In Heaven Everything Is Fine: The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers and the Lost History of New Wave Theatre

I was pleased to learn that someone had written a book about the life of Peter Ivers, and even more pleased when I got around to reading it this past weekend. I was one of the few music fans who picked up on his 1970s LP releases and enjoyed his quirky, inventive musical sensibility. When I saw Eraserhead at its San Diego theatrical premiere in 1977 or '78, I instantly recognized his voice the first time I saw The Lady In The Radiator open her mouth to sing "In Heaven." And I remember being surprised to see him host New Wave Theater on Night Flight back in the early '80s. But I never knew much about the guy, and the fact he'd died such an awful and mysterious death made me want to know his story. The author has done an excellent job researching his subject and I'd give the book five stars on that count. Speaking to scores of friends and associates from throughout Peter's adult life and career (there is scant attention paid to his childhood, though enough to form the basis of an understanding of what drove and challenged him as an artist and a man), this is a well fleshed out story. Moreover, the book is well crafted and structured, written in a prose that is clear, expressive and insightful. Five stars again. So often, when a famous pop (or cult) musician is given a posthumous biographical treatment in book form, one finds that the author is a longtime fan with a passionate appreciation of the artist's music, but little sense of objectivity and no gift for writing. Josh Frank and his co-author have written a book that is a touching and compelling read, which I had trouble putting down over the course of the two or three days I was engrossed in reading it. This is as much (or more so) a portrait of Peter the friend and human being as it is of Peter the musician and creative artist. The reader gets a strong sense of the atmosphere Peter lived in, whether it was the community of driven and gifted literati and creative types at Harvard University in the mid-1960s, laid-back Laurel Canyon living with hip musicians in the 70s, or the dark underbelly of LA in the 80s where Peter met his tragic demise. And this is a very suspenseful and gripping murder mystery, which the reader is left to solve. The rainy Los Angeles day on which Ivers' body was discovered left me with a sick, sad feeling, as I tossed around probable murder theories and suspects in my head and finished reading the book. While the book is well put together and organized, there are a few things I would have liked to make it more complete. Though Josh Frank came up with a creative novelistic structure that works well in terms of presenting Ivers' life, choosing to explore personal relationships in favor of giving a detailed exposition of the events of his career, it would have been nice to include a biographical timeline section. The chapters in the book are sketchy when it comes to pinpointing the rough dates and time frames during which things happened. Nowhere in the book does it even

I like this book very much because it is very well-written, well-edited, and the characters are intrinsically interesting. Their positions in the elite realms of education and show biz make them more interesting. I don't know that the issues of self-destruction, death and tragedy can be adequately handled outside of the Bible's portrayal. I was a classmate of both Doug Kenney and Peter Ivers at Harvard. Thus, I watched many of my generation die before their time--James Dean, JFK, Marilyn, Martin, Bobby, Janis, Jimi, Doug, Peter, John Belushi and Vietnam. The title may be misleading: They are all gone away, and we can't get them back, and it's a tragedy. In heaven everything is fine by definition, but are they there?

As the 1960s faded into the 1970s--and the war dragged on--our search to find things which really mattered became of utmost importance. Even though we did not realize it way back (when our route to current information was slow and inconsistent) many of these 'things which really mattered' (from wild'n'novative music through The National Lampoon through Saturday Night Live through Eraserhead to New Wave Theatre) were hinged upon Peter Ivers. His was the connexion shared by all these things. Ivers was an original--instigating critical collaborations until his potential was stifled by a fatal bludgeoning in 1983. Josh Frank has meticulously researched the life and times of Peter Ivers and has composed a portrait of the artist which is vibrant with information, painstaking in its re-creations, beautiful through memories and heartbreaking with premature endings. Throughout, Josh Frank's episodic technique--followed by interview clips and 'casebook studies'--flesh out the person who was Ivers...an artist whose importance has largely been underestimated. Hopefully--with the publishing of 'In Heaven Everything Is Fine'--Peter Ivers' work will gain renewed appreciation...and Josh Frank's work will achieve the recognition it deserves.

"In Heaven..." is a fascinating read as an in-depth biography of Peter Ivers, but it also makes for compelling murder mystery. Plus you get a unique look at those whose paths he crossed, including the National Lampoon founders, the early LA punk scene, David Lynch, Devo, and a seemingly endless and unrelated group of people from several different artistic communities and eras. The book alternates between the story of Peter's life and career and the murder investigation, until the two stories sadly become one. Throughout the book you really get a sense of Peter's unbridled enthusiasm for life and his inspiring passion for all things creative. By the end of the book you'll understand why Peter touched so many people's lives so deeply. Even if you only know him for his records, as the host of New Wave Theater, or as the guy that wrote the song from Eraserhead, the story is captivating enough for anyone with an interest in the arts to make this book reading.

Anyone who is into pop-culture trivia will find plenty to love about this book. It's a great introduction to Peter Ivers and the creative mark he made in movies, music, television, and theatre.