Excerpts from Josephine Riesman's 'The Last Temptation of Beck'

I've just finished reading The Last Temptation of Beck by Josephine Riesman. The book focuses on his change: from being a child of scientology parents into being a fully–fledged scientologist, from humble beginnings to a double suicide, from being young with a girlfriend to being older and leaving people behind because that the choice of scientologists, perhaps not Beck himself. Where does the self die in lieu of an illusion? Riesman digs into how Beck grew up, through a variety of sources, from his horrid break–up with Leigh Limon. I recommend Riesman's article Losing Beck, which says a lot. The following quotes are all from the book. By late 1996, there was Beck Hansen, and there was “Beck.” “Beck” was an art piece, a Happening, a mobile performance installation made by the tireless work of four people. Of course, “Beck,” as a concept, was largely built on the music and voice of the man born Bek David Campbell: his stringy form and his deliberate misdirection in interviews, his…