The Real Frank Zappa Book

By: Frank Zappa, Peter Occhiogrosso - with

Narrated by: Ahmet Zappa

The legendary Frank Zappa, one of the most influential, innovative and controversial musical artists for the past 20 years, takes us on a wild, funny trip through his life and times. Along the way, Zappa offers his inimitable views on many things such as art, politics, and beer.

Cover concept by A. West

Cover design by Jackie Seow-Pracher

Cover photography by Greg Gorman

Music by Frank Zappa, Courtesy of Universal Music Enterprises

©1989 UMG Recordings, Inc. (P)2022 Audible, Inc.

he taught me Improvisation

when he passed members of my family called to off their condolences . they had to ride in my VW and hear greatness .

Excellent! Finally

Been waiting for this. Thank you Ahmet! This book belongs in every home. Great performance!

A must-listen

I recently purchased The Real Frank Zappa Book from Audible. I am a huge fan of audio books, for they allow me to 'read' while walking the dog, driving, biking to work and 'read' in the dark evening hours without having to turn the lights on. Also, my slowly but surely deteriorating eyesight (in combination with me not being to find my reading glasses) makes listening to books, instead of reading them, a fantastic alternative 🤓

While typing this, I am listening to the last chapters and I dare conclude this post by saying that I immensely enjoyed it!

Ahmet Zappa has done a great job. At times I even got the impression actually listening to Frank himself.

The audio book is decorated with snippets of interviews and music, which add greatly to the enjoyment of listening to the book I know so well 💛

As Zappa fans are, I am sure many would agree with me, as well as many would not. But I enjoyed it a lot and I can not think up a reason to not recommend it.

Pretty sure that any hard-core fanatic will encounter nothing new, but listening to Frank's words, read by Ahmet, spiced up with some original audio recordings of interviews and music (not all of that great quality, though) will entertain.

At roughly ten hours, this is a nice piece of audio to have. I know I enjoyed it. A lot.

Thank you, Frank. And thank you, Ahmet. 💛

Music is the best.

Great book

Loved hearing his son narrating the book. If you like Zappa you will love this.

Raw & intelligent presentation of his views

Frank telling in a surprisingly articulate, if raw at times, of Franks views of a varied number of topics. He was was an inspired, individualist.

Five stars all around!

Frank Zappa was clearly ahead of his time, with a George Carlinesque observational intellect and the ability to think critically. This book, superbly read by his son Ahmet, brings a portion of his unique life and perspective into crystal clear focus. Love him or hate him, he was a genius, and not just musically. I doubt the world will see his equal any time soon. This book is simply fantastic.

a perfect peak into the mind of a legend

wacky, funny, gross, sad, weird and rockin'. A must listen for any Zappa fan! and read by his son, it's almost like it's him and they include sound clips from songs and interviews - a real treat.

Finally, a Zappa audiobook

I bought this in print when it came out and have read it many times. Nice to be able to revisit an old friend. All the humor and biting commentary you would expect from the author.

Some good parts, some not...

Narrator was great. Parts that used actual dialog recordings of Frank were both too quiet and too bright (so if you turned up the volume to hear it was painful).

The parts of this book that dealt with music or the music industry were very enjoyable. The political rants not so much. Frank was VERY cynical and somewhat of an asshole it seems.

The insight into Zappa

Frank Zappa was one of the most interesting composers and musicians from the later half of the 20th century. This audiobook read by Amhet gives a very personal account of Zappa’s life. I had moments where I was laughing and then left in thought about things he was discussing. Zappa is not for everyone, but for those who like Zappa and wish to know more about him this is a great read (if you bought the book) and listen.