Another of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Book Club picks strikes again. This is definitely a page turner and a great summer read. Might I also recommend having some good 60’s rock ‘n roll playing in the background as well? Sit under the umbrella or with an umbrella in your cocktail and enjoy.
The basic plot here is pretty straight forward. A band from Pittsburgh called The Six and a singer songwriter named Daisy Jones come together to record a duet and the rest is history. A meteoric rise into stardom, the predictable quibbling of band members that feel upstaged by the singers and the eventual dismantling of the band are examined through a series of recorded interviews. The interviews take place years after the events with each member of the band, their manager, record label executives, friends and family members.
As the reporter plots out the history of how The Six and Daisy Jones came to be, a story about dynamic personalities and the hold that they can have over family and friends, over audiences and at times, even over themselves begins to shine through. We have all known people that can just walk into a room an immediately command attention without asking for it. Those who seem effortlessly talented or interesting or smart.
Of course, our heroes and heroines need to be flawed. In the world of rock ‘n roll this stereotypically means excess, substance abuse and infidelity. Reid, however, approaches their “predictable” struggles in a more unpredictable way. There are no cut and dried Yokos or long suffering and disgruntled wives lurking in the background. No wide-eyed ingénues that never get out from under destructive relationships. Drug and alcohol problems don’t necessarily take the same forms or travel the same paths as you might expect. It’s a familiar song sung to a different tune.
The relationships that form between a group of people who experience the wonder of creating something together that moves others is a bond few people experience. The preciousness of that is not lost here. It’s a great book to while away the afternoon and is as entertaining as it is thoughtful.
