The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl - Book Review by Susan Harris

These memories, from all over my life, are full of music, of course.
​And they can be loud at times. 
​Turn it up. Listen with me.

​Susan Harris is a writer from Cork, Ireland and when she’s not torturing her readers with heart-wrenching plot twists or killer cliffhangers, she’s probably getting some new book related ink, binging her latest TV or music obsession, or with her nose in a book. She is a proud founding Member of the Muser VIPers and is responsible for Melanie not breaking the Website on an almost daily basis!
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You can check out all her books on Amazon HERE
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About The Book
So, I’ve written a book.
 
Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities (‘It’s a piece of cake! Just do four hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!’), I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I’ve recorded and can’t wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child. 
 
This certainly doesn’t mean that I’m quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it’s like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters…the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement. 

Susan's Review

Standalone or series?
This is a standalone biography of the life and music of Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters

How did I get this book?
I purchased the hardcover edition.

Why did I choose to read  this book?
 Anyone who knows me, knows how much of a Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters fan I am and I was so excited to finally have the gospel according to Grohl in my possession so I could continue to preach the word of the Foo Fighters lol


And Now To The Review!

First Impressions:
I'm not usually a big biography reader but I found Dave's stories entertaining, surprising and inspirational.

General Review
The book gives you an in depth look at how Dave went through live, from his early days to Nirvana, and to a chance sighting in the backass of nowhere in Kerry in Ireland with a Nirvana wearing hitchhiker that pushed him back to music after Kurt's death and essentially was the beginning of what would be the Foo Fighters.

“One day I was driving down this country road and I saw a hitchhiker in the middle of nowhere. And as I got closer, I realized that he was wearing a Kurt Cobain T-shirt,” he says. “And it was that moment that I decided, OK, I'm going to start over.”

The way Dave has written the book, it's easy to forget how much of a rock god he is and the reader gets to experience just how much of a music fan he is, and like any of us who might one day get to meet our music heroes, we get to read when he first met Paul McCartney, ACDC, Little Richard and even having Joan Jett read his daughters a bedtime story.

"For, in a world full of Barbie's, every girl needs a Joan Jett."

He talks candidly about the loss of Kurt Cobain, his best friend and his father, and you get to see just how much of an epic girldad he is. I loved all the behind the scenes little peaks at how normal a dad he was....  if you can call having family time with a Beatle normal that is.

My hero in the book has to be Dave's mom. I mean, there are not a lot of parents who would give their seventeen year old permission to leave school to become a rockstar and Dave's relationship with his mother, calling her his best friend, was one of the many heartwarming stories in the book.

I laughed and I cried reading the autobiography.

I'm a lover quotes from books and poems and there were a few the resonated with me while reading the book and I've shared some in this review.

This book is perfect for any music fans, even is you've never listened to Nirvana or The Foo Fighters.
(But you really should!)

Final Thoughts
I loved learning all about the life and times of Dave Grohl, and I always thought he was like the nicest guy in rock n' roll and now this book proves it!!

Rating:
An Easy 5 Stars for me …but I'd read or listen to anything from Dave Grohl!

​Melanie Here - The Code Word For This Article Is Rockstar

I have always measured my life in musical increments rather than months or years. My mind faithfully relies on songs, albums, and bands to remember a particular time and place. From seventies AM radio to every microphone I’ve stood before, I could tell you who, what, where, and when from the first few notes of any song that has crept from a speaker to my soul. Or from my soul to your speakers. Some people’s reminiscence is triggered by taste, some people’s by sight or smell. Mine is triggered by sound, playing like an unfinished mixtape to be sent.

Life is just too damn short to let someone else’s opinion steer the wheel