I Am Brian Wilson
{{Short description|2016 autobiographical memoir}}
{{Infobox book
|italic title =
|name = I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir
|image = I Am Brian Wilson.jpg
|image_size =
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|alt =
|author = Brian Wilson, Ben Greenman
|country = United States
|language = English
|series =
|subject =
|genre = Autobiography, memoir
|published = Da Capo Press
|release_date = October 11, 2016
|media_type =
|pages = 320
|awards =
|isbn = 978-0306823060
|oclc =
|dewey =
|congress =
|wikisource =
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}}
I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir is the second autobiographical memoir of American musician Brian Wilson, written by journalist Ben Greenman through several months of interviews with Wilson.{{cite web|last1=Bhattacharya|first1=Sanjiv|title=Brian Wilson: What I've Learned|url=http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/interviews/a10139/brian-wilson-beach-boys-what-ive-learned/|website=Esquire|date=June 15, 2016}} It was intended to supplant Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story, Wilson's disowned autobiography from 1991.{{cite web|last1=Giles|first1=Jeff|title=Read an Excerpt From 'I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir'|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/brian-wilson-memoir/|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=April 12, 2016}} I Am Brian Wilson was published by Da Capo Press on October 11, 2016, one month after the release of Mike Love's autobiography: Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy.{{cite magazine|last=Wolcott|first=James|author-link=James Wolcott|date=August 5, 2016|title=Brian Wilson, Mike Love, and the Psychodrama Behind the Beach Boys' Sun-Streaked Legacy|magazine=Vanity Fair|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/08/brian-wilson-mike-love-and-the-psychodrama-behind-the-beach-boys-legacy}}
Background
The memoir was announced in April 2013, reported to be written with journalist Jason Fine, published by Coronet Books, and given a 2015 release date. While Wilson's website stated that he "will describe for the first time the epic highs and lows of his life", The Guardian noted that Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story had covered many of the same topics mentioned by the site. However, the 1991 book is considered "controversial" in Wilson lore, and predates his solo resurgence of the 2000s.{{cite news|last1=Hann|first1=Michael|title=Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson to write autobiography|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/15/brian-wilson-autobiography-beach-boys|newspaper=The Guardian|date=April 15, 2013}}
In June 2015, Wilson reported: "One guy crapped out on me, so I’m doing it with somebody else. It has to be done."{{cite web|last1=Amarosi|first1=A.D.|title=Wouldn't it be nice...|url=http://www.icondv.com/interviews/brian-wilson-06-2015.html|publisher=Icon|date=June 2015}} In February 2016, it was reported that the book was "years in the making and [has] already seen at least one co-author hired and fired". Wilson said that the book was about "three-quarters" finished and that it was being written with help from friend Ray Lawlor. He likened the writing process to therapy, saying: "There are a lot of memories that go along with my book. I have to take the good memories with the bad memories."{{cite web|title=Brian Wilson revisits his Pet project|date=February 5, 2016|last=Collins|first=Simon|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/30735864/beach-boys-legend-brian-wilson-surfs-back-to-good-vibrations/|access-date=February 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216204659/https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/30735864/beach-boys-legend-brian-wilson-surfs-back-to-good-vibrations/|archive-date=February 16, 2016|url-status=dead}}
The book was ultimately completed with New York-based writer Ben Greenman. According to Wilson, the process involved many telephone interviews over the course of eight months, each lasting about 40 minutes. Greenman then put together the book.{{cite news|last1=Bream|first1=Jon|title=Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson dishes on memoir, Minneapolis 'Pet Sounds' concert|url=http://www.startribune.com/beach-boys-genius-brian-wilson-dishes-on-memoir-minneapolis-pet-sounds-concert/395287921/|work=Star Tribune|date=September 29, 2016}} When asked how he dealt with his inability to recollect some events, Wilson responded: "Well, the book needed to be factual. We did the movie [2015's Love & Mercy] first, which was factual—but it had parts of it that weren't actually as factual—but doing it helped my memory. So that helped with writing the book, which is almost all factual. I hope people can relate to it because none of it's fiction, as wild as some of it seems. It's fact!"{{cite magazine|last1=Slate|first1=Jeff|title=How Brian Wilson Found Inspiration in the Artists Working Beside Him|url=http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/q-and-a/a49469/brian-wilson-memoir-i-am-brian-wilson-interview/|magazine=Esquire|date=October 11, 2016}}
