Heavier Than Heaven sets forth the chronology of a troubled man with escapist fantasies of fame. Beginning with a description of Cobain’s childhood, interrupted by his parents’ traumatic divorce and his subsequent attempts to attract the attention of his self-absorbed mother and father, Cross provides a possible psychological explanation for Cobain’s dreams of stardom and desire for autonomy. As a teenager, this desire for attention manifested itself as brushes with the law and repeated claims to friends that “I’m going to be a superstar musician, kill myself and go out in a flame of glory.” Still, what is most telling of Cobain’s desire for complete control was his approach to making music. As a child, Cobain insisted on taking guitar lessons and practiced diligently despite his later rehearsed claims to journalists that he disliked practicing and authority. Upon Cobain’s insistence, Nirvana went thorough a bevy of drummers before accepting the talented Dave Grohl as a permanent member, but was talking of firing Grohl towards the end of the band’s existence as the drummer tried to incorporate songs he had written into Nirvana’s sets. And despite the apathetic grunge prototype which Cobain attempted to purvey to his fans, he actively solicited labels, lawyers and radio stations, insisting on moving Nirvana to a major label when he felt that the band’s original label, Sub Pop, was unable to give the band enough commercial publicity. Cross details every plot in Nirvana’s ascension to fame and its careful planning on the part of Cobain—from biographical inventions to his songwriting, even encompassing the drug addition for which the musician was infamous.

Cobain wrote in his journal that he “chose” to become a heroin addict—an assertion unheard of amongst most junkies. Cross recounts Cobain’s mentions to friends about wishing to regularly use—not just try—heroin. Wishing to have control over his body and the stomach troubles that plagued him, Cobain felt that the drug would curb his physical suffering. The central theme of Heavier—Cobain’s desire for control—is thus recapitulated by Cross’s harrowing anecdotes regarding of Cobain’s continuous struggle with heroin and his attempts to control his intake of the drug to his exact liking.

Heavier Than Heaven provides a fascinating, honest account of a man whose life has often been shrouded by awe and urban myth. Although at times Cross fails to see Cobain as a mere mortal, lauding the inner meaning and brilliance of lyrics, childhood doodles and teenage graffiti that are not extraordinary in any way, Cross separates himself from other Nirvana biographers in that he is unafraid to prove that despite his obvious musical talent, Cobain was a self-interested hypocrite who was drastically different from how he was portrayed by other journalists and from how he wished to present himself. Through interesting, relevant anecdotes gleaned from formidable amounts of research, Heavier reiterates the omnipresent commercial theme of selling out, exposing Kurt Cobain not as a misguided follower like Vicious, but as a contradictory control freak who sacrificed his life in order ensure the perpetuation of his status as a musical legend. Cross draws on an inevitable truth about major-label music that Vicious could not fathom and that Cobain knew from the start—that no music can become popular without some degree of commercial compromise.