Rating: 
Summary: Not serious literature, but....
Review: Ok, this book is no serious piece of literature, but it is extremely interesting. If you're interested in Tim or Jeff Buckley (or even just music in general), get this book. Considering both subjects are no longer with us (damn shame), it is certainly not a first-hand account of either of their lives, but it does provide a chronology of both artist's lives and careers, as well as their influences, musically and otherwise. I cannot put this book down. It interchanges between Tim and Jeff's experiences, so it is sometimes confusing to remember which bassist played for whom, or which one of them wrote songs with so and so, but I am warming up to the format. The interesting fact that they had similar career progression is certainly noted given how the author laid out their stories. If you're not a stickler for grandiose authorship, and you're interested in learning more about the Buckleys, this book will not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: depressingly accurate
Review: This book is a must have for any Jeff Buckley or Tim Buckley fan. whether you own all of their albums or only one. this book would make a great film.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Accomplishment
Review: This book is so amazing. I read it on a whim because it was the summertime and I had a deep interest in Jeff Buckley but did not know much about him. I read the book and not only did I feel I thoroughly knew Jeff, but I understood his family, especially his father, as well.
Some people say that it was wrong to posthumously lump Tim and Jeff Buckley together after Jeff fought for years to separate himself from his famous father. I believe that note should be taken of this, but in order to understand Jeff's need to be a seperate being and in order to prove how different the two were, one had to write about the both of them in order to show their contrasts and in some cases their similarities.
The book is quite an accomplishment. At times it is graphic and sentimental and others it is technical and factual. Overall, it is a wonderful piece of work, especially since Jeff only died in 1997.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Taken with a Grain of Salt
Review: This book provided many insights into Buckley's brief career. Lots of interesting stories and tidbits from people who were there first hand. Browne paints a sometimes broken picture of Buckley's history. Buckley fanatics will be able to spot the book's contradictions. Overall, it's a good read but it is in NO WAY the Buckley bible. Take it with a gran of salt, people.
Rating:
Summary: An (Unenlightened) Tale of Two Extraordinary Voices
Review: What David Browne lacks in insight he somewhat makes up for with a story distinguished by his prodigious efforts at researching his subjects in "Dream Brother". Browne's bias towards Jeff Buckley and against Tim Buckley is evident even on the cover, which features Jeff front and center with Tim like a ghost in the background. Browne tells us early in the book that originally he wanted to write about Jeff and then found himself obliged to add Tim to get the "full story". With this slant, readers who identify themselves primarily as Jeff fans will feel more satisfied with what Browne delivers than those more interested in Tim. On the other hand, isn't it a shame to create an artificial and unnecessary division? Poetic justice prevails, and here they are, together - but awkwardly so, as Browne's unfortunate prejudice undermines his story rather charmlessly. Jeff and Tim Buckley were both extraordinary musicians. For their incredible talent, passion and courage they are the subject of a biography - not for their lifestyles, personal choices, or relationship to each other, but for their passionate love affairs with song. Tantalizing as it may seem, getting overly involved in the psychological particulars of their lives and life choices is a mistake. To do so is to lose sight of what made them great: their spectacular voices, brazen experimentation, and exquisite passion in song. While Browne offers a myriad of their personal niceties, he fails to adequately address the fundamentally more interesting implications of the musical choices each made - especially in Tim's case. The elder Buckley produced nine studio albums in as many years, each of which is often vocally stunning - ripe with a voice that stuns and astounds you before you even realize it's stopped you in your tracks. What came out of Tim's explorations literally redefined what voice could be in American music. Browne hardly gives a nod to this. It's blindness and it's a shame: a book that is ostensibly about two vocal musicians gives music the cold shoulder for the sake of poking more deeply into minutiae of their personal lives - sometimes with a judgmental righteousness that rings hollow and foolish. In "Dream Letter", a song Tim wrote when Jeff was still just a few years old, the tormented father sang to his forsaken wife about his longing to be with the family he abandoned: "all I need to know tonight are you and my child, oh what I'd give to hold him..." Throughout his career, Tim alluded in songs to his anguish at his lost family. In "Dream Brother", Jeff's song which Browne borrows for his title, Jeff pleads with a friend tempted to leave his pregnant girlfriend not to abandon her: "don't be like the one who made me so old, don't be like the one who left behind his name, 'cause they're waiting for you like I waited for mine, and nobody ever came." By his title, Jeff also evokes a response to his father's longing: you wanted me, but you left me with nothing.... Both men were preoccupied with the other's existence, by turns awed and deeply moved, by turns furious and resentful. Their uncannily similar expressions of their calling in life - to explore singing at all costs - unite them as equals and equally glorious. Betrayal is the deadliest sin - but in a fundamental sense, this father did not betray this son. Tim was not a father to Jeff, but he left him with far from nothing: an exquisite voice, a famous name, and enough money to pay for music school. Tim Buckley was undyingly faithful to music, to his creative passion, and to his need to break free of the pressures to make a "hit" by redeeming his own vision and express his unique voice. Tim Buckley's courage in singing his heart out shattered the preconceived notions about what song "should" be and encouraged other singers, including his very gifted son, to similarly explore their vocal potential. This kind of faith, and the courage to redeem it, makes grace possible. Browne's book gives us fine points but misses the big picture. While its shortcomings are frustrating, the book is worthwhile for its portrayal of the contexts in which the Buckleys created their music - and ultimately, Browne's ignorance doesn't matter. If we are truly inspired by such examples as we hear in the Buckleys' music, we'll find the courage to truly hear their songs - and in turn the courage to chase our own visions, and to try to make them beautiful and real.
Rating: 
Summary: When will I get over Jeff's death?
Review: You'd think that after several years, I'd have finally gotten over Jeff Buckley's death. But no. Here I am (still) listening to his music and mourning his passing. It is just so damn unfair that someone who's talent was beyond words to describe should be taken from the world at such a young age. And now I'm immersed in this book Dream Brother about the lives of Jeff and his father Tim. Having an absentee biological father myself, this story hits very close to home. If I thought I loved Jeff's music before, it means even more to me now. His words always had such depth and soul to them for me, but now having had the briefest glimpse into his life, they touch me more than I could have thought possible. Dream Brother is such a haunting and moving story. I would highly recommend this book to any Jeff or Tim Buckley fans, though one is left with the feeling that there is much more to this story than is told in this book. But I believe that is due to the enigmatic nature of the subjects. I don't think anyone will ever really know everything there is to tell about Jeff or Tim. But all I'll ever really need is right there in the music.
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