About book Love & Death: The Murder Of Kurt Cobain (2005)
I loved Kurt Cobain. I can remember exactly where I was the moment I heard he had died. God, it made me so sad. And to think that someone who appeared to have it all would kill himself. Well, guess what??? He didn't!! That's right, looks like someone else (can we say bitch of a whore/wife about to be divorced) had him murdered! This book is all about how there is absolutely no way that Kurt could have or would have killed himself. Now you might be saying to yourself; "That's bullsh*t! I saw Courtney mourn for months!" Well guess what, I believed the lies too. I even went to see Courtney's band Hole on their tour following Kurt's death (strange, don't you think, that she released her album anyway, which sold exponentially more than it would have without the publicity surrounding Kurt's death, and then went on a nervous break down tour, to boot!)I was living in Buffalo in '94, and in the later part of '95, I met a kid named Jason Pfaff. His sister was Kristin Pfaff, the late bassist for Hole. It seems she died under somewhat mysterious circumstances (Courtney was the last to see her, pages were missing from her diary, etc) and this private investigator, Tom Grant, had gotten in touch with his family to inform them of audio recordings he had of Courtney Love saying some pretty incriminating things relating to the death of Kristin. Turns out that Courtney had hired this PI (http://www.cobaincase.com/ ) to find Kurt when he went missing from rehab in the days before he was found dead. To Grant, it quickly became apparent that all the pieces weren't adding up, and that Courtney had probably just hired him to cover her ass and make it look like she genuinely didn't know where Kurt was. (That's why she continually sent him on wild goose chases, never told him about the out building where Kurt liked to hang out and was eventually found, etc.) It seems that this very forward thinking investigator always secretly records all of his conversations with clients, interviewees, etc. Apparently, he has Courtney incriminating herself all over the place, and he allowed the family to hear some of the tapes, and really convinced them that all was not as it appeared!It seems that Kurt and Kristin P. had hooked up while Hole was in the studio and Kurt was helping out with some of the producing, etc. It's possible that he was going somewhere with her, as he had told Courtney he wanted a divorce and had bought 2 plane tickets just after he left the rehab. Either way, there's some pretty damning evidence out there, and this book presents it in a clear and truly engaging manner. They dot their I's and cross their T's, as they say.
This is the follow-up book to the authors previous book Who Killed Kurt Cobain? and I recommend skipping that book and just reading this one because it is essentially a complete revision of the first book. In addition to some entirely new material they went back and did additional research to flesh out things they had glossed over in the first book. Tom Grant, the private investigator hired by Courtney Love, also allowed them to listen to most of the conversations he taped during the course of the investigation and that led to a more detailed description of the events between when Grant was hired to find Kurt and the subsequent investigation leading up to finding the body and the aftermath. All in all, they build a strong case that given the circumstances of the death - three times lethal dose of heroin plus valium in his bood - that the police should have been more suspicious of a staged suicide. That, combined with Courtney's motives and alibi building and orchestrations - they way she ping-ponged Grant around until the body was found is pretty amazing - sure seems like it should have set off a ton of red flags for investigators. The other part of this book that is expanded is additional details around the death of Hole's bass player Kristen Pffaf and the way that is presented in the book is creepy. Leaving aside the actual celebrities involved, this has all the elements of a great noir plot.
Do You like book Love & Death: The Murder Of Kurt Cobain (2005)?
I have watched Unsolved Mysteries The Murder of Kurt Cobain, I have watched Kurt and Courtney, and I have read various conspiracy theories on the internet. This book by far surpasses the others as far as cold hard facts. Unlike other sources that review the Cobain murder theory it looks at things from object point of view. It provides testimony and various evidence supporting both murder and suicide. I have always thought Kurt was murdered but after reading this and hearing testimonies of Courtneys own lawyer and a private investigator on her payroll I know it is true. Courtney is a rockstar chasing skank and needs to be arrested. There is going to be a documentary released titled Soaked in Bleach. Check out youtube.com to see the trailor.
—Stephanie Noonchester
i could not put this book down when i read it, and i think it was a while ago, i was re-entering my disbelief about Kurt's death (subsequently Nirvana's which was part of the tragedy). It as entertaining but did not shed any convincing light on what happened. As a fan, it is not a must-read, i don't think. It portrays his life as a cryptic conspiracy that revolves around Courtney "the best sex in his life" (i think that was a quote from the book). Kurt's legacy is so much more than all of that - he was an artist who was robbed from this world, or rather, an artist that the world needed but neglected to learn from - that is the real crux of our generation's fallen hero. don't watch the movie either.
—Puja
This book, written by Max Wallace and Ian Halperin, explores the common theory that rock music icon Kurt Cobain was a victim of murder, not suicide. It starts off with a short, yet highly insightful view at Kurt's childhood and his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington. The writers talk to several people who live in the town, many of whom were in some way connected to Cobain or his family. Next the authors recount the adolescence of Courtney Love, Kurt's wife, and suspected murderer. They meet with several people who knew her, including her father and first husband, both of whom are in hiding from her, out of fear that a similar fate might meet them. Throughout the rest of the book, they examine claims made by both Love, and the medical examiner, pointing out inconsistencies and impossibilities by interviewing witnesses and experts who agree that the whole story is not yet known. Along with Cobain's grandfather Leland, they talk to band members, friends, drug dealers, and various other sources to try to determine whether or not the untimely demise of Kurt Cobain was of his own doing, or by the hands of somebody else.
—Patrick
