Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy
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| Author | Mike Love with James S. Hirsch |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography, memoir |
| Published | Blue Rider Press |
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Publication date
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September 13, 2016 |
| Pages | 436 |
Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy is an autobiographic memoir by American musician Mike Love, co-founder of the Beach Boys, written with James S. Hirsch. The book was published by Blue Rider Press on September 13, 2016, one month before the release of co-founder Brian Wilson's autobiography, I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir.
In November 2014, Love announced that he had been working on the book and that it would be due in 2016. After the work was completed, he said that the "easiest part of writing this book was just commenting on my actual experiences as a Beach Boy, because there have been many inaccuracies that have been said about me over the years." He says that co-writer James H. Hirsch helped by "read[ing] every book and article that's ever been written about the Beach Boys. It really gave context to telling about all the things that happened in my career."
The Los Angeles Times' Sarah Rodman wrote: "To the people who believe that Brian rules and Mike drools, what Love writes will not matter one iota. But for those interested in Love's perspective, 'My Life as a Beach Boy' is a generally solid read." Media journalist James Wolcott wrote: "If it's the jumbo popcorn bag of Beach Boys lore you saltily crave, then Love"s Good Vibrations should hold you the length of the circus. In the battle of the Beach Boys memoirs, it's the better read: lively, informative, thumbtacked with crazy specifics, and a decent job of self-exoneration."The Australian's David Free reviewed: "Love sounds like a cocksure sort of guy: you wouldn't necessarily want to meet him. But his hyper-confidence makes his book an unusually honest one. Because he thinks he's always right, he leaves nothing out. Indeed his memoir has a panoramic clarity that Wilson's lacks: if you don't know much about the Beach Boys, Love's is the better book to start with."
The New York Times' Janet Maslin accused Love of cherrypicking facts: "Still, its boasts and grudges overpower the writing style. And more than a half-century's worth of inside information about the Beach Boys, who were all the rage until they were ancient history, has undeniable appeal, especially from a new perspective." Journalist David Hepworth criticized that both books "take themselves preposterously seriously," that neither "seem[s] to realise just how absurd his life has been," and that Love is "so relentless in its efforts to build up his part that you feel that Will Ferrell should consider turning it into a film."Pitchfork's Stacey Anderson reviewed that public characterizations of Love are often "overly reductive. Love contributed much to the Beach Boys' success—but he only damages himself by detailing his perceived misfortunes while refusing to explore any real sympathy toward his bandmate of actual disability." She adds that Love's seeming lack of empathy for Wilson is "summarized neatly in the acknowledgements section, where Love thanks neither Wilson nor the original Beach Boys but does praise John Stamos."
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