“A Man Called Destruction” flatly documents the life of Big Star’s Alex Chilton

book cover - a man called destructionIt seems that Alex Chilton and Big Star are in the midst of a revival. It started with 2009’s Keep an Eye on the Sky, a box set that compiled music from all eras of Big Star’s existence and continued with last year’s Nothing Can Hurt Me documentary. Now we finally have the literary companion in Holly George-Warren‘s Chilton biography, A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man, out March 20 from Viking.

It’s a thoroughly comprehensive book. My big complaint with Nothing Can Hurt Me is that it seemed awfully rushed, fitting far too much into a short running time. However, as thorough as the book is — going all the way back to the Chilton family’s European roots — A Man Called Destruction completely lacks any sort of emotional core.
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