A review by em_reads_books
It Crawled from the South: An R.E.M. Companion by Marcus Gray

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.