This was a maddening book to read and to try and evaluate; Bowman has clearly had some really in-depth, fascinating interviews with band members (Byrne and Weymouth in particular), and especially during the first parts of the band's career he does an amazing job of situating their music in what was actually going on in NYC at the time (and not just music). So why did I kind of hate this book?Part of it isn't Bowman's fault; it's always depressing to have bands you love be humanized, and most of [...]

Absolutely love the Talking Heads but can't say the same about this book. 2.5 stars, rounded up.Apparently the entire history of the TH can be summed up by saying: "David Byrne is a talented genius who is also an asshole and the other members of the band resent it." Tina W.'s obsession/hatred/love of Byrne is rehashed time and again. Is it jealous or unrequited love? After 400 pages, I no longer care.This isn't so much a chronology as a collection of quotes, mostly from other interviews, pasted [...]

A lesson in how NOT to write a biography if you hope to have any of your readers actually finish the book: One morning in 1973, Tina had a bowl of cereal. Later that year, she started RISD (pronounced rizz-dee). Suuuuuuuuuuuck.

I used to love the Talking Heads so much. Then at some point I couldn't bear the pretensions. Then I would hear "Life During Wartime" and I would love them all over again. And I would also realize it was my own pretensions I hated. Me and the Talking Heads it's complicated. Anyways. I realized recently that the Talking Heads were never ever getting back together, and I didn't know why. I imagined there must have been some reasons, and maybe some good, trashy stories. So I wanted to read a book, [...]

I wanted to hate this. Pretentious art school drop-outs, the egos, the drugsShit, I could even blame the writing: contrived, like he was trying to create more of a story by the threads of other interviews, the babble and the theories And while I have been really really wanting to hate this, Ive also been wanting to hear it, to really listen to and hear every albumRemain In Light, Speaking In Tongues, Stop Making Sense, More Stories About Buildings And Food, 77. And there was the turnaround. I lo [...]

I guess I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to people who aren't already fans of Talking Heads. Sometimes the writing is a little cheesy, like when Bowman tries to oh-so-cutely incorporate lyrics from the band's songs into otherwise unassuming sentences. But I enjoyed it. Then again, some friends and I once had this plan wherein we'd buy a Scooby Doo-style van, paint a couple racing stripes on it, put on gas station attendant shirts and follow David Byrne around the country, whether he was act [...]

Tried several times to read this book. I first tried reading it, then skimming it. I finally gave it up as a bad job. Besides the pretentious style that Bowman writes in, he buries the story of the band in all the other details of goings-on in the New York art scene. I have zero interest in Andy Warhol, and it wasn't worth it to me to wait through a pile of crap to try to glean some information on the featured band. Very frustrating.

Wow. A gut-twisting biography of one of music's most unique acts. You always knew David Byrne was a little strange- THIS just proves it. It also proves that the backdrop of some of the band's best music was fraught with anxiety, acrimony, and swift dissension, but that it fed the nucleus of talent that was The Talking Heads. The author does a fantastic job trying to be objective in the war of words between Weymouth and Byrne (and it's mostly Weymouth. Be warned, reader). Frantz is squarely in hi [...]

I think the idea here is that, just as Talking Heads' concert film was no ordinary rock movie, this book will not be your typical rock biography. The author is a novelist, not a music journalist. This implies a labor-of-love undertaking, but somehow Bowman never quite communicates to us the source of his obsession with the music, and he does not come close to capturing the mystique the Heads generated in their remarkable 1977-1981 run. From the first pages he seeks to distance himself from other [...]

A fascinating glimpse behind the big suits
and deadpan looks to the heart and soul of a band
that made it big by playing it cool/ With their minimalist beats, sophisticated lyrics, and stoic mien, the Talking Heads were indisputably one of the most influential and intriguing bands of their time. Rising from the ashes of punk and the smoldering embers of the disco inferno, they effectively straddled the boundaries between critical and commercial success as few other groups did, with music you [...]

Regardless of how true or false the facts are in this history of David Byrne (and less importantly, the band), it is an entertaining and quick read. Bowman is relatively straightforward with the reader in regards to this blurred fact/fiction, as any history book based on first- and secondhand oral sources will naturally impose one perspective over others. It is quickly realized that this man loves David Byrne, and so Byrne's version of this history seems preferred.As for the overriding thesis th [...]

This is the first band-ography that I've ever read. This type of book is a curious beast. So much he-said she-said, though maybe that's only so true considering the Weymouth-Byrne dynamic. It got a lot of songs stuck in my head. It made me feel as if I was allowed to have opinions of people I've never met, which makes me uncomfortable.It made me think some things:-performance art is a strange outlet that deserves more attention.-David Byrne is a brilliant, interesting guy.-Jonathan Richman ought [...]

An interesting, if not slightly disappointing read. I really don't care for the way it's written, meaning that I think that the author thinks he's being real cute with the ocassional one-liner, which winds up being more distracting than anything.There a lot of "Oh, I had no idea THAT happened" moments in the book for casual Talking Heads fans (David Byrne broke The Police's video camera when the Talking Heads opened for them in '83?!), but chances are there's a lot of information in the book tha [...]

