I Found My Friends: The Oral History of Nirvana

Cobbled together from interviews with over 150 subjects, including musicians who played and toured with the band, blogger and superfan Soulsby (Dark Slivers) offers an entertaining, if patchwork, history of Nirvana and its troubled leader, Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in April 1994. For hardcore fans, Soulsby's effort adds little to Nirvana's or Cobain's story; both have been the subject of multiple books already. But as an oral history, the book brims with personality, and perhaps its greatest feature is the way it captures the milieu from which indie rock and so-called "grunge" music emerged. Fans will recognize some contributors%E2%80%94members of various bands of the era, including Tad, Meat Puppets, and the Melvins, weigh in%E2%80%94but the book's foundation rests on the more obscure voices. Cobain's friends and acquaintances ably flesh out his story (particularly his chaotic, tragic end), capture the almost surreal scene emerging in the early 1990s, and bring to life the excitement and tedium of being in a band. Some 21 years after Cobain's death, he still casts a long shadow, and Nirvana's music still resonates. (Mar.)