At some stage when collecting anything, a dilemma takes places; does one expand the storage space, cease collecting or eliminate elements of the collection to restore freedom of movement? I’ll admit to adopting what the German army in World War Two referred to as an Elastic Defence. The concept was simply that one retreated in order to shorten the line being defended (while simultaneously extending the opponent’s supply lines and tiring them) meaning you had more troops available and could therefore counter-attack as early as advantageous and restore the original position. In my case, I regularly examine the shelves and choose what is going to be sliced in order to win back a few feet, or even just mere inches of space, which I’ll subsequently refill.
There’s a quotation someplace about “some people are meant for just a moment, others for a season, some for a lifetime” – I always add the proviso that we should be glad for whatever time that is and when it ends feel nothing but the happy memory, no regret. I feel the same about books and music; sometimes an item barely received a listen, or never clicked – other times it did for a short while then I returned less and less. Other items I can’t imagine extinguishing anytime ever as they speak to a time, a place…Or I simply think they’re bloody good.
Which brings me to the Nirvana book selection…There’s a photo on here somewhere, back in November I think, of some of my collection. No Courtney Love bios, no Dave Grohl bios, just a sheer fixation on Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. But look at it…Naming no names but I think there’s a core here that we all know is essential stuff (Azerrad, Gaar, Cross); then the likeable additions (True, Borzillo-Vrenna, Arnold, heck even Rolling Stone); then the stuff that’s all very…Whatever. There’s stuff here I’ve read through inside an hour and it’s added little beyond a few fanatical heart palpitations…
…I think it’s time to purge. So, my question is; would anyone like to receive the section of the collection I give away? If you’re fine paying the postage then it’s all yours. The items I’m referring to? OK, here we go…
Nirvana Bleach by James Adler
Nirvana Nevermind by James Adler
They Died too Young: Kurt Cobain
Never Fade Away: The Kurt Cobain Story by Dave Thompson
Nirvana and the Sound of Seattle by Brad Morrell
Nirvana: Tribute by Suzi Black
Nirvana: Winterlong by Steve Gullick/Stephen Sweet
Nirvana Nevermind by Suzi Black
Nirvana by Paul Haus
Nirvana: The Legacy by Mick Wall
Nirvana by Jeremy Dean
Nirvana (the guitar tab to the greatest hits book)
Genuine offer, all yours if you want it. None of these are particularly hefty tombs so I’m not expecting it to be a massive postage. Just drop me a line if you’d like them; NirvanaDarkSlivers@gmail.com
The Nirvana publishing bonanza in the mid-to-late Nineties was a fascinating phenomenon in itself. Essentially books come complete with this feeling of authority, calm intellectualism, respectability…And yet the publishing industry is relatively unregulated. So long as one isn’t libelling an individual or committing a crime according to the laws of whatever jurisdictions the book is available in, then one can write and print whatever one wishes. That’s freedom and a good thing too… But like any industry under pressure, bandwagons are firmly jumped on with exactly the same rapacious attitude of any less reputable type of company. The result in the late Nineties was an awful lot of material written using the vast, and readily accessible, reservoir of copy found in the various magazines about Nirvana. All it needed was some photos to wrap the copy around plus some quick puffpieces of the ‘voice of a generation’ ilk. Essentially the Nirvana phenomenon in publishing would be of interest to someone studying the history of writing given the speed and the sheer quantity of the effort which has, unfortunately, stained attitudes toward writing on the band forever more. New books evoke a fair amount of suspicion and weariness.
Nirvana Legacy 