The Dirt
Published: 2001
Condition: Acceptable
I don't know if you've read this book or even heard of it, but either way I would advise you to stop what you are doing, go to where you buy your books and order a copy of The Dirt
Seriously, this book is amazing. I was put on to it by a friend who was in turn put on to it by a friend of his. That seems to be the way this book spreads around. I don't actually know any Motley Crue fans, amybe a couple of people who like a few of their songs but no actual fans, but I don't know a single person who has read this book and not loved it.
It's an unrestricted, full on recounting of the lifespan of Motley Crue. Each chapter switches to the perspective of each band member which can offer very diferent views and versions of the same event as it's remembered by differnt people, through different perspectives and with different drink and drug induced binges and manias. The story is wild, completely unpredictable in places and unfortunately for a self destructive rock band with a very real shelf life (a fact that the band themselves are very aware of and dedicate and entire chapter to the brutal nature of living in the music industry), very predictable in others. Ranging from blistering to tragic, hilarious to shocking, infuriating to disbelievable, the story never fails to ebb or lose your interest and even when the band membersacts become unforgivable and their motivations leave you without sympathy you continue to read on in wide eyed fascination at the completely reckless, berserkly hedonistic and moral free lives that these men and the people around them have lived.
Each member of the band is as different as the other and this helps what could have been a story bogged down with never ending stories of excess become a geniunely engaging look into their life as it switches from person to person, Vince and Nikki are dually matching super-ego's, Tommy is a soft touch who just wants to find love and Mick Mars is a man on his own. The less said about Mick's story the better, suffice to say that the lack of empathy I felt for him radically changes in the space of just a page or two as his inner demons are revealed.
Expertly handled and written by Neil Strauss, The Dirt should be part of everyones reading list and if you have it on your to read list, bump it to the very top. I would be surprised if after reading it you didn't pick it up again next year just to revisit the insane lives these guys have lived.
One of my all time favourite books, and I've never listened to a single Motley Crue album.