Passable Documentary

Historian Howard Sounes does a reasonable job delivering on an ambitious project: simultaneously relating six biographies of giants in the music industry who died tragically at the age of 27. Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse are discussed relatively superficially.. but realistically. The book is organized as a series of linear narratives - moving from artist to artist multiple times and returning to where the previous relation left off - but it's admirably not confusing.

To be fair to reader Todd McLaren, finishing sentences with direct quotes ("Jimi died "..after I tried to resuscitate him"," his girlfriend said.") is an annoying writing style that handcuffs the reader somewhat - and Sounes uses it endlessly. For his part, however, McLaren injudiciously affects British/French/German accents and attempts impressions of (famous) quoted witnesses. It doesn't work well.

Altogether, '27' is a reasonable distraction for a couple of quiet afternoons. If you can get it for free, I can recommend the download.. but if they ask for a Credit, pick an artist and spend the money on a more in-depth biography.

['Roomful Of Mirrors' - the definitive Hendrix biography, for example - is an outstanding listen.. and a 'Plus' option on this platform, to boot]

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Interesting but biased

First off, the narrator is unintentionally funny. He does over-the-top imitations of about fifty people. It sounds like he’s mocking them sometimes. It’s unintentionally funny, but that’s not the intended tone of this book. The narrator was like a “poor man’s Jim Carey.”

That said the book is entertaining and I didn’t know much about the families and circumstances of Jim Morrison, Hendrix, Etc. Overall the content was interesting, but the writer editorialized too many “unknowns.”

For example, the book states as a fact that Kurt Cobain 100% killed himself. He states that every talking point about murder has been rebutted. I am not a “conspiracy theorist” who claims to know what happened, but I do acknowledge that there is reason some are suspicious of his death. Maybe there was foul play but there probably wasn’t. Nevertheless, information like Courtney’s own lawyer finding evidence that Courtney was attempting to duplicate Kurt’s handwriting. The fact Kurt was filing for a divorce. They were “always arguing over his will.”This is all missing. I am not saying that any of this evidence on it’s face makes Courtney Love a murderer. I am saying these are relevant facts that should be touched on. Moreover, it is a bold statement to say that the author “knows” for a fact Kurt Cobain killed himself.

There’s plenty of facts that show that Courtney is very manipulative with anti-social behaviour. The author has no problem “going in” on other characters; why is he so easy on Courtney Love? All books concerning Nirvana on Audible seem like Courtney Love has “final cut.” It’s actually very impressive and she would have made an amazing publicist.

On top of all of that there were some factual inaccuracies I noticed as well (petty things, like the year a documentary was released was incorrect.) Steve Albini’s position is given way too much credibility. The Nirvana portions made me second guess everything the author wrote.

With that rant out of the way I did enjoy the book for what it’s worth. I think the editorializing is bad, the narration is bad (good-bad,) and the subject matter itself is interesting. It is a great concept, but I would have liked an author who writes from a fan’s perspective rather than an “outsider.” This book sounds like it is written by an old teacher who doesn’t like the music. It is written like an email and it is very robotic. For dates the author uses “on nine March” for example. I would love to see a better author and narrator make an improved version of this.

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