Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder: None Too Fragile

by Martin Clarke

In this detailed biography, Martin Clark traces Pearl Jam's meteoric rise, the band's reaction to popular acclaim, its triumphs at the MTV and Grammy awards, the notorious rift with Nirvana, and its creative rebirth following the release of the critically acclaimed album No Code. Giving particular emphasis on the band's enigmatic leader, Eddie Vedder, the book brings to life a tumultuous career, chronicling Pearl Jam through success, scandal, band tensions, personnel changes, and substance abuse. This revised and updated edition features many intriguing — and hitherto untold — facts and anecdotes, in addition to a comprehensive discography.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to get this and start reading - hopefully find some insight into some things that I didn't previously know about one of my favorite bands. Unfortunately, however, this book was little more than regurgitated facts easily found on the internet and quotes from other articles. I picked up a few unknown tidbits here and there, but nothing extraordinary. The author took a rather detached stance and didn't really ever allow the reader to know whether or not he actually LIKED Pearl Jam. The drummer history and early band history were both fairly interesting, but you can find out everything in those sections over at lukin.com. The most fun part of reading the book was coming across references to specific shows, then running to my bootleg folder to listen to the show. It's always cool to have some background to put the thing you're listening to in perspective. Except that, even this, is easily available on the web at Five Horizons. It's a decent "refresher-course", but I was looking for something that, when I was done, would make me want other people to read it. When I finished this, I was, instead, just rather ho-hum about the whole thing.

(old review copied from Amazon... just trying to get everything in one place... Obviously this review - and this book - are very much out of date at this point...)

[Adam Carrico · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is pretty terrible, but the content is good enough since it's based upon an interesting band.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and informative book.

Although I was a big fan of many of the Seattle based bands back in the day and to some extent still now, I wasn't really aware of the undercurrents and social/commercial wranglings that were going on at the time and just loved the music. This book certainly filled in a lot of the gaps and went some way to explaining many of the events that happened around the commercialisation of what was originally a pretty spontaneous grass roots musical movement.

I've got to say though that I am glad the fashion for men in a pairing of shorts and long johns soon faded out!

[Lydia Budz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made my life just a little better. the story of pearl jam and the influence it has on Eddies life. Although the writing tended to be a little bit sloppy and choppy at certain points, the interesting story is truly there. There's much more appreciation and more insight on what the band is about.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure Pearl Jam could have been made a lot more interesting than this. It's all surface and no depth, but I guess it's a neat read for fans.

[Jonathan Drnjevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and the manifold insights into Vedder's genius. As an academic, however, I wished for a list of sources and in text citations. Maybe I read too many research essays:-)

[JennieWithTheBooks☮️(◕‿◕✿) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since it's a pretty old book, first published back in '98 and then updated in '02, it only covers the early years of PJ's and EV's rise to worldwide musical fame, but because it seemed to be an easy enough read, I would recommend it to fans of theirs. I know you can find most if not all of the info that it covers on the WWW but it was still sort of cool to look at all the pictures and quotes by the band members.

There seems to be something a little different about Vedder. He seems to be tremendously enigmatic and charismatic. I have always gotten the feeling from watching him and his bandmates during interviews that since he's been given the gift of being able to express himself in music, that he's always taken that has a huge responsibility to make sure he was bringing a good and positive influence to the world. This book gets that point across too. I don't think it was just for the sex and $$ that he did/does what he has done for the last 27-28 years.

I could see myself sitting with and listening to this "spiritual leader" of Pearl Jam because I bet he's got a lot of really cool stories to tell but I gotta say that I would hate to talk politics with him.
All in all, I liked this book. I'd give it 3 Stars for sure.

[Brian Gormley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 out of 4. This is quite a good chronology of the band, their development, and some of the behind-the-scenes activity. I read Pearl Jam 20 last year, and that gives a much better insight into the songs and the music. As PJ20 was authorised by the band it steers clear of gossip or controversy, and I thought this book might fill in those gaps. There were a few good nuggets in there. As Eddie Vedder is publicity-shy it does a good job at pulling together some of his interviews. Towards the end it just becomes a chronology of concerts. Worth a read if you’re a big PJ fan, but if you have to choose just one book on the band, I’d go for Pearl Jam 20.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the first time I've read a book about a band/musician. It was so good to read something that could help me understand the psyche of someone who has captivated my heart and many others in a particular way that can't be quite described but only understood by those who love their music and Eddie Vedder just as much as you do.

Some really interesting points about the music and lyrics and key moments in the bands career but thought it dragged a little at points.

I do wonder what Eddie Vedder thinks of the book? Hmm.

[diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this book in small chunks which is why it took ages. im a huge fan of Eddie and PJ and have read other books on the band. I was rly looking forward to this book, however unfortunately there was some information that was flat out incorrect and it didn’t offer too much new information for me. but I did enjoy the photos (despite some being captioned incorrectly) and I love reading anything about the band, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st Read: August 19-20, 2018

Overall, it wasn't too bad. There was an anecdote which is wrong; when describing where Pearl Jam was as a band. "Ten" had not been released yet, but somehow "Superunknown" from Soundgarden was.

That is my only rant about the book.

[Vicki Warby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for around 19 years and only just got around to reading it. Full of errors and typos. I can’t get past the mistakes. Interesting to read beyond the release of Vs but it rushed too fast past Vitalogy onwards. Overall worth a read but only once and with a pinch of salt.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Serviceable retelling/timeline of the band’s first decade, but reveals no new insights. It’s mostly drawn from music magazine articles that long-time Pearl Jam fans probably read when they were first published.

[Adam Cormier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read about the band, struggles vs Ticketmaster and the many other artista involved with the forming of Pearl Jam.

[nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few insights, even for fans about Eddie Vedder and co. Not hugely detailed but enjoyable

[Michael Turner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting in spots but the writing is amateur at best. I struggled to finish it. Not recommended.

[Anthony Markowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it.

[Garp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly awful. Very much feels like it was written quickly to capitalise on a moment, due to the strangely antagonistic tabloid tone, inconsistent perspective and poor standard of writing.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really informative book about the band. I liked it because I generally like learning anything about the band. I thought the writing was okay, however. I definitely think it could have been more solid and vibrant. The author seemed to make assumptions about certain situations but with no real vitality or conviction.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected this to not be that great...the entire book is in glossy pages. But it was a pleasant surprise.

I liked that it was more succinct than Five Against One, but was skeptical about a few statements that were made. Perhaps those passages were simply this author's interpretation of events?

I did however enjoy the read and read it straight through.

[Jay Ward A.K.A. Chris Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reneè(my beautiful wife!) gave me this as a stocking stuffer way-back in like 1981! Served its purpose, fun to look at, I might as well have been checking out Tiger Beat! 5-Titties cause it Pearl Jam and anything from/or about them, anything even rhyming with their name receives the "5-Titty Told-'ya-So" in my opinion!

[Helman Taofani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the story in this book, I've read it somewhere separately in magazine article (i.e famous Rolling Stone article in 1996). But I really enjoy the comprehensive narration from Clarke.

It's not a must-have book for Pearl Jam fans, but will be great to have it.

[Damonthompson74 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Lots of grammar errors.

[Michael Ware · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pearl Jam rules. That is all I have to say about that.

[Ade Kraus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight into a great singer

[E. G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

--Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder: None Too Fragile

Discography