Steven O'Rourke posted on June 16, 2008 12:22
Being involved in writing about music has meant Key Notes reading a lot of books about music and musicians in particular. 
Some biographies, such as Heavier than Heaven, are really interesting because they give you a genuine insight into the person, warts and all. Then there are those, especially the ones written by big haired 80's rockers, that focus more on the protagonists ability to snort the GDP of a South American country than on the person behind the haircut.
Every now an then though, a work of genius comes along. For Key Notes, that genius is Mark Oliver Everett, or E to his friends. Having only a passing interest in Eels (Beautiful Freak and Electroshock Blues remained in their packaging until this weekend) this blogs curiosity was piqued when its friend Alison informed him that E was, in fact, the son of Hugh Everett, originator of the multiverse or 'many worlds' theory in physics. Key Notes likes physics because, more than any other science, it allows scope for imagination.
Last week, Key Notes went to Rome on holidays (nice history, horrible airport, people & traffic - CLUAS Verdict: 4 out of 10) and brought Things the Grandchildren Should Know with him. However, as can happen, Euro 2008 (oh yeah, and culture and stuff) got in the way of actually reading the book, that is, until the plane journey home. Upon reading that E's first physical contact with his dad was holding his cold, lifeless body at the age of 19, Key Notes was hooked and read the entire book during the 3 hour journey home.
I'm not going to spoil the book for those of you who haven't read it. But for anyone who thinks they're having a tough time of it at the moment, think again. How Everett has dealt with the amount of tragedy around him, particularly its timing, is almost beyond belief. An inspiring read, so much so that Key Notes removed Beautiful Freak and Electroshock Blues from their plastic wrapping this weekend and was very well rewarded. If you read one book this month, make it Things the Grandchildren Should Know.
And here's the song by the same name:
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