Five against One by Kim Neely Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Five against One
Book Review: Couldn't put it down -- truly fascinating book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is far and away the best, most interesting biography I have ever read on Pearl Jam. The author, a former Rolling Stone writer who apparently knows the band well, writes engagingly and shares information on Pearl Jam that has never before been revealed, much of which contradicts their myth. Though this is largely a sympathetic look at the band, Ms. Neely does not shy from tackling material that Pearl Jam's public relations team might have preferred she gloss over. The book contains many funny anecdotes, a beautiful collection of photos from private collectors that I'd never seen anywhere, and a massive, poignant section on Eddie Vedder's childhood that was truly engrossing. The only book I've ever read on Pearl Jam that made me feel as if I were actually getting the real inside view. Very credible and detailed, without the annoying factual errors that have ruined other biographies on the band for me. Die hard fans who live to believe in the Pearl Jam myth may be put off by some of the revelations in this book, those readers might be more comfortable with one of the "fan" biographies on the band. But serious readers who are interested in an accurate, unvarnished portrait of Pearl Jam will surely find this a great read. Highly recommend it.Book Review: Detailed and Entertaining
Summary: 4 Stars
I loved this book, and would give this book 5 stars, but I reserve that rank to the great classics. FIVE AGAINST ONE isn't literary genius, but is still an excellent read. Neely is very objective in her book, seperating the myths of the Pearl Jam legend from the facts of the Pearl Jam reality. I found myself cringing from time to time, mainly because Neely doesn't pull too many punches...Eddie isn't portrayed as the nicest guy around, and I came away from the book feeling very sorry for Dave Abbruzzese, who obviously contributed quite a bit of information about his conflicts with Vedder. Since much of the book focuses on Eddie and Dave, there leaves litte room for info about Jeff, Stone, and Mike, outside of the pre-PJ chapters. Still, the book is very entertaining, revealing some neat tidbits about the band's history.Book Review: Ed Vedder biography
Summary: 3 Stars
The first half of this book was great. It gave a very detailed look into the Seattle music scene of the late 80's, early 90's, but most importantly how tragedy brought together the greatest rock band of our generation. Unfortunetly somewhere near the middle, this book turned into a biography on Eddie Vedder. Frankly, Eddie Vedder's childhood and early life aren't that interesting. If you're a die hard P.J. fan, buy the book, otherwise forget it.Book Review: Eddie Vedder and those other guys in Pearl Jam
Summary: 2 Stars
The book started out good with biographies on Jeff and Stone but took a turn for the worst when the rest of the book was nothing but Ten, Ten, Ten and Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. The book seemed to slam on the band and Eddie in particular due to all the interviews being of a negative nature. When the author finally got done talking about Ten and Eddie Vedder's family tree around page 250 they decided to write about those other albums for the last 100 pages. I really wouldn't recommend this book.Book Review: Eh
Summary: 3 Stars
This book was so-so. The biggest problem was that 90% of it was devoted to "Ten" and its tour. It's like "Ten Ten Ten Ten Ten Ten Ten Ten. Oh yeah, they did a few more albums, too." Any real Pearl Jam fan, such as myself, should be upset that so little time was devoted to the 4 records since then.