CBR11 Bingo Pajiba square.
I had read glowing write-ups of this book seemingly everywhere. An oral history of a fictional band did not seem at all interesting to me- I tend to ignore oral histories even of bands/movies/shows I have loved- but the rave reviews had my interest piqued.
I’m so glad I got over myself.
As I said, the book is written as an oral history provided by the members of the band, “the Six” as well as singer Daisy Jones, their management, family members, and journalists that covered them at the time. It is told chronologically from the formation of The Six to the addition of singer Daisy Jones to the sudden dissolution of the band several years later. Each band member gets their say in what went right- and eventually wrong- with the band.
The characters are so human- vulnerable, egotistical, repentant, brash, frustrating- that I sometimes forgot I was reading about a fictional band. The members of the Six get their big break and have a successful album before they ever really encounter big trouble. With a move to California and the stress of touring in support of their album, the rock star lifestyle begins to be too much for lead singer Billy Dunne. His spiral in to drugs and rehab nearly derail all of the band’s plans, but he cleans up to be able to be a father to his newborn daughter and a husband to his wife Camila. Daisy Jones has been around the rock scene her whole life and is tired of being the muse rather than getting credit for her own work. A producer brings her in for a song with the Six and it does so well that she tours with them. Her own wild habits clash with Billy’s hard-fought sobriety and the end is in sight even as the band really begins to gel.
I wish that this band had actually put out these albums. I found myself trying to work out melodies to the lyrics, but I haven’t quite got them satisfactory yet.
I found myself really invested in the happiness of the characters (except Eddie, that guy sucks). One mis-step, in my opinion, is the revelation of the identity of the interviewer. I found that to be very disappointing- after all the honesty and emotion of the book, to suddenly think that it had actually been censored for the benefit of the interviewer was a let down. And then, again, I had to remind myself that these were not real people.