ponycanyon's review
5.0
I love the author's boiling, barely restrained contempt for each member of the band. This balances it out from hagiography into straight objectivity with a little myth-busting for good measure.
theartolater's review
5.0
Probably the best history of R.E.M. available on the market, even if it's not really up to date. R.E.M.: Fiction may be more complete up to this point, but nothing else written about the band comes close to this book.
em_reads_books's review against another edition
Didn't really thoroughly read this, as I'd just picked it up out of nostalgia (my best friend in high school had a copy and she still remembers a lot of R.E.M. fun facts. Hey, remember when loving a band meant you felt like you should know everything about them? Maybe in case some dude challenged you on your fan credentials?). The songwriting chapters really are fantastic - I could take or leave the R.E.M.opedia parts but the glimpse into Michael Stipe's brain is wonderful and weird as hell.
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