For those familiar with the music
of Elliott Smith, it was particularly upsetting to hear the news that he had
killed himself in October, 2003, at the age of 34, although given how sad many
of his songs were, it was not terribly surprising.  Then to learn subsequently that the coroner had not ruled out the
possibility that someone else had caused the two stab wounds to his chest was
unsettling.  It invited comparisons with
the death of Kurt Cobain and made his life more mysterious.  Smith’s premature death gave a reason for
his fans to want to know more about the man, and Benjamin Nugent has written
his biography.  Unfortunately, Nugent
did not have the cooperation of most of the people who were closest to Smith,
and while he does give the main storyline of the musician’s life, he is unable
to provide strong insight into what drove his music or led to his death. 

It is interesting to learn about
the Smith’s early life and his early efforts in making music.  Nugent’s discussions of the lyrics of
Smith’s different albums is intelligent although generally there’s not a huge
amount to say about them apart from the general themes that run through several
songs.  For those who know about the
world of independent music, learning who Smith spent time with, who he admired
and how he interacted with others holds a certain fascination.  I was especially struck by the fact that Smith
was strongly influenced by feminist theory when he went to Hampshire College in
Massachusetts.  It’s no great shock to
learn that he took many drugs and depended a great deal on alcohol.  But as a whole Elliott Smith and the Big
Nothing reads like a series of music magazine articles, and there’s quite a
lot of repetition between the different chapters, and even within
chapters.  So probably only Smith’s most
devoted fans will be motivated to read this biography, yet they will be the
ones who will be most disappointed by it.

© 2004 Christian Perring. All rights reserved.