I Am Brian Wilson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir'' is the second autobiographical memoir of American musician
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...
, written by journalist
Ben Greenman Ben Greenman (born September 28, 1969) is an American novelist, magazine journalist, and publishing executive who has written more than twenty fiction and non-fiction books, including collaborations with pop-music artists like Questlove, George ...
through several months of interviews with Wilson. It was intended to supplant '' Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story'', Wilson's disowned autobiography from 1991. ''I Am Brian Wilson'' was published by
Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional offi ...
on October 11, 2016, one month after the release of
Mike Love Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who is one of the vocalists of the Beach Boys, of which he was an original member alongside his cousins Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson and their frien ...
's autobiography: '' Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy''.


Background

The memoir was announced in April 2013, reported to be written with journalist Jason Fine, published by
Coronet Books Coronet Books was established in 1966 as the paperback imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. The imprint was closed in 2004 but then relaunched in 2010, publishing fiction and non-fiction in hardback and paperback, including works by Chris Ryan, Lorn ...
, and given a 2015 release date. While Wilson's website stated that he "will describe for the first time the epic highs and lows of his life", ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' noted that '' Wouldn't It Be Nice: My Own Story'' had covered many of the same topics mentioned by the site. However, the 1991 book is considered "controversial" in Wilson lore, and predates his solo resurgence of the 2000s. In June 2015, Wilson reported: "One guy crapped out on me, so I’m doing it with somebody else. It has to be done." In February 2016, it was reported that the book was "years in the making and asalready seen at least one co-author hired and fired". Wilson said that the book was about "three-quarters" finished and that it was being written with help from friend Ray Lawlor. He likened the writing process to therapy, saying: "There are a lot of memories that go along with my book. I have to take the good memories with the bad memories." The book was ultimately completed with New York-based writer
Ben Greenman Ben Greenman (born September 28, 1969) is an American novelist, magazine journalist, and publishing executive who has written more than twenty fiction and non-fiction books, including collaborations with pop-music artists like Questlove, George ...
. According to Wilson, the process involved many telephone interviews over the course of eight months, each lasting about 40 minutes. Greenman then put together the book. When asked how he dealt with his inability to recollect some events, Wilson responded: "Well, the book needed to be factual. We did the movie Love & Mercy''">Love_&_Mercy_(film).html" ;"title="015's ''Love & Mercy (film)">Love & Mercy''first, which was factual—but it had parts of it that weren't actually as factual—but doing it helped my memory. So that helped with writing the book, which is almost all factual. I hope people can relate to it because none of it's fiction, as wild as some of it seems. It's fact!"


Legitimacy

Journalist David Hepworth also wrote that "one senses" it was "guided by Wilson's wife and manager, Melinda Ledbetter, Melinda". Earlier in 2014, the project was met with skepticism by former collaborator
Van Dyke Parks Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, record producer, singer, and former Warner Bros. Records executive whose work encompasses orchestral pop, elaborate recording experiments, Ame ...
, who was approached for questioning by Fine's assistant via Twitter, responding, "Doesn't sound 'auto' to me!" When asked about negative comments Wilson made in the book, Love responded: "He's not in charge of his life, like I am mine. His every move is orchestrated and a lot of things he's purported to say, there's not tape of it. But, I don't like to put undue pressure on him, either, because I know he has a lot of issues. Out of compassion, I don't respond to everything that is purportedly said by him." As of November 2016, Love has not read Wilson's book.


Critical response

''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' Brad Auerbach calls the book "a wonderful insight into a troubled genius ... his voice definitely comes through. ... Like many autobiographies, Wilson follows a generally linear approach, but he often skips around a straight chronological approach. This works well, as his mind connects sounds and visions across decades." The ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''s David Kirby wrote that "Wilson’s poker-faced acceptance sa reminder to take life as it comes. Part of the charm of his account is the way he drops little moments into the story with no preamble and then moves on with no follow-through." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
Alan Light Alan Light (born August 4, 1966) is an American journalist who has been a rock critic for ''Rolling Stone'' and the editor-in-chief for '' Vibe,'' '' Spin,'' and ''Tracks''. Early life Light grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Cincin ...
reviewed: "At its best, ''I Am Brian Wilson'' has an odd, unpredictable rhythm, ... it does offer some fascinating glimpses under the hood." Comparing it to Love's book, ''
Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
''s Helen Brown characterizes ''I Am Brian Wilson'' as having "more sadness ... and more moments of magic." She surmised that it "must have been torture" for Greenman to "drag anything out of Wilson ... hoadmits to memory problems and to making things up to 'test' people. ... Whatever Greenman’s pain, the torture was probably greater for Wilson, who prefers to evade his traumatic past when questioned and speaks mostly in banalities – when he speaks at all." Hepworth criticized the authors of both books for their lack of self-awareness, and Wilson's book specifically for having a tendency to "perfect yrecall ... every compliment he has ever been paid by a well-known musician."


See also

* "
Brian Wilson is a genius "Brian Wilson is a genius" is a line that became part of a media campaign spearheaded in 1966 by the Beatles' former press officer Derek Taylor, who was then employed as the Beach Boys' publicist. Although there are earlier documented express ...
"


References

{{Brian Wilson American biographies Brian Wilson Music autobiographies American memoirs Books about rock musicians Da Capo Press books 2016 non-fiction books Collaborative non-fiction books Authorship debates Books about the Beach Boys