Infinite Tuesday
An Autobiographical Riff
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4.2 • 26 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The “beautifully written” (The New York Times) autobiography of Michael Nesmith, from his star-making role on The Monkees and his invention of the music video to his critical contributions to movies, comedy, and the world of virtual reality
“Reads like the chronicle of a relentless seeker.”—Los Angeles Times
Michael Nesmith’s eclectic, electric life spanned his star-making role on The Monkees, his invention of the music video, and his critical contributions to movies, comedy, and the world of virtual reality. But above all, his is a seeker’s story, a pilgrimage in search of a set of principles to live by. That search took Nesmith from a childhood in Dallas to the set of The Monkees in Los Angeles to the heart of swinging London with John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix.
This funny, thoughtful, self-aware book is a window into an unexpected life, inflected at every turn by the surprising candor and absurdist humor of an American original.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nesmith may be most remembered for his role as the stoic guitarist in the Monkees, but his brilliant, candid, and humorous new autobiographical musings give readers a much clearer picture of his originality and inventiveness. In a breezy, conversational tone, he invites readers to join him as he looks back over his life to see how he's come to this point. Nesmith doesn't move chronologically through his life; instead, he riffs, letting one topic lead into another, building layer on layer of a life in music, television, and movies. He riffs on his deep friendships with Douglas Adams (from whom he gets the title of the book), Jack Nicholson, and Johnny Cash, among others. He tells his side of the now-well-known contentious backstory of the Monkees and the roles that the musicians played on the set of the television show, and the ways that his ceaseless creative drive led him to form his first post-Monkees band, the First National Band. Later Nesmith shot a video for his song "Rio" and tried to convince others, over 10 years before MTV came along, that there should be a broadcast outlet for music videos. Eventually, Nesmith started up Videoranch, where he developed a technique for hosting live shows and streaming them in the virtual world. Nesmith's entertaining memoir reveals his creative genius, his canny ability never to take himself too seriously, and his restless questions about the value of spirituality.
Customer Reviews
Inside the mind of a visionary
Thought I’d be reading a great tail of The Monkees. Not so! Instead, it was a marvelous trip to Mike’s inner recesses. It could have been poorly written. But it wasn’t. A pure delight on every page. Go ahead. Engage yourself.
Trippy and teriffic
Nesmith’s intelligent and quirky take on his amazing and varied life is well worth your time.
He can write!
This book provides a brilliant cross section of a chaotic period of entertainment history from his peculiar vantage point. He’s got enough wit and insight to be entranced, confused, troubled and angered by his weird journey. He is by turns a raging egotist (which he takes pains to own up to) and charmingly self effacing. He went from being a manufactured pop idol to a pariah amonst his hipster peers to a tech trailblazer. He wrote and sang some of the best songs of my childhood. Really, what about this story is uninteresting? He scrupulously avoids cliches, and he has somethng original and unique to write about, and he invents his own language in order to unpack his bewildering world. I kind of hate celebrity autobiographies but I was completely won over by this.