Frank: The True Story That Inspired the Movie Hardcover – Illustrated, June 26, 2014

It helps to have a sort of quirky sense of humor, or a fondness for Jon Ronson's books, to enjoy this film. (Actually, it helps to have a quirky sense of humor to enjoy Ronson's books--and I do.) I have both, so I really liked this movie.My husband, daughter, and son-in-law, on the other hand, were more perplexed than amused . The jokes, the pathos, the music--especially the epic last song--left them cold. They kept sneaking sidelong glances at me as if wondering why I was so keen on this movie.I liked it because it was about marginal characters making a marginal living off the kind of music that might be described, generously, as "difficult." It's their dedication to their art, and their fierce insistence on doing it their way, that makes them so compelling to watch. Frank Sidebottom wears a giant papier-maché head with a painted-on cartoon face, but he's not doing it to get cheap laughs--he is serious about his alter ego and careful to avoid doing anything that might seem out of character. His band mates are just as serious about creating and maintaining the alternative reality in which Frank lives and writes and sings and plays--right up until the day they acquire a new keyboardist, who thinks they should set their sights higher than playing random gigs for a few hundred devoted fans.Taking Frank mainstream turns out pretty much as you might expect. But the story has a happy, if puzzling, ending. I liked it. And if you are reasonably tolerant of ambiguity, you will like this movie, too.

Good book. Not really one of my favourite Ronson books but it's still fun. Can't wait to see how it translates to the big screen.

I can't wait to see this movie. It's a story about "marginals" for "marginals," and any one else...even you "normals."

This is a great book by a good man about his gifted friend, FRANK SIDEBOTTOM (1955 - 2010). Buy the book, read the book, then track down every snippet of Frank Sidebottom that you can find online. It'll turn your day around. Do it because you want to. You know you do. You really do.

Very unique view of the world of music especially bands, in a London in the late 80s. Through the eyes of a young man and his experience with a very particular band and how they believe music supposed to be. I must say, I would have been selected too,I only know the same chords that Frank needed to be played on the keyboard jajajaja C,F, and G

Spectacularly brief. Read over a cup of coffee. Then rechecked my kindle for all the pages I must have accidentally skipped. There were none that I could find. Expensive anecdote!

I bought this as a gift for a friend & she loved it, especially the photos! She had shown me the movie Frank & was fascinated by him/it, turns out she also likes this author! Sure it's a short read, but anyone who likes Frank or Ronson would be happy to own this!

Great to have a second hand account of this moment in history as I was a big fan and saw Frank in the last part of his career. I'll never forget the gigs at Baxi working men's club. Epic

A month or so after checking out the movie and being delighted that after a few years I had finally watched something modern that was a bit different, I started watching some of Frank Sidebottom’s old footage on You Tube.I wasn’t overly impressed straight away, I must admit. This was until I found his ‘Proper telly show’, from channel M. Suddenly I got it - as strange of a phenomenon as he is – I got it. I was in stitches at some of the child-like whimsical humour, which strangely appeals to older audiences. He somehow borders the outrageous, without being dirty or offensive. It is a real talent.This does not mean that comedians that push the boundaries of taboos do not have their place and people can get easily offended especially when irony is involved. But Frank is something refreshing, different, odd and off-beat – but in a good way.My curiosity peaked and I decided to read more on him. As this book was more of a first-hand account of ‘the true story that inspired the movie’ I thought it may have given a few more insights into his life from someone who knew him well and also shed light on what parts of the screenplay were fictionalised and which were true to real life.Although the book is well written in terms of being concise and even non-sensationalist, I think it attempts to be too objective / matter of fact and therefore some of the emotional and funny stories are not squeezed of all their potential juiciness.A couple of the anecdotes brought a smile to my face and a couple of the sadder aspects tugged at the heart strings a little. There is also an apt analogy of frank attempting to adapt the world to himself rather than vice versa in there, which really hits the nail on the (paper-mached) head.It is a decent, easy read, but it is just a little too short-lived and journalistic for my liking. I know Jon Ronson is a Journo but as he was in the band himself and was reasonably close to both contrasting personas (Frank and Chris Sivey), I guess I was expecting something with a little more in depth.Perhaps Jon Ronson didn’t want to step on Mike Middles’ toes, the author (and fellow journalist) of Frank Sidebottom: Out of His Head.I have not read the latter, so it is hard to contrast. But with such a strange, overwhelming surge of curiosity on the man behind the mask / under the head - I think I would have rather purchased this book instead.It is considerably more expensive, so perhaps Jon Ronson’s offering is more for those who simply want to dip their toe in the water or just want a little insight into the film.

Being a fan of Jon Ronson, I was looking forward to Frank despite only having a passing interest in Frank Sidebottom.I think this is the only "book" that i've read from cover to cover in under 40 minutes.The typeface can be read from the moon, there's scant information in the book, and it's basically a long article. There's next to no "on the road" anecdotes, and Ronson manages to make his time in the band sound like the worlds most boring experience.The book could of benefited from some editing too. That said, doing so would of made this book the length of a menu.It's worth a read for 50p on the kindle, sure. Don't buy the book though.

Love Frank Sidebottom?This is interesting essay on being in Frank Sidebottom's Oh Big Blimey Band but it's very brief and towards the end shifts focus on to "marginalized" musicians in general rather than examining Frank specifically.An examination of Captain Beefheart and The Shaggs would have been welcome if this book was more than 100 pages long As it is it feels more like a plug for the movie Frank and as a justification for radically altering the character in that film from it's source character.The book just isn't value for money when a shorter version of it was printed in the Guardian and there is a talk available on YouTube where Jon tells the story minus three or four anocdotes included in the book (that being said the story of Frank supporting Gary Glitter is fantastic!)Really wish he'd delved deeper into life on the Road with Chris/Frank as he clearly spent a number of years with the band.

Frank Sidebottom was unique, and that comes across nicely in this short book about him and his creator, Chris Sievey.Yes, it has mostly been written before, and it is short, but it still made me smile, and reminded me of the many good memories IO have of Chris and Frank. Frank's still remains the only concert I've been to where I've been given a chinese noodle meal in the interval, and the only one with a Star Wars puppet show in it. And for that, and many other reasons, I enjoyed the chance to be reminded of those odd but good times, and the genius that was Chris.

This is a great anecdote book about Frank and his creator Chris Sievey. Don't expect an in-depth biography as that can be found elsewhere, this is more a collection of anecdotes from Jon Ronson about his time in Frank's band. Sometimes it does veer off into what seems like an unrelated story and the book is very short but I think there's enough here to accompany the film (although this is a true account of events, whereas the film is a fictionalised fantasy, using the character of Frank as a jumping off point).This is a good start if you're interested in Frank Sidebottom.