Things the Grandchildren Should Know (Hardcover)

~ Mark Oliver Everett (Author)
Key Phrases: strawberry shortcake, Echo Park, Los Angeles, Daisies of the Galaxy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—Everett, also known as E, front man for the alt-rock EELS, has written a compelling memoir in which it is easy to see the songwriter in the author. The songs often feature catchy melodies and lyrics that are variously dark, witty, or just quirky, while the book is a quick read, both funny and tragic, with a distinctive voice: honest, self-deprecating, wistful. The author tells a few stories from his youth—his first drum set, a humiliating teacher, his obsession with Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, a plane crash, his sullen teenage years. At 18, he discovered the dead body of his father, the quantum physicist Hugh Everett. Not long after, he headed for Los Angeles, where he worked a succession of nothing jobs while writing and recording songs on a four-track tape recorder. As he was gaining fame as an alternative rocker, tragedies continued to haunt him. His sister and mother died within months of one another, and friends and fellow musicians followed. Despite the title (also an EELS song), Everett has no children, much less grandchildren, but he says, "it only takes a second for your life to change in huge ways." Fans will certainly want to read this, but so will anyone interested in the music business or just in how one interesting guy lives life from day to day, trying to understand who he is and how he got there.—Sarah Flowers, Santa Clara County Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The songwriter and lead singer of indie rock band the Eels relates his dysfunctional family’s tragedies—father’s death from heart failure at 51, sister Liz’s suicide, and mother’s demise from lung cancer—as well as his own trials with suicidal tendencies, dissolute teen years, and times when he didn’t know what to do with himself. His outlook is often bleak but not without hope since “some of the most horrible moments of my life have led to some of the best.” Growing up, he realized his real passion was for music but hadn’t a clue how that would work out in the real world. One day, on a whim, he left his Virginia home and headed to Los Angeles, where he knew no one and nothing about the music industry. A big chunk of the book covers his various musical experiences and the people he met through them. Quite funny about his often absurd life as an independent musician, Everett gives readers a fly-on-the-wall’s view of the music business that anyone interested in it will enjoy. --June Sawyers

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (October 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312385137
• ISBN-13: 978-0312385132
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,549 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Eels Fans and Music Fans., February 23, 2008

By	Seth Triezenberg (Southfield, mi USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Things the Grandchildren Should Know (Hardcover)

Picked this book up while visiting London. Read it in a day. Couldn't put it down. It is a great read. I am a huge Eels fan. It helped me understand more about my favorite songs and favorite band. I think only a casual fan would find this book both interesting and amusing.

E (Mark) writes about death, music and how he has been able to find satisfaction in life. He has a dry but very funny sense of humor about his life and the world at large.

I gave it to my wife to read and she was hooked in a few pages.

Do yourself a favor and pick this book up.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new Mark Oliver Everett Fan, November 21, 2008

By	Karie Hoskins "karieh" (Everett, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Thanks to an Early Reviewers program, reading "Things the Grandchildren Should Know" was a new experience for me. As with most people, the biographies I read are always about someone I know a great deal about, or have heard of, or at least have some interest in.

I can honestly say I've never heard of Mark Oliver Everett (sorry, Mark) or the music group he founded, the EELS. But when I received this book in the mail and read the praise on the back and the first page that proclaims, "The following is a true story. Some names and hair colors have been changed.", I was all in.

Before going further, I did make myself a promise that I wouldn't use the power of the Internet to find out ANYTHING about Everett...I would only learn about him through his own words. (Although once his career started to take off and he started to meet more and more famous people - I was sorely tempted.)

And so I learned about this very thoughtful and very funny man through the lens with which he sees his life and world.

I say funny even though much that I found funny was in a sort of startled, shocked way...words that caught me off guard, forcing me to go back and confirm that I'd read what I thought I had. The first part of many of his anecdotes lull you into thinking all is well...and then his last few words practically grab on to your eyeballs.

"It's weird hanging out and sleeping in the same room with two people you've never spoken to and aren't allowed to speak to, but I was trained pretty well for this by being in the same room with my father all those years."

