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Summary: Let there be Zappa.
Review: I'm a sixteen year old zappa fan, which is probably a rarity. I wasn't around in his hayday, but this book gave me some insight on the greatest satirist and musician (in my honest opinion) ever. Before this all I knew about him was what I'd read off some old records in the basement. 'Hey, whats this funny lookin Freak Out! record?' I also saw a strange man on TV playing a bicycle once. Also on Amazon.com is '200 Motels', frank zappas movie, which I just bought.
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Summary: THE Zappa Bible
Review: If you like Zappa you have to get this book. What a better way to learn about Zappa than in his own words. THE MOTHER OF ALL ZAPPA BOOKS.
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Summary: A review of the REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK: Repeated stories.
Review: This book is FUNNY, INTERESTING, AND INTELLIGENT. However, the online material on the internet web sites such as interviews, articles written by and about Frank Zappa available at SAINT ALFONZO PANCAKE PAGE, and the WAY COOL ZONE (found by Yahoo search engines) contain MUCH BETTER AND MORE information than this book. The book is NOT necessary for any fan who has read already the INTERNET ONLINE STUFF which is about 500 8.5x11 pages if printed out on paper. In a nutshell, save your money, don't buy this book, but instead read the fantastic and sensational ASCII texts online ... on the Internet. Just use a search engine and you';ll be WAY better off than the book.
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Summary: humor and opinion
Review: Zappa has built quite a reputation for being weird and opinionated, and this book can only add to it. While this is far from a thorough biography of his life, his opinions on variegated issues are eloquated and comprehensive. Throughout the book the level of humor is weighty enough to roll you laughingly onto the floor at least every other page. The personal stories Zappa sees fit to share are only the most amusing (or perhaps just amusingly worded) of his life -- leaving the text free from unnecessary and tiresome factoids. Pay special attention to the Unconventional Technique of capitalizing certain words to lend emphasis and imply Conspiracy (it just adds to the merriment). Of particular interest is the section on Zappa's crusade against music censorship. I could continue to sing the praises of this book as a an enlivening read indefinately........
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Summary: The Alternative Guide to Life
Review: At the risk of causing offence by comparing this tome to the other "Good Book", I would like to make it clear how good this book is at offering advice on life. Everything from solving societies ills in a practical manner to raising kids in a loving and open environment. One of the books other strengths is its humour; even the non-Zappa nuts who have borrowed this book from me have enjoyed the relaxed and enjoyable writing style. I have read this book so many times now that it is falling apart, and needs to be replaced. It is always the first in the suitcase, come holiday time! One of the most amusing topics in the book is Frank's less than successful inventions. One of which was the idea of somehow digitising music and sending it down the telephone line. So, not only did he invent the gatefold sleeve and the concept album, he also conceived MP3.com over 10 years before it happened! A truly remarkable man whos presence is greatly missed. The other one book that everone should own.
