Nearest Faraway Place
What better summer reading than a history of the Beach Boys and the Southern California experience. Or so I thought. Timothy White’s The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience is a laborious history of everything distantly related to the title. I read music biographies to gain insights into the performing, writing, and recording experiences of the artists. Timothy White wrote his book to collect every random story and fact he could find about the Wilsons and California. It’s a shame that a former editor at Rolling Stone couldn’t find himself a decent editor.
Next in my summer music reading list: The Talking Heads.