Being Frank: My Time With Frank Zappa [Paperback]

Nigey Lennon (Author), Phil Stern (Author), Suzy Beal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1995

Since his untimely death from prostate cancer in 1993, the legend of iconoclastic musician Frank Zappa has continued to grow. The decade following his passing has seen the publication of a number of books, both sacred and profane, which examine his life and work, but the best, and only, up-close-and-personal account of the man and his music remains the original: Nigey Lennon’s Being Frank: My Time with Frank Zappa. Musician/author Lennon maintained a personal and professional relationship with Zappa during the period which is generally agreed to have been the composer’s most creative,  and she invests her recollections with considerable musical and emotional insight.
“Irreplaceable…is the word to describe Being Frank…[Lennon's] memoir is both spiky and musically literate…Lennon’s previous books were on Mark Twain and Alfred Jarry, which indicates the kind of cultural perspective required to get a grip on Zappa: something brighter than rock-journo pedantry.”
–Ben Watson, author of Frank Zappa: The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play
With new material by the author, a Preface by David Walley (author of No Commercial Potential: The Saga of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention), a Foreword by Greg Russo (author of Cosmik Debris: The Collected History and Improvisations of Frank Zappa), and an Introduction by Candy Zappa.
NIGEY LENNON is a composer, performer, and producer and the author of seven published books. She lives in New York.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

During Frank Zappa's lengthy, provocative career, surprisingly few books were written about him. Since his death, however, a small torrent of material has appeared. Guitarist-songwriter Lennon's personal memoir offers what might be called the private side of Zappa. Curiously revealing yet prim (e.g., she vends plenty of sex but no explicit, hydraulic descriptions; she uses blanks instead of some names), Lennon describes (all in the first four chapters) playing guitar with Zappa, being seduced by him, and sharing accommodations with him on the 200 Motels tour. Her revelation that Zappa was not the dedicated family man he was sometimes cracked up to be is hardly surprising; rather, what surprises is that it took this long for a tell-all, between-the-sheets bio of him to appear. What surprises somewhat more is that Lennon also provides genuine insight into the composition, crafting, and execution of Zappa's intricate music. Mike Tribby

Review

Rare Frank Zappa photos compliment an expose on the rock artist's life, written by a musician who knew Zappa personally and professionally. Enjoy a first-person biography/autobiography which presents Zappa's character and performances like no other. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: California Classics Books (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 187939555X
• ISBN-13: 978-1879395558
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,153,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting -- raises more questions than it answers., December 22, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Being Frank: My Time With Frank Zappa (Paperback)

Worthwile reading for any Zappa fan. The books help one gain insights on Frank, his music and performances. There are several photographs and much historical perspective. However the book seems to tell as much (or more) about the author as about Mr. Zappa. The author's love of, and anger towards, Zappa may allow for a distorted picture. I questioned the accuracy of some of the information.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Fast Read, March 9, 2005

By 

Douglas B. Mersten (Levittown, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Being Frank: My Time With Frank Zappa (Paperback)

It was a nice readable book with information that is interesting and plausible. If you like Zappa, and you like information about Zappa, it's interesting, but the writer also has some self deprecating and humorous stories to tell about her relations with him during this mid-career point for Zappa.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT in it for the money!, May 2, 2003

By 

David Walley (York, ME United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being Frank: My Time with Frank Zappa (Paperback)

This book is an accurate, funny, and well-observed portrait of one of the most enigmatic figures on the American music scene.
It is most of all a portrait, warts and all, of a human being trying to deal with a human universe, something which Zappa held at a great distance from himself, and despite his protestations to the contrary had difficulty in dealing with. It will and has ticked off many members of Zappa Anonymous who've been fed a steady diet of well... publicity which Zappa in his lifetime encouraged and ironically and inevitably became its victim after his death. I highly recommend this book for those who are interested in historical and sometimes hysterical accuracy. She was there at a crucial time in Zappa's life as a confidant, a lover, and a working member of his band when he was recuperating from a grievious accident which nearly cost him his life. This book is part sociology, part auto-biography and describes her coming of age and the influence that one of America's great enigmatic figures had on her life. She writes well with a great sense of ironic detachment, which is as idiosyncratic as the person whose life for a time she shared.