Dead Kennedys: The Unauthorized Version

Edited by F-Stop Fitzgerald, Written by Marian Kester.

The unauthorized version? How about the unfufilled version? The first edition came out in 1983, with another published in 1990. This one is so thin that the other two must have been a joke. I can’t see the point in publishing it. What little content present is good, there just isn’t enough to justify forking over $11.00. There is no real information on the band. Instead you’ll find reproductions of flyers, promo shots, snippets of interviews, lyrics, and live shots. The highlight of the book is the few pages that deal with Jello’s candidacy in the San Francisco mayoral race. But again, not enough substance. There are some Winston Smith reproductions, but there are better sources (see review) for that. The space that was wasted on quoting a couple of paragraphs of Nietzsche would have been better spent on actually providing info on the band. I’ve probably spent more time writing this than I did reading the actual written content in the Unauthorized version. Save your cash. Once again I must give thanks for Tower Records’ 14 day return policy, the only reason I paid for this, which was to review it and return it.

Rating: 2 out of 5 conspiracy theories.

Update: This obviously predates all the embarrassing lawsuits and the even more embarrassing so-called “reunion tour” withou Jello. (WTF?)

62 pages perfect bound. $10.95