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karapillar's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Death
Minor: Death of parent, Mental illness, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Vomit
k8_face's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, and Suicide
jackelz's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
If you haven’t watched the Dave Grohl and Animal Drum Battle, you’re missing out. Anyone that can rock out with a Muppet, is a good dude in my book.
“People inspire people.”
This memoir gives us an inside look into Dave Grohl’s life, from where he started to where is he is now. I had no idea he grew up in Virginia! I loved the behind the scenes stories about rock shows and all the incredible musicians he has met along the way. Of course we also hear about his time with Nirvana and the impact Kurt Cobain and his death had on his life. Listening to the audiobook feels like Dave is telling you these stories personally, and I loved it so much.
“For, in a world full of Barbies, every girl needs a Joan Jett.”
I especially loved his stories about his daughters, Violet, Harper, and Ophelia, and what he did in order to be there for Harper’s first Daddy-Daughter Dance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Suicide, and Addiction
Minor: Death of parent
loribeth1961's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
By the time Nirvana hit the big time in the early 1990s, I was in my 30s and starting to lose touch a little with what was considered currently popular in music. I knew who Nirvana was, of course (you couldn't miss "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the song or the video, if you were around back then) and I even knew enough about the band to remark to my husband that we were passing through Kurt Cobain's hometown, when a road trip from my great-aunt's home near Seattle to the Oregon coast in 1993 took us through Aberdeen, Washington... but I can't say I was a big fan or follower. (I actually like/appreciate their music more these days than I did back then.)
Likewise, when Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl formed a new band called Foo Fighters in the aftermath of Cobain's 1994 suicide, I was aware of it (that weird name...!), but didn't really follow them that closely. I think I gradually became aware of Grohl as a personality, before the Foo Fighters' music. I saw him interviewed several times, and read some of the articles he's written -- including one of several he's done for The Atlantic, about public school teachers (his mom was one of them). (She wrote her own book before he did, interviewing other rock stars' moms. I'd love to read that one too!) He impressed me as being funny and thoughtful and eloquent -- and, at times, hilariously profane. :) The more I heard about and from him, the more I liked the guy.
And then I heard he'd written a book as a project to keep himself occupied during the pandemic. (So, one good thing that came out of covid...!)
"The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music" is not a memoir in the usual narrative sense ("and then this happened..."). It unfolds more or less chronologically, but it's more like a series of short stories/vignettes from Grohl's life, making it very easy to dip in & out of.
I strongly suspected, the minute I heard about this book, that I was going to love it -- and the minute I opened the first page and started reading, I KNEW I was going to love it.
I did. :)
The book covers his childhood (in a typical 1970s suburban neighbourhood in Virginia, near Washington, D.C.), early musical experiences (he used to go to jazz clubs with his mom, and a cousin took him to a club in Chicago to see a punk rock band when he was 13), Scream (his first band), Nirvana, Foo Fighters, marriage and fatherhood (three daughters, now aged 7 to 15) and more. Some of the stories are poignant, some hilarious. Along the way, there are cameo appearances by/anecdotes about the likes of Iggy Pop, former President George W. Bush, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Neil Young, AC/DC... "Bedtime Stories with Joan Jett," anyone??
And yes, he writes about the death of Kurt Cobain -- but also about the similarly premature death of his friend Jimmy Swanson, turning the chapter into a lovely meditation on surviving grief and loss.
Nirvana/Foo Fighter/Grohl fans will love this book, I'm sure -- but if you grew up in the 1970s, or if you like music, or memoirs, or just plain old great writing, you should pick it up too. It's a fabulous read! (As I said, I knew I was going to love it. I did!)
I would also recommend that you follow Grohl's Instagram account "Dave's True Stories" for more great stories, including some that didn't make it into the book.
Likewise, when Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl formed a new band called Foo Fighters in the aftermath of Cobain's 1994 suicide, I was aware of it (that weird name...!), but didn't really follow them that closely. I think I gradually became aware of Grohl as a personality, before the Foo Fighters' music. I saw him interviewed several times, and read some of the articles he's written -- including one of several he's done for The Atlantic, about public school teachers (his mom was one of them). (She wrote her own book before he did, interviewing other rock stars' moms. I'd love to read that one too!) He impressed me as being funny and thoughtful and eloquent -- and, at times, hilariously profane. :) The more I heard about and from him, the more I liked the guy.
And then I heard he'd written a book as a project to keep himself occupied during the pandemic. (So, one good thing that came out of covid...!)
"The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music" is not a memoir in the usual narrative sense ("and then this happened..."). It unfolds more or less chronologically, but it's more like a series of short stories/vignettes from Grohl's life, making it very easy to dip in & out of.
I strongly suspected, the minute I heard about this book, that I was going to love it -- and the minute I opened the first page and started reading, I KNEW I was going to love it.
I did. :)
The book covers his childhood (in a typical 1970s suburban neighbourhood in Virginia, near Washington, D.C.), early musical experiences (he used to go to jazz clubs with his mom, and a cousin took him to a club in Chicago to see a punk rock band when he was 13), Scream (his first band), Nirvana, Foo Fighters, marriage and fatherhood (three daughters, now aged 7 to 15) and more. Some of the stories are poignant, some hilarious. Along the way, there are cameo appearances by/anecdotes about the likes of Iggy Pop, former President George W. Bush, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Neil Young, AC/DC... "Bedtime Stories with Joan Jett," anyone??
And yes, he writes about the death of Kurt Cobain -- but also about the similarly premature death of his friend Jimmy Swanson, turning the chapter into a lovely meditation on surviving grief and loss.
Nirvana/Foo Fighter/Grohl fans will love this book, I'm sure -- but if you grew up in the 1970s, or if you like music, or memoirs, or just plain old great writing, you should pick it up too. It's a fabulous read! (As I said, I knew I was going to love it. I did!)
I would also recommend that you follow Grohl's Instagram account "Dave's True Stories" for more great stories, including some that didn't make it into the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Vomit
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