Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography by Heylin Clinton

From the Publisher

This groundbreaking biography of a brilliant but disturbed performer explores the paradox of the man and the artist. Based on more than 100 interviews, this intelligent profile explores Morrison’s roots; the hard times he went through in London, New York, and Boston; the making of his seminal albums such as Moondance and Astral Weeks; and the disastrous business arrangements that left Morrison hungry and penniless while his songs were topping the charts. Detailed are the breakdown of Morrison’s marriage, the creative drought that followed, and his triumphant reemergence. In addition, this biography attempts to explain the forbidding aspects of Morrison's persona, such as paranoia, hard drinking, misanthropy, as well as why, in the words of his onetime singing partner Linda Gail Lewis, Morrison’s music “brings happiness to other people, not him.” Also included is a Van Morrision sessionography that spans 1964 to 2001.

Hartford Advocate

The most thoroughly researched and documented portrait of Morrison we are ever likely to have.

Entertainment Weekly

Terrific . . .should prove indispensable for Morrisonites and a must for anyone who enjoys tales of tortured stars behaving badly.

Rolling Stone

Meticulously researched.

Blender

Heylin analyzes his every lyric . . . nobody can doubt his attention to the music."

Village Voice

Entreatingly chatty . . . Deepens the enigma and gives . . . the tortured-genius myth a kick in the Astral Weeks."

Boston Globe

Plenty of good stuff, especially a wonderful chapter on Van's brief Boston interlude.

Boston Herald

Provides page after page of examples of Morrison's bad behavior.

Book News

Recounts the life of the notoriously reclusive singer.

The Onion

Heylin reveals himself as a fastidious, evenhanded researcher.

Dirty Linen

If you're a huge Morrison fan, you might be compelled to read the whole thing.

Relix

The most thorough account of this complex artist in years.

Discoveries

An engrossing read.

Shepherd Express

A portrait of an artist who shuns intimacy . . . frozen in the emotional adolescence.

Irish American Magazine

An engaging book.

Publishers Weekly

Heylin's weighty new biography of enigmatic music man Van Morrison is an ambitious and prodigiously researched work. It is most gripping in the early chapters describing Morrison's rise from his working-class roots in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, to the top of the U.K. music charts with the hard-rocking R&B outfit Them, best known for their three-chord romp "Gloria." Heylin (Behind the Shades) paints a captivating portrait of the ambitious and driven young blues and soul enthusiast who would go on to play a historical role in the early 1960s British Invasion, alongside the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and The Who. But before Them could enjoy the success of its British musical peers, the rough-throated singer moved on, both musically and personally. Here the book gets bogged down, as Heylin chronicles Morrison's misbegotten business deals that leave him near destitute and endlessly bitter. Morrison flies through a succession of managers as fast as he shifts musical styles on such landmark albums as Astral Weeks and Moondance. To the reader, Morrison's reputation as a curmudgeon (seemingly well-earned from the anecdotal evidence presented here) doesn't compare to the transcendent experience of listening to his music. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"I sincerely hope that this volume does not come across as the petulant riposte of a spurned writer," states Heylin, one of pop music's premier biographers (Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited), in the preface to his new work on Morrison, pop music's premier curmudgeon. Alas, Heylin's dislike for his subject has indeed tainted the results. Granted, his subject is difficult to like. Morrison, who earned lofty critical plaudits with his seminal Astral Weeks and Moondance albums, is renowned for his surliness, especially toward journalists. Heylin illustrates this in numbing detail, with scores of quotes from former Morrison associates (at least those who were not intimidated by Morrison's camp to back out of participating), verifying that the man, indeed, has a nasty temperament. Heylin is not nearly so generous in his praise, exerting far less energy educating the reader on Morrison's artistic importance and repeatedly reminding us that Morrison is not nearly as famous in reality as he believes himself to be. This begs the question: Why did Heylin spend so much effort, and over 500 pages, on such a disagreeable man who has apparently only shown flashes of (often muted) brilliance in a career of nearly 40 years? Fans will be angered, and those with a casual interest may be turned off, but it is unlikely that we'll see as detailed a biography of "Van the Man" again in the near future. Recommended with reservations.-Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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