Cobain's diary excerpts chaotic

COMMENTARY

Cobain's diary excerpts chaotic, much like he was

'Journals' offers little insight into Nirvana's complex frontman

By GEMMA TARLACH gtarlach@journalsentinel.com, Journal Sentinel

Thursday, November 7, 2002

"Don't read my diary when I'm gone . . . When you wake up this morning, please read my diary."

The opening sentences of "Journals," the new and much-ballyhooed coffee-table collection of excerpts from the diaries of Kurt Cobain, set the tone for a messy read of undated rants, pleas and occasional jokes from the pen of the Nirvana frontman, who committed suicide in 1994 at the age of 27.

It's a book full of fury but, in the end, probably signifies nothing.

The complex creative soul of the grunge era's standard-bearer was a tangle of contradictions, plotting for fame even as he shunned it, and as likely to spew self-righteous vitriol as he was to mock his own pretentiousness. "Journals" (Riverhead Books, $29.95) offers little insight into Cobain beyond the angst and anger already laid bare in his music.

Public interest in the book is as mixed as the moods of its author.

A few Milwaukee-area book stores reported strong sales for the book, which went on sale Monday, while others saw little reader interest.

"We haven't sold one yet," said Dan Roubik, a manager at the east side location of Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, 2559 N. Downer Ave.

Although there had been no advance orders from customers at the store, Roubik expected more interest in the book - a handsome hardcover full of glossy reproductions of Cobain's actual journal pages - once it was sitting out on shelves.

"The book visually is very nice," said Roubik. "Having people see it is going to help."

If you believe Cobain was a tortured genius, you'll find supporting material, from lyrics that have been scratched out and reworked to doodled blueprints for his idea of the perfect guitar, alongside such declarations as, "I've probably never met a person whom I feel was comfortable with my intellectual, spiritual and humorist will."

"Thanks for the tragedy. I need it for my art," Cobain quips with a show of wry humor.

But if you always felt Nirvana's chaotic punk energy was just a little too calculated, and that Cobain - addicted to heroin and fighting mental and physical illness - would be willing to exploit himself to achieve fame, well, there's ample damning evidence of that in "Journals" as well.

Shrewd marketing outlines, whining about a label paying too much attention to another band on its roster at Nirvana's expense, and awkward stabs at writing a witty press kit bio reveal that Cobain had as much planning as pathos in his head.

Friends and fans who protested the purchase by Riverhead Books - for a reported $4 million - of the 20-plus spiral-bound notebooks Cobain left behind have called the sale disrespectful.

In one journal entry, Cobain himself bemoans "the rape of my personal thoughts" in a screed directed at strangers who've torn pages from his journals in hotels and airports over the years.

At the same time, the grammar- and spelling-challenged entries often read as if written for an audience, including a previously unpublished open letter to fans written at the height of Nirvana's popularity.

Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, widely accused by Nirvana loyalists of contributing to Cobain's breakdown and then profiting from it, sold the journals and oversaw which excerpts were included in the book through her manager, Jim Barber, who served as co-editor.

Riverhead publicists tout the book as "an uncensored record" of Cobain's inner workings, but Christopher R. Cross, who had access to all of the journals while researching his detailed "Heavier Than Heaven" biography of the band, recently told the Los Angeles Times that significant portions of the diaries pertaining to Love and her relationship with Cobain are not included in "Journals."

In place of revelations about Cobain and those closest to him, the book includes a scribbled recipe for "moms (sic) seashell shrimp salad" and notes prepping for a driver's exam.

Selling at a nickel shy of $30, "Journals" seems to be exactly the kind of gratuitous and exploitive product that artiste Cobain would have abhorred - and attention-hungry, industry-savvy Cobain would have approved.

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