Book Talk: Elliott Smith Review (Yes, I'm so bored I'm reviewing books)

Be it good or bad, it's a fact that in our cultural landscape the image of a celebrity greatly outweights what personal stories they may have, and
in the average biography, it's generally a bet that the myth is going to outweigh the man.
Autumn De Wilde brings a human face to one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood songwriters of the 20th century, with none of the hyperbole that accompanies most writing about Smith (or any musican for that matter).


De Wilde, perhaps becasue of her close relationship with Smith, focuses on the good times of Smith's life, telling the story through both her own photographs and interviews with close assosiates and family. Although the interviews are informal and generally interesting, many subjects are rehashed, and despite never meeting Smith, Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla feature prominantly.


The books skirts around the darker days of Smith (which seemed to be a formible chunk of time), and barring glaning references, and a resigned acceptance of the fact at the end. In fact, you could be forgiven for not realising that Smith actually deeply hurt many of the people featured in the interviews.


It's best to think of Elliott Smith as a eulogy, rather than an informative biography, as the majority of time is dedicated to the period of time between the time that De Wilde and Smith met, and their parting of ways (which is never fully explained, in keeping with the books theme of avoiding hostility). Similary, the photos, although interesting, are stuck in the Figure 8 period, with no photos indicating that Smith lived before (or after) the CD.


It's really a book for people who like Elliott Smith, who downloaded the Basement Demos, and not something like say, the recent Eric Clapton autobiography which is appropriate for someone who is a casual Clapton fan.