Turn It On

Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips
By Jim DeRogatis

I love the Flaming Lips, and this is a very enjoyable and thoroughly researched history of the band. I've read enough articles and seen the movie "Fearless Freaks," so I knew the general outline of the story. But this book really gives it the comprehensive treatment it needs.

Of course like all such books, the struggle in near-anonymity is much more interesting to read about than the success, and the whole thing kind of meanders at the end. I guess that's too bad, but there's probably no way around it. I mean, look at Peter Guralnick's two-volume bio of Elvis: The second volume is just depressing. Or Pat Gilbert's book about the Clash: Do you really want to read about the post-Mick Jones, post-Topper Headon lineup?