is of particular value to grunge fans i think, because this is now part of the rock n roll history!
the book gave me a human description of the band's mates and i was interested to read about the abruzzese period and the way it ended.
so i think the PJ story written in this book is a good description of the direction the band took since 1996 til today. i was also interested about the vedder's personal life chapters, but eventually i am not sure whether it is a good idea revealing really personal facts, but anyway it helps understanding vedder personnality , phylosophy and music.
Enjoy it, it is easy to read, and excuse my english faults.