Publisher: Hutchinson
ISBN: 1786331500
Pages: 368
Publication Date: March 5th 2019
Personal Rating: 2.5/5
In 1979, Daisy Jones and The Six split up. Together, they had redefined the 70’s music scene, creating an iconic sound that rocked the world. Apart, they baffled a world that had hung on their every verse.
This book is an attempt to piece together a clear portrait of the band’s rise to fame and their abrupt and infamous split. The following oral history is a compilation of interviews, emails, transcripts, and lyrics, all pertaining to the personal and professional lives of the members of the band The Six and singer Daisy Jones.
While I have aimed for a comprehensive and exhaustive approach, I must acknowledge that full and complete accounts from all parties involved has proved impossible. Some people were easier to track down than others, some were more willing to talk than others, and some, unfortunately, have passed on.
All of which is to say that while this is the first and only authorised account from all represented perspectives, it should be noted that, in matters both big and small, reasonable people disagree.
The truth often lies, unclaimed, in the middle.
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I really wanted to like this book, especially since people on social media were raving about it, but unfortunately, I thought this book was pretty below average. The format of the novel was cool and unique, it felt that I was watching a band documentary instead of reading a book.
The book description is a bit misleading because it made it seem like something major happened for the greatest band who was taking America up by a storm to suddenly break up.
When all the signs that the band was doomed to break up were there in the first 50 or so pages. Billy is a self-centered ‘me only man’, so the band was doomed to fail because people gradually couldn’t stand him. He thought he knew best and kept beating himself up because he wanted to be a good husband (lame). Generall he was a jerk to the rest of his band and never listen to their opinion, he re-wrote an album they all worked on without their consent or opinion. Honestly, everyone was going to sick of him and they did. Throw Daisy Jones who equally is self-centered and full of herself in the mix and then the band was doomed to fail even faster. Nothing too amazing, bunch of people couldn’t get along and that was the end. It was no big mystery.
I enjoyed that drug and alcohol abuse was not glorified. It was painted as a problem and sometimes it’s hard to ask for help. It showed the horrors of what abusing can do to a person. Other than that the book was nothing special. The format like I mentioned before was really something new and it’s why I am giving 2.5 stars instead of just 2.