R.E.M.: Remarks

I have been a huge fan since I was 10 (1982). I have pretty much always avoided biographies on bands because it seems too easy for them to be sensational. I thought for sure any such book on R.E.M. would be aimed at those fans who discovered the band with "Losing My Religion" or "Everybody Hurts" and while those are fabulous songs - I was more interested in learning about the time that led UP to that point. This book starts at the very beginning and makes you feel like you are there. You gain a better understanding of the context of their sound early on and it's fascinating to follow the band as they grow, progress - have many successes and make a few mistakes along the way. I can't recommend this highly enough. I can't put it down.

I've only recently become a fan of REM and I picked up this book to read about the band's origins and early history. Fletcher did a great job with describing the early music scene in Georgia and detailing the birth of REM. He never asked you to learn too many details and tidbits about the comprehensive world of music and never went too deep into the motivations of the songwriting. But the band does give input here and there and the rise and success of the band is very well-documented. I'd like to read Fletcher's take on the 2nd decade of REM. He did that good of a job in this book.

Fletcher's Remarks is the first, and sadly, one of the only R.E.M. biographies around. Although sparse in information compared to Marcus Gray's It Crawled From The South, the book accomplishes Fletcher's aim of presenting a straight ahead biography. There's a second edition that goes up to 1993, but both editions are still basic biographical information, well-written, and thankfully without any of the silly asides that mar Jim Greer's similar but much more sucky Behind the Mask.

This was my first REM book and I read it with a vengeance. Back when Automatic had only just come out, I had only just completed my REM music collection and was absolutely into them. At that time they were basically the only group I was into but all I knew was what I could gather from the songs and from those clippings in 'Best Of'. I soon knew every line of those clippings and decided to sought out the book they came from. BANG. I was hooked - completely - every line, every page I wanted to read so much. Packed with information I took up like a sponge with water - I seriously couldn't put in down. The book is written in short paragraphs wildly spaced over glossy pages, with some great photos and an useful comprehensive list of the standard releases. It's very easy to read - the short paragraphs keeping you interested chapter after chapter. The book's ideal as a starter for REM information and for people who have a more casual interest, rather than heavier, more indepth books such as 'It crawled From The South'. The faults lie in its generalisations and the way it plays up to the fans, giving us what we want - "hey this book's wonderful - it says REM are great". Its so easy for music books to do that and REMarks is no exception. Sometimes Fletcher does sound artificial, but then again, I still read it over and over.

I loaned REMarks to a "friend". This friend probably never looked at the book, but threw it on the back seat floor/beater -- junked the car with my book still in there. Of all the not-so-nice things this person did, this one sticks in my craw the most... I had my nose in this book all the time... A MUST