Pearl Jam Book:

Editorial Review:
More than any other band, Pearl Jam embodies the alternative style that dominates rock today. From their early days as fame-ducking grunge pioneers, through their headline-making battle with Ticketmaster, to their current status as self-assured survivors, Five Against One brings to life Pearl Jam's tumultuous ascent to superstardom in rich detail. A compelling portrait of the band's elusive leader Eddie Vedder and family photos never seen before by the public make this a must-have for every Pearl Jam fan.

Five Against One: The Pearl Jam Story Reviews:
Balanced read that allows readers to draw their own conclusions
2009-11-07 - The best elements of this book is the musical history of the band and its music. The author does an excellent job of placing the formation of the band in the context of the tension between "punk" and "rock". The tension between punk and rock music and culture is an important tool to explore the dynamics within the band (Eddie vs Dave A.), within the individuals (Eddie's self-image) and with the musical subculture (Eddie vs Cobain and Pearl Jam vs Mudhoney).

A significant portion of the text is committed to the re-creation of Eddie's family life. The text is fair and does not draw conclusions as to who was "right" or "wrong" in the various family conflicts described. Given the tremendous effort in recounting this history I was disappointed that the author could not better relate these details to psychology of the band or to Eddie's modern day image.

Written with a chip on her shoulder
2009-05-22 - This is not a good book by any measure. Kim Neely was at one point close with Eddie Vedder, they obviously had a falling out and this book is her attempt at revenge. Too bad its so boring and obvious. Get another pearl jam book.

Poorly Written, Biased Book
2008-10-18 - This book is tabloid journalism at best. It reads like the author conducted long interviews with only two sources--PJ's bitter second drummer and Eddie Vedder's estranged step-father. Both clearly had an ax to grind. The rest of the book seems like a distillation of many press clippings.

What's more, I don't even enjoy Pearl Jam's music as much as I did during the early 1990s, so I'm not a overzealous fan trying to protect the band's legacy. I simply wanted to read a well-balanced, well-written account of Pearl Jam's history. Skip this book. Reading it was a waste of time.

interesting and full-covered biography
2007-03-09 - this is a quite full and interestnig biography concerning the first years of the PJ history also relating to the beginning of this (and other) seattle bands, which is of particular value to grunge fans i think, because this is now part of the rock n roll history!
the book gave me a human description of the band's mates and i was interested to read about the abruzzese period and the way it ended.
so i think the PJ story written in this book is a good description of the direction the band took since 1996 til today. i was also interested about the vedder's personal life chapters, but eventually i am not sure whether it is a good idea revealing really personal facts, but anyway it helps understanding vedder personnality , phylosophy and music.
Enjoy it, it is easy to read, and excuse my english faults.

A horrible book from a mediocre writer
2007-02-14 - Save your money and do a Google and Wikipedia search for Vedder, and you'll end up with much better quality information than this book. It's obviously a sensationalistic attempt at cashing in on Pearl Jam.
The writer manages to almost completely ignore the band's music (and, for that matter, the band, since this is a book about all the dirt she could dig up on Vedder). She managed to interview only people carrying grudges for the band or the singer (I wonder why...): think Dave Abrusezze, the drummer that got fired, and Vedder's stepfather, who obviously have their own take on things. When the book is not whining from the perspective of these people, it paints stick figures of everyone in the band except Vedder.
The book can only be called accurate if you consider one-sidedness accurate.
Anyone with a working brain and more than 30 minutes exposure to Pearl Jam's music will be able to figure this book out for what it is: yet another hanger-on's attempt to make money off somebody else's work.
If you must read this book, borrow it from a friend, or at least buy it used.