On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno
A Book by David Sheppard
(Orion)
First Appeared in The Music Box, June 2010, Volume 17, #6
Written by Douglas Heselgrave
Thu June 24, 2010, 07:30 AM CDT
Not only is Brian Eno a musician, but he also is an accomplished writer, visual and video artist, ambient theorist, perfume maker, and producer. Consequently, it is a monumental undertaking to try to encapsulate his 40-year career in a single-volume biography, even one that stretches to more than 500 pages in length as On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno does. Fortunately, for the most part, author David Sheppard — whose previous works include tomes on Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen — does a wonderful job of encyclopedically outlining and discussing Eno’s myriad of projects in great detail.
Not surprisingly, though, On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno functions better as a reference book than it does as a biography. Because Sheppard opted to focus upon Eno’s creative output, the tome offers limited insight into Eno’s personal life. While Sheppard’s writing style is often rather flat and unremarkable, this lengthy narrative nonetheless serves as an invaluable resource because it provides context to Eno’s collaborations with David Bowie, Talking Heads, and U2.
On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno is exhaustively
researched. Consequently, Sheppard’s exploration of Eno’s career will remain the
definitive source of information about this compelling and elusive artist, at
least until Eno decides to put his own story into words. 
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Of Further Interest...
David Byrne Pays Homage to Brian Eno Via Concert Tour (2009)
Chris Salewicz - Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer (Book)
On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno is
available from Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2010 The Music Box