Liquor & Whores Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Just read it, took five hrs to finishhttp://juicemagazine.com/home/wp-content/uploads/freshizer/6b6945d1d5f79e85e6aa1e2e765f083b_original-700.jpgI'll write more probably tomorrow but before....anyone read it too? opinions, questions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Pedrolg Posted May 19, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted May 19, 2014 I don't think much can be added to such a comprehensive review. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-GenerationX Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpgnr Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I read it, too. I thought it was highly sanitized and quite a bit censored, which really ruined it for me. The book had no flow, it was one random story after another, and then it just ends. There is no explanation of why he stopped working for Axl or what happened after he left. Very strange.On the plus side, there were some interesting behind the scenes stories that I hadn't read before. He was very complimentary of Axl and never really bashed him. That being said, you know he was holding back the entire time he wrote this book.Bottom line, if you are a super, hardcore GN'R fan, then it may be worth a read (it is written at a 5th grade level (tops), and you can blow through it in a day or two). You will learn a few things about the inner workings of Axl's entourage, which I know most GN'R fans are fascinated with. That being said, you will not get any deep, mind blowing revelations, you get almost no insight into band politics, and the white washed nature of the tales makes you question some of the validity of what is in there. There are some facts that he just misses completely, but it is not enough to think that none of what he said happened. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellobeatle Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I read it, too. I thought it was highly sanitized and quite a bit censored, which really ruined it for me. The book had no flow, it was one random story after another, and then it just ends. There is no explanation of why he stopped working for Axl or what happened after he left. Very strange.On the plus side, there were some interesting behind the scenes stories that I hadn't read before. He was very complimentary of Axl and never really bashed him. That being said, you know he was holding back the entire time he wrote this book.Bottom line, if you are a super, hardcore GN'R fan, then it may be worth a read (it is written at a 5th grade level (tops), and you can blow through it in a day or two). You will learn a few things about the inner workings of Axl's entourage, which I know most GN'R fans are fascinated with. That being said, you will not get any deep, mind blowing revelations, you get almost no insight into band politics, and the white washed nature of the tales makes you question some of the validity of what is in there. There are some facts that he just misses completely, but it is not enough to think that none of what he said happened. Thank you. My understanding was he got the "blessing" of Axl & Co. to release it so I figured this much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquor & Whores Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) Here’s my review.I think I read it somewhere that the GNR crew members were to sign a loyalty paper that forbid them to publish their stories from work in the band for 20 years. Doing the maths on Duswalt’s tenure in GNR, it may well be true. So he decided to write a politically correct book, earn some money, but he made it with a smallest effort possible. I think he didn’t want to offend any GNR or crew member (he claims those were/are his friends) or was affraid of any legal action that could have been taken against him, so there is no controversy in his book. He just recalled some stories from 20 years ago and wrote them down. Attached some rare but really bad quality black & white pics and sumarized it in 220 pages. There are quite a few good, amusing stories there (example: a crew member brought on stage with arms and legs tied up during a gig), some rare scans of notes, memos etc. I would sum these stories up like this: AMUSING, A LOT OF NUDITY AND NO CONTROVERSY. Duswalt writes about nude women here & there, one of them making love to a car, but never mentions any GNR-sex stories, hardcore parties other than a visit in a japanese strip club where to his disgust he saw live sex (wow!). The same with drugs, he even claims that there were no drugs present during UYI tour (sic!). He admits to know a lot of dark secrets but won’t reveal them. On the other hand, he serves us a lot of stories concerning male nudity which I found a bit strange (naked GNR & crew members, S.Hoon, A.Clayton from U2 and others). Practical jokes are omnipresent in the book and that is one of its advantages (GNR was a group of jokers, it turns out). Duswalt shows how he used Axl’s fame to get what they wanted, and wastes no time in telling you how he always got things done with ease (example: Axl said he won’t do a gig once, Duswalt said one sentence & he agreed to go). The fine parts are also those with descriptions of preparations for gigs, running shows (teleprompter), dealing with the madness of fans, some of them really dangerous. He describes some of the rock-stars in private, example: Steven Tyler. Never bashes anyone (starting from Axl, that he claimed was furious for him only once). Duswalt defines Axl a professional, sober, well-spoken, generous rock-star who he liked to work with and to whom he deserves the success in his life). This is really a book for Axl fans. He claims that GNR 1991-93 was all business, which is really hard to believe, and the only wild thing he was involved in was drinking with Slash (Duswalt admit to have a drinking problem back then).Some more disadvantages:-telling a story of Slash „death” while he wasn’t there-a cringy story about being beaten by a bouncer for calling him an asshole-book ends suddenly without any explanationTo sum up, I hoped this book would be a bit similar to Canter's and would in detail tell the story of UYI monstrous tour, but I ended up dissapointed.But not that I wasn't amused. Edited May 20, 2014 by Liquor & Whores 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Keep in mind this was over 3 years, not every day was going to be "fun and games" and a lot of ways to deal with boredom. I think stories about the road to fame are usually better than when they made it, then it became an exercise in dealing with their sanity. It just sounded like typical "frat boy on spring break" stuff as far as the male nudity goes, and I'm sure the women on the road probably have their own stories to tell. I can see how being in a band can be applied in the business world, because you do have insane bosses to deal with, backstabbing co-workers, and a team to try to keep together. This sounded like a "greatest hits" of his seminars and gathered what he had for the book. As far as any scandalous stuff, he might have been out of the room for a lot of it, being sent off on various errands for his boss.Was there anything in the book about the paperwork handed to Slash and Duff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquor & Whores Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) No, nothing about the paperwork handed to Slash and Duff. Below the explanation by him:Quote: " I consider the members of GNR, and member of the GNR crew, my friends. That means this book will not reveal any really dark or destructive secrets-and I have hundreds. if you want those stories, you'll have to get me really drunk. Unfortunately for you, i don't drink anymore-partly because of my days on the road with GNR "Not three years, even not two: to be exact from Nov 1991 to July 1993 - I suppose because he didn't write what happened after the last show in Argentina. Edited May 20, 2014 by Liquor & Whores Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Saying, ''I have loads of dark secrets, but, I am not going to tell them to you'' is one big cock tease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtle Signs Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'm starting to think this book may be a waste of the quarter I paid to request it from my local library. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquor & Whores Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 I paid $30 and don't regret, I just expected more...ain't the Mick Wall or Stephen Davis shit after all (which I'd never pay for) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Either people love Axl or fear his lawyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roky Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 (edited) I've read it yesterday, it was quite boring. At least, Mick Wall knows how to tell a story to make it interesting. Edited March 13, 2015 by Roky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Słash Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 The book was ok, it was nice to know some interesting facts about behind the scenes, but it seemed he was all the time licking Axl's ass, That Alien thing was interesting, I wonder if Axl remembers it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 The only way you'll get a "brutally honest behind the scenes" book is if it targets the management and behind the scenes people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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