Just finished this book. Didn't read any reviews beforehand. You can tell he wrote it without any heavy editing from a third party. It's raw. I thought I was going to read about 90s Seattle but instead, it was the memoir of a person with a lethal substance abuse problem. The lengths he went through to score drugs... crazy. I didn't realize he was from central Washington and since I spent some time in shitholes in the same area so I could somewhat relate to the struggle. The mountain people of the North Cascades are something else.

Great read. Brilliant singer. Gone too soon. RIP.

NC - Bonus points for the anti-Rancid rant.

I enjoyed it, if that's the right word.

I just finished the audio-book version last week. There's something about hearing that sordid tale in his own grizzled voice. I'd say it's the way to go with this one.

Good book. Largely unromantic, which is rare in books about being fucked up on drugs or alcohol. Eviscerates a bunch of the 90s Seattle music "scene" that richly deserved it, not sparing himself and his contribution to its degenerate side. I admired all that, and also his realization that his situation as a hardcore addict was totally banal even as it was extreme to him individually.

Read this over the frigid weekend. Taken with a grain of "you sure have a detailed memory for someone that fucked up 30 years ago" it was a gripping read, and I agree refreshingly unromantic. In fact he just seemed to have a low opinion of himself throughout his life, not understanding why anyone would like his bands or singing. As an anxiety ridden person myself some of the bits about trying to 'get well' in Amsterdam or London made me a little nauseous. So NC I guess!

Never liked the guy nor his band and not sure I want to read about the guy's problems with drugs.

Won't vote.

Easy N/C. My wife brought it home, I was dubious but opened it up anyway and then couldn't put it down. Finished it, handed it back to her, she couldn't put it down either. Really liked his writing style. I never messed with any hard drugs at all, and reading this made me glad of it, what a mess. Being strung out on tour, having to go to the worst parts of town to score, ugh it all just sounded miserable.

Probably the fastest I have ever read a book. Compelling, dark and also really funny at times. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during the confrontation with Oasis. Whether embellished or not, that shit was hilarious.

Interesting Courtney Love twist at the end.

Crap, most of his recollections from "the good old days" reeked of bullshit. He seemed like a huge asshole, especially to women. Dollar store Tom Waits can fuck off.

:devilhorns:

Picked up an uncorrected proof for free at work, right before it came out. I don't own any Screaming Trees or Lanegan solo records and never cared much about them one way or the other. Liked the book. Quick read, as other have noted. Bleakly funny, as even more readers have noted, although that's the understatement of the year. Not exactly transcendent literature, but works well as a cautionary tale and a fucked-up rock-and-addiction memoir. The Oasis incident and the absolute mania of his stay in Amsterdam stuck w/me. Harrowing w/o being too sensationalistic. What an awful life.

I did come away thinking he was a dick to Trees guitarist Gary Lee Connor (who may be insufferable himself, for all I know), but bands are often dysfunctional families.

But not crap, a few waffles.

When Can I Fly?, by the late Michael Belfer (from SF postpunk bands the Sleepers and Tuxedomoon), has infinitely better music, slightly less entertaining writing, zero moments of fame or even near-fame, and an eerily similar story of self-sabotage. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Lanegan's book.