And: "At the end of the summer, which I had already started referring to as The Summer of Love, I drove my gold '71 Chevy Nova away from home for the first time. I had bought the car that I called "Old Gold" complete with a stop sign used in place of its rusted-out floorboard, for a hundred bucks from my hot, blonde cousin Jennifer, who years later would die on the plane that hit the Pentagon September 11, 2001. She was a flight attendant. Sent a postcard from Dulles Airport that morning that read "Ain't Life Grand?" in big letters on the front."

Weren't expecting that, were you?

And some things just made me smile. "Reviews don't really mean anything if you look at the history of rock journalism. They usually can't tell what will stand the test of time when they review something brand new on a tight deadline, but I'm going to let myself feel good about this. (Book reviewers: this doesn't mean you, of course. I have nothing but the utmost respect for what you do. How do you like the book so far?)"

But what stands out in this book, this story, this life is Everett's honesty about some of the most difficult, gut wrenching and sometimes embarrassing parts of his life.

"Pretty soon after that, (after his sister Liz attempts suicide) Liz and my mom went out of town to visit relatives and I found my father's dead body lying there sideways on my parents' bed, fully dressed in his usual shirt and tie, with his feet almost on the floor, like he just sat down to die at fifty-one. I tried to learn CPR from the 911 operator on the phone, carrying my father's already-stiff body across the bedroom floor. It was weird touching him. That was the first time we had any physical contact that I could remember, other than the occasional cigarette burn on my arm while squeezing by him in the hallway."

That paragraph, by the way? On page 2.

Everett's way of expressing himself is just so clear and so blunt that his words really hit home.

"Bob Dylan said that, when he was young, he had a secret sense of his destiny. I wish I had something like that, but I didn't. At all. All I had was an aching sense of desperation and an acute cluelessness - a nasty combination."

And even after Everett's career proves to be a pretty solid success, "I still have occasional bouts of desperation where I feel like there's no hope. And I hate going to a new doctor or dentist. Not for the usual reasons, though. It's the part where you fill out the personal information, when I get to, IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, CONTACT: I don't know what to put there, and it makes me really sad and embarrassed. It's the loneliest feeling, having no family. Holidays really suck and I usually try to pretend they're not happening. On the bright side, Christmas shopping is a cinch."

Mark Oliver Everett's memoir is touching, funny, incredibly sad, and self deprecating. ("So what kind of an ego do you have to have to write a book about your life and expect anyone to care? A huge one!")

I enjoyed this book immensely. Not only is the book an excellent read, his song lyrics, even absent of the music behind them, were at turns deeply disturbing and deeply moving. They stand alone as poetry. Lovely, sad, and above all, honest.

Because Everett's main focus is his music, and because this book covers most of his life, the odds that I get to read anything else by him are slim, but if he chooses to write more, I'm in, I'm all in.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll respect the man & the band much more as a result of this book., June 4, 2008

By	J. Clarke (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Things the Grandchildren Should Know (Hardcover)

I've been an Eels fan since Beautiful Freak came out, and have since purchased the catalogue as the records came out. I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a 'superfan', but I definitely have an appreciation for the fact that each record is varied, is obviously sincere, and carries with it a heavy dose of integrity (something that is more than rare in music these days).

When I found out that Mark Everett had written a book, I was intrigued to say the least. With such scattered & quirky musical ambitions, I was sure that he would have some interesting things to say. I underestimated how interesting!! I'm sure there had to be a certain amount of disconnect inherent in the writing of this book, as it would be more than difficult to explore the events throughout his life without it. That said, I definitely appreciate the witty sense of humour and sarcasm throughout the book, a sort of tongue-in-cheek walk through a man's life as he explores all of the ups & downs & absurdities that life has to offer.

I walked into this book an Eels fan. I walked out with a deep appreciation of the author and all that he has had to endure to bring us something real, both in his personal life and as a musician.

If you're into Eels at all, you'll be glad you picked up the book.