Friday, September 2, 2016

The Jan & Dean Record — Ugly Things


The Jan & Dean Record — "Ugly Things" Review Excerpt

The Jan & Dean Record by Mark A.  Moore

"An extraordinary book in which the sheer volume of minutiae combines to engulf the reader and immerse them completely in the world of Jan Berry. . . . The level of detail in the chronology is nothing short of astonishing. . . . The Jan & Dean Record can also be read as a conventional and thoroughly absorbing Berry biography. The chronology is fleshed out with large chunks of narrative text detailing the events of Berry’s life—and what a life it was, as compelling and, ultimately, tragic as anything you could find in fiction. Berry had it all. . . . He lived the first 25 years of his life in top gear, without any regard for rules or consequences. . . . He was a fine songwriter, and an exceptionally gifted arranger and producer. . . The details of [Jan’s] traumatic [car] accident are covered in scrupulous detail here for the first time. . . . The last three decades of his life, his efforts to make a living in the music industry, with and without Dean, make for sometimes depressing reading. . . . This book is an astounding monument to Berry’s many accomplishments, but also a heart-breaking cautionary tale about a life lived too fast. Beyond definitive, it raises the bar for the rock chronology format to a level that may never be surpassed."

Mike Stax, Ugly Things Magazine #42 — Wild Sounds from Past Dimensions

Ugly Things