If You Like Fan Magazines, This Book’s For You
(NOTE: Some of the links in this blog are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase on Amazon. Thank you for supporting my writing in this manner. More details here.)
*****
Daisy Jones & The Six is the name of a fictitious band that we are told rose to prominence in the 1970’s and had a spectacular breakup at a performance in Chicago on July 12, 1979. The book is set in 2012, and even though it is decades later, fans still want to know what caused the abrupt end of such a promising group. Thus, over the course of eight years, a journalist has been trying to get the answer by interviewing former band members, family, friends, and the industry elite who surrounded the group.
To give some hints, the band was formed when a record producer decided that the solo performer, Daisy Jones, and the six members of a band led by Billy Dunne, would be more dynamic if combined. However, since Billy and Daisy were both fabulous singers and song writers, high emotions were bound to enter the scene. Additionally, most artists will tell you that each of their creations is like birthing a baby. So, when single Daisy and married Billy started to create songs together, even more emotion arose.
Billed as an “oral history” whoever was being “interviewed” at the time spoke his/her answer. If you read the book, you would see the interviewee’s name followed by a colon and then his/her remark. If you listened to this book on tape as I did, whenever a new person was being interviewed, there was a new performer reading the part, making the audio book a cast album.
And speaking of albums, as the band writes and tweaks and perfects an entire album of songs through the pages of the book, it’s hard to remember this isn’t a real band creating a real album. It’s heartbreaking NOT to be able to search YouTube to hear that “famous song” performed one more time.
However, the author gives all of the lyrics to the all of the songs at the back of the book. I recognize that this is akin to “just writing” that many poems, but still, it felt like a stunning accomplishment for the author and a real treat for the reader.
If you are a person who ever enjoyed reading a fan magazine or an in-depth interview in People Magazine, this book’s for you.
*****
A final note: A 12-episode adaptation starring Riley Keough, and produced by Reese Witherspoon, is planned sometime in the future. Making that even more enticing is the fact that Riley Keough is the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, and the granddaughter of Elvis.
*****
Like my book reviews? Try my blog! FREE gift to new subscribers: a downloadable booklet of motivational quotes, Some Do’s and Don’ts in Life.
[…] month before reading this book, I read another book by Taylor Jenkins Reid called Daisy Jones & The Six. That one was about a fictitious rock band in the 1970s that had a meteoric rise and […]