I'm now officially on an early R.E.M. binge. This is scattershot, but well worth it for fans. ( )

Marcus Gray's It Crawled from the South is an exceptionally well-researched book that is, unfortunately, deeply in need of an editor.

The book is a logjam of facts, divided into categorical chapters ("the meaning of Michael's lyrics", "the political causes that R.E.M. has supported over the years"), and then presented in chronological order. It is as though Gray decided that all facts gathered during his research needed to be included in the finished book.

The result is a tiresome read, with the author often bogged down by the minutia of R.E.M.'s night-by-night setlists. Pages and pages are dedicated to describing the slight changes in setlist order that occurred on each night of their European tours, as well as which cover songs were attempted on particular nights, and chronological accounts of the band's media appearances on their tour legs. I found myself desperate to skip ahead and put myself out of my misery.

My edition of the book is from 1992, so perhaps this "factual overload" approach was corrected in later editions of the book, but I suspect not. I suggest readers try Tony Fletcher's Perfect Circle: The Story of R.E.M. instead of this biography. ( )