Il genio artistico e le vicende umane di Brian Wilson sono state raccontate più e più volte in dichiarazioni, interviste, libri e film, con reperti di valore confusi in una messe di documenti apocrifi, testimonianze parziali e spesso malevole, biografie (e autobiografie) incomplete o reticenti. Molto altro di certo seguirà, ma intanto - dopo Beautiful Dreamer e due versioni di God Only Knows - torna a dire la sua il super esperto David Leaf, concentrandosi sull'opus magnum Smile, per Omnibus Press. Sottotitolo: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson.
Drawing upon the author’s in-depth interviews with Brian, his collaborator Van Dyke Parks, Brian’s band (especially Darian Sahanaja), close friends, family, and so many others who were part of the trip, David Leaf tells how Brian Wilson rose to greatness, almost fell off the edge of the earth, then unexpectedly came back to reclaim his place as one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century. There are two Beach Boys narratives. One is about a family band and their greatest hits, an amazing body of work the group primarily recorded between 1962 and 1966. Those records, composed, arranged and produced by Brian Wilson, have brought joy to the world for over six decades. This book is the other story.