Jimmy Buffett: The Man From Margaritaville Revealed: 01/23/09

I'm a Jimmy Buffet fan. I won't go so far as call myself a Parrot Head; that's a special breed of fan well beyond my fandom. I've never been to a concert but I grew up on his music. Recently I've discovered his books and fallen in love with him as an author. With all of that in mind, it made sense to read Steve Eng's biography, Jimmy Buffett: The Man from Margaritaville Revealed.

Steve Eng's biography is well researched and well documented. There is a lengthy bibliography and discography and a detailed index. Anyone who wants to know the smallest of details of Jimmy Buffett's life, career, music and everything in between will probably find this book very useful. It does its job as reference material admirably.

On the other hand, it doesn't work for casual reading. The topics jump around a lot and the first few chapters gave me whiplash before I got used to the writing style. Eng might have been trying to emulate Buffett's own quirky style of writing but it didn't work for me.

While I probably learned more over all facts about Jimmy Buffett, I think the book lacks the big picture view. If I hadn't read A Pirate Looks at Fifty, I think I would have had even more trouble following Jimmy Buffet: The Man from Margaritaville Revealed.

Comments

Comment #1: Sunday, February, 22, 2009 at 05:06:54

Anne Eng

Thanks for the interesting review. My husband, Steve Eng, was in the early stages of dementia when he wrote this and is now completely incapacitated. It is a testament to his scholarship that it got done at all.

Comment #2: Sunday, February 22, 2009 at 20:25:45

Pussreboots

You're welcome.