Heavier Then Heaven (Paperback, 1st pbk. ed) - Cross

Written with a journalist's eye for riveting detail and a fan's heartfelt appreciation for Nirvana's music, Charles R. Cross's Heavier Than Heaven stage-dives headfirst into the heart, soul, and torment of one of rock's most galvanizing figures. Revelatory and moving, it's as essential to any rock-history bookshelf as Nevermind is to any CD cabinet. --David Browne, author of Dream Brother: The Lives Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley 

When Kurt Cobain died by his own hand in April 1994, it was an act of will that typified his short, angry, inspired life. Although the tragic circumstances of Cobain's suicide are well known, the facts of his life -- and the influence of his artistry -- remain largely unexamined. Now veteran music journalist Charles R. Cross fuses his intimate knowledge of the Seattle music scene with his deep compassion for his subject in this extraordinary story of artistic brilliance and the pain that extinguished it. 

Based on more than four hundred interviews; four years of research; exclusive access to Cobain's unpublished diaries, lyrics, and family photos; and a wealth of documentation, Heavier Than Heaven traces Cobain's life from his early days in a double-wide trailer outside of Aberdeen, Washington, to his rise to fame, success, and the adulation of a generation. Cross reveals the familial turmoil that fueled Cobain's creativity, the generational history that forged his character, and the unusual love story that was his relationship with wife Courtney Love. Drawing from medical and police reports, and Cobain's own private writings, Cross also reveals the truth about Cobain's health struggles, his depression, and his tragic final days. 

Published on the tenth anniversary of Nirvana's landmark album Nevermind, this is the first in-depth biography of Kurt Cobain, a man whose music captured the minds of a generation and whose death broke their hearts. More than the history of a rock and roll star, Heavier Than Heaven is a portrait of creative genius and the will to turn pain into art.