27

September 23, 2013
The “27 Club” is a term that designates the group of popular musicians (and those associated with the music industry) who have died at the age of 27. Focusing on the key six members of this group of musicians (the appendix names a total of 50), Sounes mixes biography with investigative journalism, social science, and rock history into a work that is as engrossing as it is depressing. With Winehouse’s death being the most recent and therefore the least examined, the author rightfully spends the most time exploring her backstory and the events surrounding her death. In doing so he uncovers a host of tell-tale signs—rocky parental relationships, substance abuse, self-doubt, addiction, distrust of celebrity, suicidal/fearless behavior—that he uses to connect her life and untimely death with those of the other tortured stars that preceded her to the grave. Though he doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to sensitive information about his subjects, he does write with a care that is refreshing for a topic that could easily devolve into ambulance chasing. Sounes, a true crime writer, is especially incisive when it comes to dispatching conspiracy theories built around many of these deaths. He captures the sad truth behind a club for which a youthful death is the only entrée. (b&w photos not seen by PW)

November 15, 2013

"It's better to burn out than to fade away." Kurt Cobain famously cited this Neil Young lyric in his suicide note. For Cobain and the other members of the 27 Club--the group of pop stars and musicians who all died at that tender age--this ethic defined them. Sounes (Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney) intertwines the stories of the club's six most prominent members in this title. The work is divided into two parts: "Life" and "Death." In "Life," the author recounts the early lives and musical development of each of the artists, emphasizing events that left them with emotional scars. "Death" provides details on the performers' last days and makes a greater effort to draw parallels among their stories. Without falling into the trap of sentimentality, Sounes also looks at the aftermath of these tragic losses through new interviews with family, friends, and former bandmates. While all six artists receive ample coverage, Amy Winehouse's story gets the most attention. A good researcher, the author debunks some of the mythmaking done by her father, Mitch, in his book, Amy, My Daughter. VERDICT Despite the morbid subject, this sharply written and insightful title should have a home in any public or music library, where it will likely yield high circ counts.--Brett Rohlwing, Milwaukee P.L.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2013
Rolling Stones cofounder Brian Jones drowned in his swimming pool; Jimi Hendrix overdosed and choked on his own vomit in a London hotel; Janis Joplin overdosed on heroin; Jim Morrison died of heart failure while in the bathtub of a Paris hotel room; Kurt Cobain committed suicide by shooting himself; Amy Winehouse drank herself to death. All are members of the notorious 27 Club: they all died prematurely young at the age of 27. Their stories are fascinating pieces of music trivia, but Sounes (Fab, 2010) is interested in why they behaved the way they did. What specifically made them so self-destructive? (Sounes includes an appendix of an additional 44 members of the 27 Club, including the bluesman Robert Johnson.) Although only Cobain deliberately committed suicide, Sounes argues that all six killed themselves. All were intelligent and talented, he maintains, but most had personality problems of some sort, such as depression or bipolar disorder; in addition, many were the children of divorced parents and had low self-esteem. Fans of these musicians will be intrigued and saddened by this fascinating and tragic account.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)