Customer Reviews

Cosmic Debris: The Collected History & Improvisations of Frank Zappa

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I have read the following books about Frank Zappa:

THE REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK by Frank Zappa and Peter Occhioigrosso

NO COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL: THE SAGA OF FRANK ZAPPA by David Walley

COSMIK DEBRIS: THE COLLECTIVE HISTORY AND IMPROVISATIONS OF FRANK ZAPPA by Greg Russo

BEING FRANK: MY TIME WITH FRANK ZAPPA by Nigery Lennon

With the exception of BEING FRANK, all were well written, interesting, thought provoking and worthwhile reading material.

Each of these books (again with the exception of BEING FRANK) creates a picture of Frank Zappa. Each shows a different dimension of the same person. COSMIK DEBRIS is unlike the two because it provides greater technical details. For example, Russo provides the greatest degree of information regarding the business and artistic aspects of Zappa's life and musical history. He shows how classical artists had an impact on Zappa's musical proclivities, but explains historical linkages based on the artistical/musical techniques. For years, I've been attempting to explain Zappa to a friend in Maine who is a classical pianist. I don't think she understood me until I gave her some passages to read from COSMIK DEBRIS.

COSMIK DEBRIS provides an important dimension into the understanding of this artist that none of the other books do. It is more technical than the others are. However, and most importantly, it is a critical addition to everyone's Frank Zappa library.

I have, in the past, collected most if not all of the zappa books. I have read the Negative Dialetics, Electric Don, MOTHER! and a host of other semi famous books - not to exclude FZ's own book on himself... they all have good parts and not so good parts... but this particular book is pretty impressive.

It has a detailed account of each release, the people that FZ ran into, most of the silly stories of encounters. And the best part, the author does not seem to have an opinion of the subject. This makes the reading easy to read... a lot of the books mentioned earlier, either tried to paint FZ as a communist or a socialist or this or that, and the agenda they had writing the book really disjointed the writing.

So, if you are looking for a good book to read about frank and what he did music wise, entertainment wise, this is a very good place.

However, I am not knocking the other books, they were, at the very least, entertaining. I enjoyed reading them. They are all worth the purchase price (Maybe not Negative Dialetcts Of Poodle Play).

have fun!

I've just read all the wonderful, praising reviews of several FZ hardcores whose opinions I hold very highly and feel I have to put my own two cents in since I paid the admission price and bought the book.

It is NOT the fully accurate FZ book the the by-line indicates. While Russo does assemble easily the most data about Frank per square inch I've ever seen bound in a book, the usual (and unusal) errors make reading it (at least for me) very frustrating. The photos are great, the discography and gig lists are essential (and mostly right) - this book is still worth picking up.

I have it on good account the Russo has assembled a crack team of aff-z'ers to help correct this first edition and make the second edition the truly excellent book that it could be.

It might be worth the wait to see if this happens. Perhaps the author will chime in and give us his thoughts and plans on a future edition.

edit (10 years later and a few years behind): Greg had made this a terrific reference. Make sure you get the the third edition.

Sometimes it makes me wonder what book people are reading when I look at other reviews. I have more than 20 books on Zappa and this is the most amazing collection of Zappa information ever compiled. Since more than half of the information in this book has not appeared elsewhere, it was certainly not cut and pasted from another book. It is, in fact, Neil Slaven's book which is rife with errors. This book, in a convincing fashion, proves Slaven wrong time after time with the documentation enclosed within. Why can't other books be put together like this one? If you want to learn about Zappa, this is the place to go after you purchase Frank's book. It should also be noted that the author of "Cosmik Debris" was also greatly involved with the Original Sound CD reissue of Frank's earliest recordings. No other FZ book author can claim this on their resume. I would suggest that all FZ fans buy the book now!

Greg Russo has done an incredible job of researching here. The honorary title of "Brother-of-Invention" should be applied to this author. He has unearthed obscure, historical facts that reveal Zappa'a earliest influences, presenting them in an informative and interesting format. The development of Zappa's musical career is traced through the ensuing years as it metamorphosed through various changes, styles, incarnations and incantations. "Conceptual continuity clues" appear throughout the book, indicating some of the complex thought processes bubbling deep within the Zappa brain. The illustrations are rare and riotous; where did Russo find this great stuff? He leaves no stone unturned, including the location of Zappa's unmarked gravesite. This book is a great package for ALL fans, and belongs on the bookshelf of Zappa collectors, rock fans, and classical fans as well as casual listeners. The best Zappa book ever!

A thorough examination of the Zappa ouevre. A little bit heavy on detail and there is a palpable distate for Gail Zappa. Details such as street addresses make a detailed tour of zappaland possible. For fans, a must purchase.

Russo's prose, admittedly is better than Walley's, but the text is essentially a watered down version of Slavin's superior biography. The only interesting aspects of the book are collected newspaper clippings (most of which are illegible) and assorted photos, although they feature none of the bands from the latee 70s and 80s. By far the worst aspect of the book though is Russo's attempts at deciphering conceptual continuity, which run: '"Zomby Woof" is a corruption of "Zombie Wolf"' No! Really? Wow, how insightful. And '"Evelyn, a Modified Poodle" was yet another canine reference.' If you've read any other bio, this is relatively useless, and far too expensive for what it includes.

This book has its place. If you're looking for a very complete reference of Zappa recordings and band personnel changes here it is. But this is not much of a biography apart from a few key facts about schooling, kids' birthdates and such. There are no quotes, and only the most succinct and dry accounts of events. There's a great deal of shallow "sidebar" material on the order of "the single release was a 1:05 longer than the album". If that's what you're after, go to town, but look elsewhere for a serious (or humorous for that matter) Zappa biography.