Jesse Fink, "The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC"

×

Jesse Fink, "The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC"

Close

"Fink's look at the band addresses the question that he believes most mainstream rock critics have never been able to answer about AC/DC: 'Why have they endured and resonated with hundreds of millions of people and inculcated such fierce loyalty and outright fanaticism?' The answer is the unrelenting tenacity of the Young brothers… fascinating." - Publishers Weekly

"A great narrative… it has one very simple, very powerful message for those who would like to dismiss AC/DC as childish hacks: 'Stop being so bloody pretentious!' Thank you, Jesse Fink, for talking some sense into me. 'No matter how hard you try not to react to their music, it's impossible. You cannot listen to an album like Back in Black and not move,' Fink tells me. 'That's what I wanted to celebrate with this book – the idea that it's okay to rock.' Damn straight, it's about time somebody said it."
- Clark Boyd, PRI's The World

"A rare, raw look at a band who strove, in many ways very successfully, to keep its business dealings behind closed doors. That is until now."
- BJ Lisko, The Canton Repository, Ohio

"A fantastic new AC/DC book… Fink did a great job. Essential for an AC/DC fan to read."
- Carter Alan, 100.7 WZLX, Massachusetts

"The latest, greatest 'rock read'… an awesome book."
- Buck McWilliams, Gater 98.7 FM, Florida

"An astounding - astounding - book."
- Bill Meyer, KMED, Oregon

"An excellent read."
- Ryan Gatenby, WBIG, Illinois

"The best book on AC/DC ever written."
- Dan Rivers, WKBN, Ohio

"I loved this book."
- Arroe Collins, WRFX, North Carolina
"Outstanding."
- Mark Mayfield, KSLX, Arizona

From the Author

I'm always looking for something new and interesting to write about. My first book was called 15 Days In June and was about the FIFA World Cup and Australia's engagement with Asia through soccer. The second was a memoir of sex, relationships and online dating called Laid Bare. Who wouldn't want to have a crack at AC/DC as a subject? They're the biggest band in the world. Why are they so big? How did they get there? That was the starting point for me from a thematic standpoint.
Furthermore, surprisingly little had been written about AC/DC's songs and the three Young brothers (George, Angus, Malcolm), who are very private people, almost recluses. I chose 11 songs by the Youngs spanning the years 1968 to 1990; it's a critical appreciation rather than a standard, linear, join-the-dots biography. Through writing about the songs, and interviewing people who were involved in their creation or inspired by hearing them, so many untold stories about the band and the brothers fell into my lap. By the same token, I also had to dig very deep. It was above all else an investigative exercise. I had started out not wanting to write a biography but there are biographical elements to the book.
Lastly, there was a need for it. What I think The Youngs proves is there's so much to the AC/DC story that hasn't been told yet. My motivation was not to write just another AC/DC book that retells the same anecdotes.