Legitimacy
Journalist David Hepworth also wrote that "one senses" it was "guided by Wilson's wife and manager, Melinda".{{cite news|last1=Hepworth|first1=David|author-link=David Hepworth|title=Why I want to tell the Beach Boys to get over themselves|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2016/10/why-i-want-tell-beach-boys-get-over-themselves|work=New Statesman|date=October 16, 2016}} Earlier in 2014, the project was met with skepticism by former collaborator Van Dyke Parks, who was approached for questioning by Fine's assistant via Twitter, responding, "Doesn't sound 'auto' to me!"{{cite tweet |user= thevandykeparks|number= 468497041128448002 |date= May 19, 2014 |title= @hannahmarge:I'm the researcher for Brian Wilson's autobiography, would love to ask you a few questions VDP:---Doesn't sound "auto" to me! }} When asked about negative comments Wilson made in the book, Love responded: "He's not in charge of his life, like I am mine. His every move is orchestrated and a lot of things he's purported to say, there's not tape of it. But, I don't like to put undue pressure on him, either, because I know he has a lot of issues. Out of compassion, I don't respond to everything that is purportedly said by him."{{cite news|last1=Fessier|first1=Bruce|title=Beach Boys seek to overcome discord with new wave of Love|url=http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/music/2016/11/16/beach-boys-seek-overcome-discord-new-wave-love/93977562/|work=The Desert Sun|date=November 17, 2016}} As of November 2016, Love has not read Wilson's book.
Critical response
Forbes{{'}} Brad Auerbach calls the book "a wonderful insight into a troubled genius ... his voice definitely comes through. ... Like many autobiographies, Wilson follows a generally linear approach, but he often skips around a straight chronological approach. This works well, as his mind connects sounds and visions across decades."{{cite journal|last1=Auerbach|first1=Brad|title=Brian Wilson Sets The Record Straight -- Book Review of His New Memoir|journal=Forbes|date=October 12, 2016}} The Wall Street Journal{{'}}s David Kirby wrote that "Wilson’s poker-faced acceptance [is] a reminder to take life as it comes. Part of the charm of his account is the way he drops little moments into the story with no preamble and then moves on with no follow-through."{{cite journal|last1=Kirby|first1=David|title=New Memoirs by The Beach Boys|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-memoirs-by-the-beach-boys-1475256829|journal=The Wall Street Journal|date=September 30, 2016}} The New York Times{{'}} Alan Light reviewed: "At its best, I Am Brian Wilson has an odd, unpredictable rhythm, ... it does offer some fascinating glimpses under the hood."{{cite news|last1=Light|first1=Alan|author-link1=Alan Light|title=Rock Lives: This Season's Pop Music Biographies and Memoirs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/30/books/review/rock-lives-this-seasons-pop-music-biographies-and-memoirs.html|work=The New York Times|date=November 30, 2016}}
Comparing it to Love's book, Telegraph{{'}}s Helen Brown characterizes I Am Brian Wilson as having "more sadness ... and more moments of magic." She surmised that it "must have been torture" for Greenman to "drag anything out of Wilson ... [who] admits to memory problems and to making things up to 'test' people. ... Whatever Greenman’s pain, the torture was probably greater for Wilson, who prefers to evade his traumatic past when questioned and speaks mostly in banalities – when he speaks at all."{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Helen|title=Bad Vibrations: where did it all go wrong for the Beach Boys?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/bad-vibrations-where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-the-beach-boys/|work=Telegraph|date=October 10, 2016}}
Hepworth criticized the authors of both books for their lack of self-awareness, and Wilson's book specifically for having a tendency to "perfect[ly] recall ... every compliment he has ever been paid by a well-known musician."
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Brian Wilson}}
Category:Music autobiographies
Category:Books about rock musicians
Category:2016 non-fiction books