The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience [Paperback]

Timothy White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

With a "scrupulous sense of cultural context" (San Francisco Chronicle), White offers an engrossing portrait of the Beach Boys and their times--"a totally cool look at the seminal California surfing band and the culture that produced it" (Digby Diehl, Playboy). of photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At once the history of an individual, a band and an entire culture, White's (Rock Lives) attempt to combine his biography of Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson with a sweeping social history of Southern California proves too ambitious, but the book's eclecticism does make for interesting reading. Beginning with a lengthy account of the Wilson family's Midwestern roots and their migration to the Los Angeles area in the 1920s, White segues between this biographical narrative and passages detailing California's social and economic history that are meant to put the Wilsons' experience in a wider context. But he does not always clarify the connections between his dual narratives. The broad scope also makes for a somewhat sketchy portrait of Wilson. But the book is an informative, if sometimes unfocused, look at the interplay between a pop star and his culture. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The Beach Boys have come to be considered "America's band," but rock journalist White shows that that appellation is rather an affront to the nation. For the band, originally made up of the three Wilson brothers and a cousin, is nearly the ultimate in dysfunctional families. Its members' troubled personal relationships add poignancy to the story of how leader Brian Wilson turned his idyllic childhood of cars, surf, girls, and sports into fodder for a string of hits celebrating a romantic conception of California. Drawing on his long acquaintance with the Beach Boys and interviews with three generations of the Wilson family, White makes his band chronicle also function as a social history of modern California as he tells how the brothers' grandfather was lured from Kansas by Sunkist advertising and as he interpolates vivid descriptions of California culture into the account of the group's long passage from teen-idol status to played-out oldies vendor. There are already several Beach Boys books, but White's is the best researched and the most insightful on the music and its cultural significance. Gordon Flagg --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 418 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co (P) (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805047026
• ISBN-13: 978-0805047028
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,038,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spirit of America, January 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience (Paperback)

In the act of creating a grand mosaic of the world the Beach Boys grew up in and shared, the full explanation of what befell them surfaces for once. Hooray! When I got this book from another Beach Boys bud, I never ever knew there had been big emotional victims in the Wilson family prior to Brian. Or that all sorts of other talents and interests had been inherited, too. Never before was the town of Hawthorne made sense of, either. Who knew what teen culture was like there in the 1950s? It was wild to get the day to day explanations. To see how Dennis and Carl, not to mention Brian, chose or got forced onto the roads in life they took. Surprises wait on each page. To ultimately feel so close to the family is a victory. Understanding So.California on up-close and personal terms is gratifying, also. This explicates sensitive people, a community and a microcosm in the detail it merits. It all makes sense.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Disappointed, August 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience (Paperback)

"Summer Means New Love" and this gets you in the right vibe. But the "disappointed" guy reviewing from Texas is a gremmie taking potshots. Some so-called Beach Boys fans have a chip on their shoulders. If anybody checks, you see the Wilson birthdates given in this book are right. Checking my copy on pg. 339, it doesn't say Dennis Wilson is the "youngest" Beach Boy, but the "California Calling" chapter says send suggestions for future editions, and that small bit was probably fixed. But why say Dennis Wilson isn't in this book, when Chapter 7, called "Gettin' Hungry" is all about him growing up and finding out about surfing? Brian sings, love and mercy is what we need. Amen.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wake the World, January 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Nearest Far Away Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience (Paperback)

Wow. I'm embarassed to say that I thought I knew about the Beach Boys before I read "The Nearest Faraway Place". I was wrong. The depth of vision and analysis is staggering and told through the elegantly unobtrusive Tim White style I have come to expect from the book "Catch a Fire" and his columns in Billboard. It is designed to give you a full picture of the Southern California experience, dating back to the earliest generations of the Wilson family, but,if you want to skip the early chapters, you can go straight to the meat of the Beach Boys' history. Unbelievable unedited transcripts of the dialogue during recording sessions and insightful deconstruction of the cross-pollinization of inspiration happening in the Sixties. Which Beach Boys' song inspired which Beatle song, with help from which Byrd song, etc.; and all culled with interviews from the actual players and composers. Great stuff!