I read this a long time ago (maybe late 2006) so am probably under qualified to write a review about it, but I'm thinking about it now so I will anyway.The main thing I remember from this is the strong presence of an oddly engaging but annoying and somewhat wanky authorial voice. I also found it quite biased: the author consistently posits Byrne as the sole genius of Talking Heads, and Weymouth and Franz as obstacles to greatness. On the other hand, you get the impression that Byrne is an arroga [...]

The writing was kind of choppy and occasionally smugbut that's par for the course in rock bios. It's all about the band, right? How much better to do you know the band members, how much closer to them do you feel? Well, I dunno. It made me want to watch "Stop Making Sense" for the 30th time. But I don't feel very close to Talking Heads. I'm not sure Talking Heads feel very close to Talking Heads, though. One thing that struck me was that this band didn't struggle much. I would have thought that [...]

Talking Heads are my favorite band, otherwise I doubt I wold ever feel compelled to read a rock band biography. The endorsement from Jonathan Lethem helps, though.***In the end, about the same as any other band biography. The initial chapters, describing the strange formation and early years of the band, were interesting, but once the band began recording albums the narrative of their story grew a little stale. I suppose at that point I wanted to start listening rather than reading. And Bowman's [...]

Most of the rock memoirs I've read have focused on the drugs and problems that caused. But this book was basically all about the infighting. Yes there were drugs. (David had to snort a little to get into that big suit.) It didn't fall short on in-fighting induced drama, though. It's clear fairly early on how things are going to go with everyone. Like the band's music, the story seems complicated, yet cohesive. I love the band's music and it gave me a lot of insight into the band's music influenc [...]

It's still too soon to write a history of Talking Heads. The injuries are too recent and the egos still too raw to get any real new information. This forced the author to pad the book with a bunch of filler. (Five sentences on the haircut Twyla Tharp had on the day she first met David Byrne? Really? It was a wedge. See, I did it in one sentence.) And not well-written filler, either. You know the booklet that came with the Popular Favorites 2-CD collection? Just read that, because you're not goin [...]

A pretty detailed account of the band. Man, seems like Tina Weymouth was either in love with Byrne or hated his guts. Or somewhere in-between. This book is well-written and completely detail-oriented without being OVERLY detailed. If you're a fan, you NEED this book. From their RISD days to their last album, "Naked," this book is great. I don't want to finish it, but I just got "Goodbye 20th Century: The Sonic Youth Story" for my birthday, so I'm off to bigger and better things.

While this book was a fun read, I don't know that I'd recommend it all that highly. It's got all the hallmarks of a quickie bio: random, unattributed quotes, pointless/cutesy disgressions, plenty of filler. Worse still, from page 1 it's clear that Bowman has a major axe to grind with Tina Weymouth. Why is never exactly explained, but the book is filled with weird, passive-aggressive jabs at her expense. It ruins what could have been, at best, a passably diverting, pleasantly gossipy music bio.

Although read in three sittings, they were spread a part for some reason so it took me a little while to get through, but overall, I enjoyed it! A few nuggets I learned about the Talking Heads that I didn't previously know:The talking heads did drugs. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't have thought??David won an academy award.The Heads first tour was with the Ramones. Weird!Radiohead are named after a Talking Heads song.

Very thorough biography of Byrne and the other Talking Heads. I enjoyed reading what makes David tick. But this book made me really dislike Tina Weymouth, who seems to still have a 500 pound green-eyed monster hanging on her back. She seems very petty and small, even after all their success.For such an odd guy, Byrne's music is quite sweet and a little pro-domestic.

I enjoyed this book far more than I expected--I like the Talking Heads, but they aren't one of my favorite bands. It traces their history from pre-band to post band, and has a lot of details about the interraltionship between all the members and the apparent love/hate bond between David and Tina--which may or may not be overstated, but it made for interesting reading

This is a pretty interesting look into the history of a very interesting band. It seems like the author is a little biased towards certain band members, but the amount of interviews and research that went into it really paid off because the book really paints a good picture of the New York scene in the early Eighties. Definitely worth a look.

Okay, I know I have to get past loving the Talking Heads, but this book is super fun to read cause it also talks a lot about what was happening in NYC in the late seventies and early eighties. Remember SAMO? Didn't know David Byrne had an affair with both Twyla Tharp and Toni Basil. I guess he liked dancers

Shockingly well written for being another book about a band. The fellow's got a tone going. Also, it will introduce you to Don DeLillo, who may be a wonderful person. "I was born with all language in my mouth."

Execrable writing, but such a great story, it didn't really matter.

Priceless insights into one of the most original bands ever. Hilly Kristal says their sound was like "knitting needles dipped in honey."

a well done biography, very entertaining.

It was informative, and an easy read, but not memorable. Hard to be objective when I'm a big fan of the subject, and I think the book also has an objectivity problem on the whole Tina/David conflict.