It's So Easy and Other Lies by Duff McKagan

There have been many books written about the rise and fall of the original Guns and Roses, some very good others less so. This book falls into the first category, written by a true insider it details the journey that McKagan took from an ordinary boyhood in a family riven with great values and work ethic and ended up a drug addled, alcoholic in the one of the greatest bands of our time, to say that death knocked on Duff's door is a major understatement.
A very honest book written by a man who for all the ups and downs his golden journey took, doesn't point fingers or play the blame game. He paints a picture that resonates with the power and warning of how little steps can lead to major downfall and how for all the values his loving and hardworking parents instilled in him, addiction and illness took the upper hand when given the lead. This book rolls along nicely, its narrative is simple and yet the complexities of a life surrounded with fame, money, alcohol, drugs, fighting, bickering, sex and music are all there as the course is chartered and the reality unfolds. A reality that cost a number of lives and has continuing consequences for the members of this band and many who were touched by their light, sobriety versus death is not an easy equation to balance.
Gritty and real yet honest and enlightening, this is a book that takes you deep into the workings of an industry that really tends to be all glitz and no heart.
McKagan takes you right into the heart of Guns and Roses, which while a many splendored and talented vessel, left a pile of carnage and a body of amazing music. McKagan himself, a happy family man these days strikes me as having a Big Heart indeed. Well worth reading.

Lady Blue Eyes, My Life With Frank...by Barbara Sinatra.

Being married to old Blue Eyes was no piece of cake, despite the perks. Without doubt the most talented performer to have ever graced a stage, Frank was mercurial, temperamental and volatile to say the lest and managing him was not an easy task at all. Written with Wendy Holden this is an easy read, packed full of gossip and stories from The Old Hollywood, the days of Dean, Sammy, Liza and the gang it is rather witty and entertaining.It was an adventure that took a very pretty young girl from a small town in Missouri to California and via her second marriage to Zeppo Marx into the league of high rollers, with a talent for all things good, expensive and gracious she was propelled into a world that exceeding every expectation she dreamed of. I much admired her honesty in the portrait she drew of Frank, it would have been very easy to candy coat everything but she doesn`t although reality may have been stretched to fit desire in some places. Her devotion to her son Bobby is very admirable but the total exclusion of Sinatra`s daughters Nancy and Tina is a little petty and childish however the choice is hers and she has been written about by both girls in what she may have seen as an unfair manner(evil stepmother etc..)she doesn`t resort to bitchiness where they are concerned and does speak of Frank Jr. This is a book that had alot of humour in it and she doesn`t spare herself...I chuckled at the story she told of Frank working on a movie,the Director approached Frank and told him that they would have to work all weekend as they were 5 days behind schedule, Frank takes the script, rips out 5 pages and says Look, we are now right on schedule! Well what could the Director say to that!
A tale well told, this book is presently only available here in hard cover but when in soft cover it would make a fabulous gift for anyone interested in the Sinatra era or old Hollywood and the people who were a part of it. Equally you could order it from an Indie at a good price while the dollar is high and give it to someone you love for Xmas!

Currently Reading....A Visit From the Goon Squad

Written by Jennifer Egan, this book so far ticks a number of boxes with me:

Hooks you in,

Uses words to paint a picture in your mind of both places and characters and their circumstances,past and present.

Uses humour as an antidote to the misery of her somewhat of beat characters reality, so far...its excellent.

AND it has a gorgeous cover!

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Patti Smith has the distinction of being the only poet I can stand! And look at what she did with Bruce Springsteen's Because the Night...in this sparse, lyrical, loving and moving memoir of her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe she manages to honour both Mapplethorpe and herself, yet she is unstinting in her critique, doesn't bow to convention and forgives on a scale that most of us can only imagine.
Her rendering of New York in the 80's is a delight and takes you places you can only dream about. There were parts of this book that were not an easy read, parts make you squeamish but it is the type of book that is so searingly honest that only tears will allow you to release the emotions that are invoked, tears of both anger and pity and topped with a dose of love especially for the doomed Robert and the now revered Patti. This book is in every Top Ten List so far and last week won the Non-Fiction category of The National Book Awards, an amazing achievement by a woman who for many years described herself as a Detroit Wife and Mother, she certainly knows the meaning of the words love and loss.