Things the Grandchildren Should Know

Things the Grandchildren Should Know

Infobox Book
name = Things the Grandchildren Should Know
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Mark Oliver Everett
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country =
language = English
series =
genre = autobiography
publisher = Little, Brown
release_date = 10 January 2008
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 256 pp (first edition)
isbn = 978-0316027878
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Things the Grandchildren Should Know" is an autobiographic book by Mark Oliver Everett who is the front man of the independent rock band Eels. The book shares its title with the closing track from the Eels' 2005 album "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". In that song Everett takes on the persona on an elderly grandfather sharing the wisdom he has learned about life shortly before his death. The parallels between the song and the book are loose: the real Everett is much younger than his song persona, the book is not in any way didactic, and he also remarks in the final chapter on the irony (his word) of the book's title given that he has no children, let alone grandchildren. What the two do share is a sense of reflection on the past, and a near-rapturous conclusion that, despite the hardships both the real Everett and the song-Everett have faced, the good in life more than compensates for the bad.

Marketing

Unusually for a modern autobiography, it includes no photos of the author, either inside the book or on the cover (first editon); likewise, the cover refers to Everett by his full name, rather than by the better-known moniker E, and never refers to his status as the frontman of the Eels. The absence of any such usual genre indicators appears to be a deliberate attempt on the part of publisher Little, Brown to market the book specifically to Eels fans, rather than to a more casual audience.

Reception

"Things the Grandchildren Should Know" received generally positive reviews from critics. [cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/feb/09/featuresreviews.guardianreview9|title=Lives less ordinary|first=Claire|last=Armitstead|publisher="The Guardian"|date=2008-02-09] [cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/things-the-grandchildren-should-know-by-mark-oliver-everett-773529.html|title=Things the Grandchildren Should Know, By Mark Oliver Everett
first=Charles Shaar|last=Murray|publisher="The Independent"|date=2008-01-25] [cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article3159966.ece|title=Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett|first=Antonia|last=Quirke|publisher="The Times"|date=2008-01-13] It was also named No.5 of the Top Ten Computer Games, TV, Books, or Films in Rolling Stone magazine.Fact|date=August 2008

Audiobook

[http://www.rockingeels.com RockingEels.com] claims that there is going to be an audiobook edition of this autobiography, released by "Blackstone Audio" on November 7th 2008. The reader of this edition is said to be Eels member "The Chet" (Chet Lyster).

References


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