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ashleyholstrom's review against another edition
4.0
Danny Goldberg’s Serving the Servant is a moving reminiscence of his relationship with Kurt Cobain. The book starts out with a lot of music industry corporate mumbo-jumbo—he was Nirvana’s manager, after all—but later he begins working with Kurt more as a friend than an executive, and it gets more sincere. Earnest. Kind. Human.
tonybosco's review against another edition
3.0
It had potential..
The first 2/3 read like a Wikipedia page. I suspect John Silva would be able to fill in many of blanks encountered here. I grew tired of reading other people’s accounts, largely already known, about the past.
The book redeems itself once the Vanity Fair interview is discussed. From that point forward, the book is engaging and provides many unknown details without devolving into a gossipy tabloid. My main gripe is that it took so long to hit its stride.
The last third of the book is essential for Nirvana fans, but those same fans will likely be uninterested in the early chapters.
Oh, and Danny, Ozzy doesn’t have “famous” tattoos of ‘love’ and ‘hate’ on his hands. The tattoo on his hand is literally OZZY — Kurt and Dave were paying homage with the same exact thing. How something so easily verifiable slipped by the fact checkers, I’ll never know.
The first 2/3 read like a Wikipedia page. I suspect John Silva would be able to fill in many of blanks encountered here. I grew tired of reading other people’s accounts, largely already known, about the past.
The book redeems itself once the Vanity Fair interview is discussed. From that point forward, the book is engaging and provides many unknown details without devolving into a gossipy tabloid. My main gripe is that it took so long to hit its stride.
The last third of the book is essential for Nirvana fans, but those same fans will likely be uninterested in the early chapters.
Oh, and Danny, Ozzy doesn’t have “famous” tattoos of ‘love’ and ‘hate’ on his hands. The tattoo on his hand is literally OZZY — Kurt and Dave were paying homage with the same exact thing. How something so easily verifiable slipped by the fact checkers, I’ll never know.
neilsarver's review against another edition
2.0
There's nothing new in this, which is very disappointing. I wasn't expecting, or hoping for, dirt or exciting gossip, but some insight would have made this a valuable addition. For me, that didn't feel like it was here.
Mind you, [a:Goldberg|178993|Danny Goldberg|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] spends a fair amount of time defending the decisions involved in bringing Kurt Cobain and Nirvana to the mainstream. I understand that with a narrative that "punk/indie genius was lured onto a major label and into the MTV fold and the demands of fame killed him" being popular, his defense that Kurt and company were major forces in the choice to bring themselves into the mainstream.
Ultimately, however, he introduces a dichotomy in the form an idea he quotes [a:Everett True|60736|Everett True|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1256260954p2/60736.jpg] as stating that there are two kinds of punk rock. There is the [a:Jello Biafra|10732|Jello Biafra|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1309464750p2/10732.jpg]/[a:Ian Mackaye|486258|Ian Mackaye|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357116608p2/486258.jpg] school in which one forms an alternative community parallel to the mainstream or there's the version in which one joins the mainstream and subverts it from the inside.
Nirvana's philosophy was the latter, which they argued for in nearly every interview they gave, so the argument that this was their intention and that Goldberg and those around him were working diligently to get them what they wanted is a solid point. Unfortunately, I'm also not sure Nirvana is a good case study for that philosophy working. Once they themselves were gone, the subversion was gone, it seems to me, and once we pass the recording of In Utero, Goldberg never takes up the thread again, and certainly not in terms of the legacy left behind. This is not meaningless, as much of the first two-thirds of the book are dedicated to discussing this point.
This might have been a solid memoir in the immediate aftermath of Kurt's death, but it feels woefully inadequate for a book with two and a half decades to reflect on these memories and the questions raised by all of it.
Mind you, [a:Goldberg|178993|Danny Goldberg|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] spends a fair amount of time defending the decisions involved in bringing Kurt Cobain and Nirvana to the mainstream. I understand that with a narrative that "punk/indie genius was lured onto a major label and into the MTV fold and the demands of fame killed him" being popular, his defense that Kurt and company were major forces in the choice to bring themselves into the mainstream.
Ultimately, however, he introduces a dichotomy in the form an idea he quotes [a:Everett True|60736|Everett True|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1256260954p2/60736.jpg] as stating that there are two kinds of punk rock. There is the [a:Jello Biafra|10732|Jello Biafra|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1309464750p2/10732.jpg]/[a:Ian Mackaye|486258|Ian Mackaye|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357116608p2/486258.jpg] school in which one forms an alternative community parallel to the mainstream or there's the version in which one joins the mainstream and subverts it from the inside.
Nirvana's philosophy was the latter, which they argued for in nearly every interview they gave, so the argument that this was their intention and that Goldberg and those around him were working diligently to get them what they wanted is a solid point. Unfortunately, I'm also not sure Nirvana is a good case study for that philosophy working. Once they themselves were gone, the subversion was gone, it seems to me, and once we pass the recording of In Utero, Goldberg never takes up the thread again, and certainly not in terms of the legacy left behind. This is not meaningless, as much of the first two-thirds of the book are dedicated to discussing this point.
This might have been a solid memoir in the immediate aftermath of Kurt's death, but it feels woefully inadequate for a book with two and a half decades to reflect on these memories and the questions raised by all of it.
hail_archangel's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This book about Cobain comes from a different angle than usual - this is more about the business side of Nirvana and the author's dealings with Kurt as his client.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Drug use
jennrobyn's review against another edition
There was a lot of this that was really over my head in terms of the record exec side of things and the business.
But hearing someone’s insight into Kurt as a person was beautiful. He was such a beautiful spirit and it’s still so heartbreaking to me that he wasn’t meant to be in this world longer.
But hearing someone’s insight into Kurt as a person was beautiful. He was such a beautiful spirit and it’s still so heartbreaking to me that he wasn’t meant to be in this world longer.
5fourteen's review against another edition
4.0
This was definitely a worthwhile read, even for those like me who have read several books on Nirvana/Kurt. Because it was written by someone who knew Kurt intimately, it covered a lot of things that no other Nirvana/Kurt bio could have. It mainly covered the years 1990, when Danny Goldberg became Nirvana's manager, to 1994, the year Kurt died. I feel like sometimes Kurt is depicted as being naive when it came to his band's career. That he was not in control of the band's meteoric rise to fame, when in fact, according to this book, the exact opposite was true. Kurt was completely in control of every decision the band made, and was extremely calculating in this regard. He wanted his band to be famous from the start. He just had a hard time navigating the fame once he got it, and, as others have stated, it bothered him immensely that he couldn't control the narrative as it related to his music.
amelody's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug abuse, Bullying, Drug use, Death, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Grief, Misogyny, Self harm, Abandonment, Addiction, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Cursing