| Catch a Wave | |
| Author: | Peter Ames Carlin |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | The Beach Boys |
| Release Date: | 2006 |
| Pages: | 342 |
| Isbn: | 978-1594867491 |
Catch a Wave (subtitled The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson) is a 2006 book covering the life of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, written by American journalist and critic Peter Ames Carlin.[1]
The Guardians Campbell Stevenson praised Catch a Wave as "diligently researched and even-handed", as well as "less opinionated" than biographer David Leaf's past writings about the Beach Boys.[2] PopMatters Bill Gibron rued that the book offered a fresh perspective on the band, "taking what could have been the same old song ... and turning it into a spiritual journey of excuses, expectations and exaggerations."[3]
In his review for the New York Times, Bruce Handy praised Carlin's avoidance of hagiography, writing that "his Wilson is both a victim, too fragile for this world, and a passive-aggressive manipulator, a man who, at times, willfully squandered his talent."[1] Handy concluded that "while this might not be the best possible book about Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, for now it's the best one down here where mortals tread."[1]