Timothy White's "The Nearest Faraway Place" is a good book on the Beach Boys and their relationship to Southern California culture.

"Heroes And Villains" by Steven Gaines is a pretty good bio of the group - the edition I read years ago more or less ended with the death of Dennis, so I don't know if it has been revised since. A good read though, and a good insight into the dysfunctional dynamics that surrounded the group (Murray the abuser, Dennis the drunk fuck-up, Mike Love the douchebag etc)

Brian Wilson's "Wouldn't It Be Nice" you might find interesting, although it was written when he was under Landy's influence (in fact it has been asserted that Brian had little to do with the actual writing of the book and it was pretty much Landy's work), so everything in there should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

not read Brian Wilson's one, but the other two are very good though different in style. Heroes and Villains is a racier read and the one I enjoyed the most. Though Timothy White's book is a worthwhile read, it does take a long time getting to the point and there is far too much background stuff which didn't really add all that much. I would also suggest Nick Kent's The Dark Stuff which has a brilliant long piece on Brian Wilson.

"How Deep Is The Ocean" by Paul Williams is quite good, it's a collection his essays/articles on them. You can get used copies very cheaply on Amazon.

I enjoyed the Brian Wilson "autobiography" too, though you have to keep in mind the points mentioned above.

except I've not read Timothy White

I can also recommend 'Catch A Wave : The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson' by Peter Ames Carlin which is slightly more sober biog but enjoyable and informative.

If you to want to become a real BBs geek there is also great reference book called "The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio" by Keith Badman which is one of those day-by-day accounts of studio sessions, live shows and so forth. It peters out post 1976 unfortunately but otherwise it's the Beach Boys equivalent of Mark Lewisohn's Beatle diaries. Unlike the HJHs, it's amazing how many unreleased songs they have in the vaults so it's well worth a read.

The Landy/Wilson book is worth reading but it's important to remember when it was written and Brian's mental state at the time.

"Wouldn't it be nice" - Charles L. Granata ~ details the recording of "Pet Sounds"

and

"The story of Brian Wilson's lost masterpiece" - Domenic Priore ~ needless to say it is about "Smile" and is worth a read too.

and looking at Mike Love goofing around, dancing like a Gerry Anderson puppet, mugging for the camera and generally trying to be distract from the (excellent) performance....I wonder how he went down at the time. Did people think he was cool? He thinks the Girls are screaming at him but surely it's Dennis they're excited about? To me he's sort of the Bez of the band really. Brian, Carl, Dennis and Al were all much better singers. Watching that I can't help thinking they'd have been a much better band without him.

PS I love the question "Is Surfing a type of music or a sport?"

I'll see what I can find in the bookstores.