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cited that Nugent "fails on a very basic level to discriminate between his privilege as a fan of Smith's unforgettable music and his responsibilities as a journalist writing an objective study of Smith's life" and the book "is murky, indistinct and woefully incomplete."
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edition released a year later, Nugent used a new afterword to respond to his critics, revealing that his publisher had given him an option of two deadlines: either on the first anniversary of Smith's death, or on the release date of Smith's posthumous album
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for a writer hurriedly transcribing interviews and rushing a book into print. The biography is filled with many such errors and approximations." The
Simmons/Simins mistake was not corrected in subsequent editions of the biography.
186:
remarking that while "Nugent manages to patch together the major beats of Smith's life, he can offer little meaningful insight" and that Smith's fans "will be disappointed by this short and shallow biography."
310:. Nugent aimed for the release of the album, but when it was revealed the album was to coincide with the anniversary of Smith's death, he had no choice but to rush the book to completion.
204:, though no doubt true, ring hollow." Many of the book's detractors complained about the absence of original testimony from Smith's family and close friends such as
271:, Russell Simins. Bemis goes on to say that Nugent "failed to realize the Blues Explosion's drummer happens to be named Russell Simins, a profoundly inconvenient
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as "shallow", "sloppy", "a quickie", reliant on "second-degree friends and third-party accounts" and includes "fact checking that doesn't extend far beyond
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on
October 30, 2004, just past the one-year anniversary of Smith's death. The book contains interviews with two of the musician's producers,
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that Nugent "did his research and left few stones unturned in telling Smith's relatively short and very sad story", and the
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247:." He cited one particular passage wherein he argued Nugent incorrectly wrote that Smith spent an evening partying in
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239:'s Alec Hanley Bemis, who himself is ironically thanked in the acknowledgement section of Nugent's book. He graded
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said in their mixed review that "Nugent sometimes gets a little too insider-y—too many details about too many '90s
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stated that Nugent "opens a window of insight into our reluctant hero."
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Perhaps the most damning review of the book came from
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Elliott Smith and the Big
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715:Home to Oblivion: An Elliott Smith Tribute
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757:Torment Saint: The Life of Elliott Smith
463:(9780306813931): Benjamin Nugent: Books"
333:"Sleepwalker – – Music – Los Angeles –
331:Bemis, Alec Hanley (October 14, 2004).
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180:The book received mixed reviews, with
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279:However, Jim DeRogatis wrote in the
591:An Introduction to... Elliott Smith
398:Leopold, Todd (December 15, 2004).
17:Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
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733:Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
461:Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
370:Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
366:O'Neil, Tim (November 30, 2004).
241:Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
228:Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
141:Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
372:by Benjamin Nugent | PopMatters"
200:—and his insistences on Smith's
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269:The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
44:Alex Camlin, Karen Mason-Blair
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307:From a Basement on the Hill
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833:Books about Elliott Smith
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230:was sent to print.
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176:Critical reception
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472:. Retrieved
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148:of musician
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838:Music books
799:Lucky Three
774:Discography
675:Other songs
630:Miss Misery
218:Janet Weiss
198:indie bands
162:Rob Schnapf
822:Categories
658:Son of Sam
468:Amazon.com
441:2008-05-12
436:PopMatters
377:PopMatters
314:References
265:indie rock
255:mogul and
214:Sam Coomes
189:PopMatters
170:Pete Krebs
779:Heatmiser
651:Happiness
545:Either/Or
342:LA Weekly
335:LA Weekly
301:paperback
236:LA Weekly
210:Neil Gust
146:biography
68:Publisher
61:Biography
584:New Moon
559:Figure 8
259:founder
226:just as
132:61440629
49:Language
683:Say Yes
608:Singles
474:July 2,
411:July 2,
405:CNN.com
383:July 2,
348:July 2,
273:homonym
253:hip hop
72:Da Capo
63:, music
52:English
245:Google
31:Author
299:In a
267:band
251:with
144:is a
104:Pages
99:Print
57:Genre
476:2013
413:2013
385:2013
350:2013
223:SPIN
216:and
164:and
126:OCLC
113:ISBN
750:33⅓
194:CNN
152:by
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
