Customer Reviews

Jackson Browne: His Life and Music

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Two people have already beat me to it, and said most of what I had to say, but, if you are a fan of Jackson Browne's, as I am - you've already seen everything in this book. The author did NO research, unless you count reading interviews & a previous biography as research, he obviously did not talk to anyone remotely involved with Mr. Browne, and I can't believe this book was even published. I could have written it myself, in an evening, and I'm not exaggerating. My book would have been better.

There is NOTHING new here. There are quotes from interviews, and quotes from the previous biography, mentioned in a previous review here. The author doesn't even seem familiar with his subject. Without even having to check, I caught a couple of factual errors.

While the author goes into Jackson's well known (and publicized) romances, there is not one word about the one he has been in for over 10 years. Anyone who reads "Rolling Stone" or who has followed Jackson's career, already knows more than they will learn from this book.

The book also seems to have a negative slant, without there really being a reason for it. It is just the author's unfamiliarity with his subject I believe. I am really dumbfounded by the fact that any publisher would release this book. The final chapter consists of an essay, which could have been written by a high school age fan of Mr. Browne's, summarizing his career. And that's probably the highlight of the book.

I am a longtime fan of Jackson Browne's, and I admit I anxiously awaited the release of this book. Now, I am only sorry that I contributed in any way to this "biographer". I've waited a long time for some kind of follow-up to Rich Wiseman's book, which was, at the very least, well-researched and full of information. This book is NOT it. Both Jackson Browne and his fans deserve better.

This is without question one of the worst books I have ever encountered. Bego does nothing more than recycle interviews and rip off Rich Wiseman's book. There is no new information about Browne in here--Bego didn't speak to anyone close to Browne for this book and his research is limited to major U.S. publications, and he frequently gets the information wrong.

I'm a fan of Browne's, but this book isn't worth reading or buying. Bego is a hack who didn't even bother fact checking his material. I'm just wondering how he has the nerve to call himself a writer and how he got a publisher for this trash.

First of all, Jackson Browne hates to have his private life, open to all. Second, as people before me have said, there is nothing new in this book. The worst though is third, the author puts a negative look on almost everything Jackson does, except his really main stream songs, such as Somebodys baby or Running on Empty which ARE great songs but his lesser known political songs/albums get almost trashed in this book, the songs that I believe are some of his best ever. I cannot believe that someone would publish this horrible book.

If you look at the other books the author has written, you'll see that he just spits out these celebrity biographies as quickly as he can to make a buck, without taking the time to do any new research. Like the other reviewers said, this book is a complete waste of time and is so carelessly written, with many errors in songtitles and dates, etc. Mark Bego should be ashamed of himself for producing such a poorly written book.

As others have said, Rich Wiseman's book is much better, and this takes far too much from that book. Bego has far too many outright factual errors, does nothing original, and his writing...well, let's say that the writing is weak, simplistic, lazy, and just bad. Jackson Browne is by far my favorite, but he sure didn't deserve this lousy treatment. The one part I liked was the many footnotes and bibliography, to go back to the original source for most of the information. Calling this regergitative writing is being kind. Enjoy JB, but get your information for better sources, and better writers.

I couldn't finish the book due to how terribly written it was. And what's the deal with all those shadow boxes throughout the book, those annoying boxes with a repeat sentence in it? What's that all about? I wish I had taken the time to read a review before buying this, but unfortunately I didn't. I normally save my books, but this one went into the trash.

for the most part this was a rewrite of "story of a hold out" without as many great photos and not quite as personal.

I thumbed through this at a book store. Trust me, there's nothing new here, and not much that's any of our business. It's a shallow and feeble attempt to create the biography of someone who really only wishes to be understood through his art. I can almost see this "author" sitting cross-legged on the floor, Scotch-taping his Jackson Browne articles and clippings into a book. The truth is that anyone who's truly paid attention to Jackson's music over the years should understand that it's always had as much (or more) to do with our lives as his...leave the guy alone!

One of the best song writers of our lifetime. The book has a chapter for every album he has done with great details. A must read for any Jackson Browne fan.