True Stories

by David Byrne, William Eggleston (Illustrator), Len Jenshel (Illustrator)

Truly quirky, this mock documentary is part musical, part farce, and completely, oddly innocent. This is a one-man-band job for David Byrne (lead singer of the Talking Heads), who writes, stars, and directs, It's ostensibly about the sesquicentennial celebration of a small Texas town, but it's really about strange characters and strange attitudes. Byrne is our guide, driving us around and giving tour information about Texas in an innocuous patter, frequently running into Louis Fyne (John Goodman), a lonely man looking for love. At various times, and with little provocation, the film swoons into a Talking Heads number with preachers and bar patrons belting out tunes. If you make room for it, however, True Stories can surprise and delight with its inventiveness and its unconventional treatment of the residents. A scene in which a construction worker launches into an aria, on a makeshift stage when no one else is around, is but one example of numerous such moments in this bizarre, delightful, and benign film. Any Talking Heads fan who doesn't own it should. --Keith Simanton

Genres: Film, Music

191 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 1986

About the author

A cofounder of the musical group Talking Heads, David Byrne has also released several solo albums in addition to collaborating with such noted artists as Twyla Tharp, Robert Wilson, and Brian Eno. His art includes photography and installation works and has been published in five books. He lives in New York and he recently added some new bike racks of his own design around town, thanks to the Department of Transportation.

Photo © Catalina Kulczar-Marin

Reviews

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know what you're thinking: "Of course Dina gave a David Byrne book a great rating. She would give an essay he wrote on his socks a glowing endorsement." But hear me out.

If you're a fan of True Stories, this book is pretty awesome to read. You get filled in on the stories that inspired the movie and are able to make a little more sense of those parts that I'm sure you saw as brilliant, but not have been able to articulate just what made them that way. I love David Byrne's writing so much because of the way he says things. He can be straight forward and tounge-in-cheek in the same sentence. When he describes things he always seems to do so in a way that makes you think of them in a whole new light. His observations are brilliant and insightful while being completely obvious. But I'll stop gushing. Bottom line: If you dug the movie, pick this one up (if you can find it). You won't regret it.

[Jeff Vandegrift · Rating 5 out of 5]

Known more for the movie by the same name than the book. The movie is technically fiction, but most of the elements are based on non-fiction... hence "True Stories". The history of this is that a collection of human interest story articles was collected and then integrated into a movie about a few days set in a fictional Texas town. John Goodman, unknown at the time, is the Bachelor with a Big Heart. Spaulding Gray is the mayor. The book is an asset because it goes into the background of the movie and shows you the actual articles that make "True Stories" what it is.

[St-Michel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great script for a great movie...and more!!!! Besides the script, this book has an absolute cornucopia of behind-the-scenes information about David Byrne's quirky, yet strangely affectionate film of the same name. An interesting look into the everyman's cross-section of homegrown America.

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

the movie was better, but if you loved the movie you should read the book too.

[Mark Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only a great companion book for the film, but a wonderful collection of photography in its own right.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun add on to movie.

[dv · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice companion to the film, with an introduction by David Byrne on the idea and the process and then basically the screenplay enriched not only by stage and behind the scenes pictures but also by real newspapers articles that inspired the movie, some various materials and sketches, and so on. It's a difficult to find book, but worth a search for all those who appreciated Byrne's approach.