Nico: The End

Rating:
Summary: The Icon's Last Days
Review: "Nico-The End" is definitely a better, more intelligent piece of writing then the hard to find "Songs they Never Played on the Radio". "The End" tracks the last years of Nico's life; it is sad and seedy, but has some incredibly funny parts to it. What we get here is a glimpse into Nico's many live shows and her relationship with others in the 80's, particularly the author, her band The Faction, her fans, and John Cale as well as some others. There is part telling about the struggle to make her final recording, "Camera Obscura" and finally her unexpected death. I totally recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the absolutely facsinating life of VU chanteuse and proven solo artist Nico.

Rating:
Summary: The Icon's Last Days
Review: "Nico-The End" is definitely a better, more intelligent piece of writing then the hard to find "Songs they Never Played on the Radio". "The End" tracks the last years of Nico's life; it is sad and seedy, but has some incredibly funny parts to it. What we get here is a glimpse into Nico's many live shows and her relationship with others in the 80's, particularly the author, her band The Faction, her fans, and John Cale as well as some others. There is part telling about the struggle to make her final recording, "Camera Obscura" and finally her unexpected death. I totally recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the absolutely facsinating life of VU chanteuse and proven solo artist Nico.

Rating:
Summary: Revoltingly Bleak and Laughing-out-loud Funny
Review: A lot of the entertainment in this book comes from the grisly descriptions of junky lifestyle (e.g., Nico removing the pus from an infected vein with a used syringe, etc.). Also, there's interesting cameo appearances by John Cale and Allen Ginsberg. But the real star is of course Nico. In the beginning, Young describes her as a depressing, hollowed-out drug addict, "... her hands and arms scabbed and scarred by needletracks, and her eyes like a broken mirror." (pg 12) But as I followed the characters from gig to gig, scraping just enough money together to support Nico's habit, followed by the recording of the CAMERA OBSCURA album, then more money and more gigs; through all this, Nico emerges somehow as a sympathetic character, far more interesting than the other eccentrics in her group. At the end, after she dies en route to meeting a drug dealer, I felt sad to see her go.

Rating:
Summary: Move over Celine
Review: Having been a Velvets/Nico fan since 1968, I somehow ignored this book until recently, perhaps because of my annoyance with the status the Velvets have attained over the years. (They really were a better band when nobody else had heard of them....) Anyway, to complete my collection I suppose, I bought this book a few weeks ago with very low expectations. What I discovered was a beautifully written book, picaresque, dark, satirical, poignant...James Young writes like a Celine for the twilight of the 20th century. I would eagerly buy another book written by Mr. Young. In short, this book is a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: The Loneliness of Failure
Review: This book is tedious, sad, sometimes confusing and sickly funny. In other words, it's a complete success. James Young captures the twilight years of the Velvet Underground's once-beautiful (and unwelcomed) lead vocalist, Nico, in all her drug-addled, unwashed, apathetic glory. He humorously conveys the sad silliness of the burned-out "Queen of Addicts" and the motley crew of cut-rate musicians and scam artists who follow her on several world tours during the 1980s.

Much of this book is dull and montonous. Another bad gig. Another distasteful description of an addict's habits. Another strange character popping up to join the ride for a while. At first, this bothered me. But I ultimately realized that this boredom and repetitiveness is crucial to the book's effectiveness. Failure is not exciting, nor is it climactic.

Attention Britney Spears: This is what happens to the pop stars who get left behind.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ
Review: This is the most hilarious "rock" book I have ever read. I found myself turning the pages in complete fascination -- bizzare performances, wild parties, weird tour experiences, encounters with luminaries like John Cale, a visit to the motel where Tom Waits used to stay ... etc. And you have to admire Nico for sniffing out drugs anywhere, even behind the then iron curtain & getting high regardless. The funniest part is where Nico takes her first trip on Angel Dust, he he, I'm laughing just thinking about it. The writing style is great. My book has a subtitle not mentioned on this amazon.com page: Songs They Never Play On The Radio, but perhaps that is the UK edition. You don't have to be a fan of Velvet Underground to enjoy this book, it stands on its own feet. Finger licking good.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ
Review: This is the most hilarious "rock" book I have ever read. I found myself turning the pages in complete fascination -- bizzare performances, wild parties, weird tour experiences, encounters with luminaries like John Cale, a visit to the motel where Tom Waits used to stay ... etc. And you have to admire Nico for sniffing out drugs anywhere, even behind the then iron curtain & getting high regardless. The funniest part is where Nico takes her first trip on Angel Dust, he he, I'm laughing just thinking about it. The writing style is great. My book has a subtitle not mentioned on this amazon.com page: Songs They Never Play On The Radio, but perhaps that is the UK edition. You don't have to be a fan of Velvet Underground to enjoy this book, it stands on its own feet. Finger licking good.