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Summary: A Worthy Addition to Your Literary Family
Review: The Real Frank Zappa book is a modern day masterpiece. The Zappa experience, or the point by point aspects of "who might this man be who makes music and sings of how the clouds are really cheap, the way he's seen em' through the ports, of which there is a half a dozen on the base of his resorts. You wouldn't think he'd have too many, since he never cared for sports. But he's never really lonely in his Excentrifugal Forz," is carefully and specifically discussed here by the adept and forward-thinking composer himself, with just a bit of assistance from vigilant co-author Peter Occhiogrosso. I strongly suggest that you purchase this book for your personal collection. Consider: the habit of reading is probably the greatest mechanism for thought, change, education and even human evolution in the history of mankind; and we specifically take pleasure from reading books that belong to us. Much more than if the books are someone else's. Books unavoidably become a part of your extended family. In any event, this I do swear: Buy this book, and it will provide you with years of literary enjoyment. Its combination of fantastic road stories, political commentary and philosophically sharp wit will make it a favorite son within your personal literary family. Just as with Frank Zappa's musical catalog, this book should be treated as genuine kith and kin, and afforded an affectionate intimacy that eradicates any unbending propriety. As a borrowed book is like some sort of red-headed step-child who must be beaten and/or treated with stiff correctness, (or at least with a certain unsympathetic formality), this book should belong to you as true family, and given a loving home with the care and respect it deserves. In fact, the so-called "Book-family" has some distinct advantages over living friends and family. You can enjoy the company of the most admirable and truly intelligent individuals in the history of the world whenever you care to. Just as the distinguished dead are beyond our bodily reach, likewise the distinguished living are usually just as unreachable. Perchance they are asleep, uninterested, watching TV, or, in the case of my cousin Bernie, just stupid. (Just try reaching your husband while he is watching Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, or your wife during the Lifetime Movie of the Week, and you have that picture.) The Real Frank Zappa Book is for use, not for show. Besides, you should own no book that you are afraid to place on the dining room table, wide open and face down, or to mark up with your favorite crayon. (You should always mark your favorite passages in books, so that in later years it will be like visiting a deep forest where you once blazed your own trail. You then have the gratification of going over your old stomping grounds, and recalling both the overall cerebral landscape and your own preceding self. Additionally, your future generations will get a general idea of your likes, dislikes, and overall interests in this mysterious forest of your contemplations.) If that's not a damn good analogy I don't know what is. Remember, (and this is a most precious gift), in your personal library you can at any moment have a discourse with, or pick the brains of, individuals the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Harris, William Shakespeare, Robert E. Howard, Michael Crichton, Plato, Pluto, Mark Twain (who was also know as MC Six Feet), Allan W. Eckert, Charles Dickens, or, more importantly to our current purpose, Mr. Frank Zappa. And there is no doubt that in books you experience Frank, and indeed all these learned men, at their very finest. They have "laid themselves out" for you, as it were, and they have done their categorical best to entertain you, guide you, inform you, uplift you and make a favorable impression upon your life. You are as indispensable to them as peanut butter is to jelly; as Bruce Willis is to his youthful ward Dick Grayson, as ants are to an anteater, or as ear lobes are to earrings, (or vice-versa)... only instead of seeing these great men protectively masked as we see our present acquaintances, you look into their inner-most thoughts and their most intimate soul. Read more Zappa.
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Summary: A peek into the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
Review: By way of dissing Zappa's famous appearance before Congress to argue against warning labels on records, my favorite conservative columnist Don Feder derisively refers to Frank Zappa as a "rock creature" and makes fun of him for naming his daughter Moon Unit. (You'll find these remarks in _A Jewish Conservative Looks at Pagan America_. Feder is usually better than this.) But the fact is that Zappa was a genuine homegrown American original, a musical genius, and a thoroughly subversive Enemy Of The State. And whatever one thinksof their names, the rest of us should have children like Zappa's. (They're all grown up now, of course, but Moon was a highly poised young lady even at the age of thirteen. I don't remember seeing any of Feder's kids on talk shows when _they_ were teenagers.) Love or hate his music; agree or disagree that his sometimes-acerbic social commentary often went over the line into sheer pornography. If you want to meet the man himself, this book is the only one you need to read. It's all in his own words, as told to Peter Occhiogrosso. The style will be recognizable to anyone who has ever read the liner notes on a Zappa album. And the content is part autobiography, part correction of underground-rock-grapevine misconceptions, part almost-libertarian political activism, part musing on the nature of musical composition. A handful of highlights, chosen from among many: He proposes that music could be digitally downloaded, an idea whose time apparently hadn't come when Zappa first thought of it. The chapter on his "pornography trial" in the UK is hilarious, not least because it includes selections from the actual transcripts. And if you want to know _why_ his kids turned out so well-spoken and mature at such early ages, check out his advice on childrearing. By the way, Zappa did not do drugs, no matter how many well-meaning imbeciles tell you otherwise. On the contrary, he was one of a handful of anti-drug crusaders in the music industry, and one of an even smaller handful who wasn't a recovering addict himself. Reality is better than drugs anyway, and Zappa knew it. His untimely death from prostate cancer left a gaping hole; he was irreplaceable. But thank goodness for this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: According to many you'll either hate Frank Zappa's music or love it. Well, as a fan for more than thirty years and being very familiar with the vast spectrum that is his output I love a great deal but not all of his music and although I can't say that I hate any of it, the word love is certainly not my universal response. Now what about the man himself, it's difficult to be clear having never met him personally so I've tried to gain some insight from reading about him. And let's not forget this probably applies to the majority of biographies about anyone. On the other hand autobiographers apparently know their subject quite well. Hmm!?
