'The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones' is a dull collection of Stones content
This article is part of a series of reviews of Rolling Stones books that were published in 2013.
With the existence of Internet search engines and websites like eBay to find old magazine articles, it's become almost quaint to think you have to wait for a book compilation of old magazine articles to find a specific article.
So in that regard, "The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones" edited by Sean Egan is an outdated concept that is not essential if you want the definitive book about the Rolling Stones.
"The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones" has no illustrations or photos, except for on the book's cover. That lack of visual appeal is a major drawback for anyone who has a short attention span or would prefer to have the original articles that do have artwork. And considering how highly visual the Rolling Stones are, it's a glaring omission to not having any photos or illustrations in a book about the Stones.
But the lack of photos or illustrations could easily be excused if the book had a lot of spark and originality.
What it comes down to is that "The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones" has Egan-written reviews of several Rolling Stones singles and albums (his critiques are unremarkable), and in between those reviews, there are select reprinted interviews and articles about the Rolling Stones that were written by other authors.
The best reprinted interview in the book is Robert Greenfield's 1971 Rolling Stone magazine interview with Keith Richards, back when he was calling himself Keith Richard and back when Rolling Stone used to publish lengthy feature articles.
Other feature articles include Barry Miles' 1968 interview with Mick Jagger for International Times, Robin Eggar's 1995 interview with Jagger for Esquire, Eggar's 2002 interview with Mick Taylor for Sunday Express Magazine and Mark Ellen's 2011 interview with Richards for The Word. The rest of the chapters are either Egan's reviews of Stones albums or music critics' often self-absorbed and pretentious musings about the Rolling Stones.
It's a random hodgepodge of Rolling Stones content presented in such a dull and dry manner that if you're interested in getting the articles with the Stones interviews (which are the best part of the book), then you're better off tracking down the original articles so you can see how they were originally published, not recycled in a boring anthology book without any artwork.
With the existence of Internet search engines and websites like eBay to find old magazine articles, it's become almost quaint to think you have to wait for a book compilation of old magazine articles to find a specific article.
So in that regard, "The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones" edited by Sean Egan is an outdated concept that is not essential if you want the definitive book about the Rolling Stones.
"The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones" has no illustrations or photos, except for on the book's cover. That lack of visual appeal is a major drawback for anyone who has a short attention span or would prefer to have the original articles that do have artwork. And considering how highly visual the Rolling Stones are, it's a glaring omission to not having any photos or illustrations in a book about the Stones.
But the lack of photos or illustrations could easily be excused if the book had a lot of spark and originality.
What it comes down to is that "The Mammoth Book of the Rolling Stones" has Egan-written reviews of several Rolling Stones singles and albums (his critiques are unremarkable), and in between those reviews, there are select reprinted interviews and articles about the Rolling Stones that were written by other authors.
The best reprinted interview in the book is Robert Greenfield's 1971 Rolling Stone magazine interview with Keith Richards, back when he was calling himself Keith Richard and back when Rolling Stone used to publish lengthy feature articles.
Other feature articles include Barry Miles' 1968 interview with Mick Jagger for International Times, Robin Eggar's 1995 interview with Jagger for Esquire, Eggar's 2002 interview with Mick Taylor for Sunday Express Magazine and Mark Ellen's 2011 interview with Richards for The Word. The rest of the chapters are either Egan's reviews of Stones albums or music critics' often self-absorbed and pretentious musings about the Rolling Stones.
It's a random hodgepodge of Rolling Stones content presented in such a dull and dry manner that if you're interested in getting the articles with the Stones interviews (which are the best part of the book), then you're better off tracking down the original articles so you can see how they were originally published, not recycled in a boring anthology book without any artwork.
