Shelving: Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain by Charles R. Cross

Charles Cross's Here We Are Now is a good idea, but I think it only skims the surface.  I like that instead of writing another biography, Cross takes a thoughtful look at Kurt Cobain's lasting influence, which, given the scant amount of music he put out in his short life (there isn't even much to mine through as there is other long-dead artists), is undeniably huge. It's a little hagiographic, but that's to be expected, I guess.  As someone who was only a casual fan of Nirvana's music I've always looked at Cobain and his influence not only on music but only culture in general. I've always seen him as part of a larger picture, a culture that was already shifting, and he became the unfortunate recipient of the kind of mainstream success that, during the 80s and early 90s, ran counter to being "indie" or "alternative." (Two words that are absolutely meaningless now.) I've read enough things that's said he did, in fact, court that success, but as someone who was a teenager during Nevermind's run, it was something that always rang a little false to me.