On the whole I'm glad I have my own copy of The Real Frank Zappa Book. My main problem with the book is that it is not all about him. Now I know you can gain a great deal of insight about a person if you listen attentively while they rant about their favourite dislikes - in particular political dislikes - but it's not the most enjoyable way to get to know someone.
It's very easy to divide the book into two sections. As a book by Frank Zappa about Frank Zappa I really enjoyed the first 14 chapters where I laughed and cried about the more immediate aspects of his life. Chapter 15 onwards is essentially a political treatise and although I am very interested in reading his opinion, I neither laughed nor cried I just became depressed about what no doubt depressed him and led him to spend a great deal of his waking time over night when he felt he couldn't hear the "scurrying" outside. Now, you might say, those rants are just as illuminating about the man as more personal anecdotes but I don't think it required that much to get the point across in the context of a book that is ostensibly about him.
It would be nice to have a book of his memoirs and a book of his political persona as separate entities. Before anyone accuses me of spoiling the discovery of these things for themselves I'm writing this review in response to the experience of buying a fairly weighty book by the man himself, then very much enjoying the overall vein of the first 14 chapters and finally not ever getting that feeling back for the remainder of the book. I wish I had known that in advance - naive perhaps. If they were separate I would read them both with different expectations and appreciate them for distinct reasons. The first half spans his moods the second half is pretty much monomoodic.
In the first half he seems fairly honest about himself. He admits to foibles that many a person with the same foibles wouldn't admit to even quietly in passing let alone in print. He gives interesting background that clarifies his aims in composing in general and the music business in particular. I could read this part many times and wish there was much more writing by him in this vain - I got the feeling that he was leaving quite a bit out and I don't mean as an intentional omission, he probably just didn't have the time. Let's put it to a vote. Which Zappa Album would you sacrifice in order to have more personal memoirs? Personally - none of them - even the ones I'm not 100% sure about, he was after all primarily a composer and not a writer. Hopefully good biographers will fill in the gaps at a future date. The second half requires a stronger disposition and I need to be in a pretty unshakeable mood to confront the ugly reality he saw in the world around him. Yes he could be quite witty about it but it's still depressing and his own frustration with it all is very apparent.
Over all I would say you should buy this book if you have more than a passing interest in Frank Zappa, but there are according to rumours, good biographies out there. I can't recommend any just yet but when I have continued my research further I shall post reviews in the appropriate places.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but slow in places
Review: I just finished reading this book. I really wanted to give it five stars, but the book got slow in some places. It's a must-have for any Zappa fan. And a good read for anyone with an interest in music or composing (that's right, I said composing! -- Zappa wrote and directed several symphonic pieces).
Here's a few of the things you'll get if you read this book:
* Insight into the mind of a legend.
* A look at what Zappa did musically and on stage
* Insight to what it was like to live in the Zappa household
* Stories from his "early days" before he was famous
And alot more.
If you like Zappa, read the book.
If you like popular music, read the book.
If you are a composer, read the book.
If you are Pat Robertson, well, maybe you shouldn't read the book.
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Summary: The genious of Zappa
Review: I have read this book three times and have enjoyed it each time. Frank is missed not just because of his incredible musical talent, but his biting satire type sense of humor.
The man was a genious though. I have no doubt about that. He also saw things 20 years ago that we didn't. Doesn't anyone who's read this book realize that Frank predicted downloading music 20 years before Napster or the Internet? He thought it would be done through cable TV. It was the same principle!
If anyone really wants to know and try to understand the man behind the music. This is the best Zappa book of all.
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