Book Review: Daisy Jones & The Six

 

•  Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Where I bought this book: The Book Loft, Columbus, Ohio 

• Why I bought this book: I read another book by the author, and my daughter recommended this one

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    The faux oral history style is a wonderful way to tell this story. It was like reading a long, detailed magazine article about a defining moment in the history of rock and roll. A friend of mine said after reading the book, she googled the band to learn more about it.

 

    Yep, it seems that real.

    Of course, it's nothing of the sort; rather it is the imaginings of a creative mind who took a tale and ran with it.

    Part of the fun of the book is trying to figure who, if anyone, the characters are based on. Daisy, of course, has shades of Janis Joplin in her soul. But Billy Dunne, the founder and lead singer of The Six? Well, I am far from being an expert in the history of '70s rock, but every time I thought of someone he might resemble, I shook my head and moved on. Maybe a little? I thought. But whom am I leaving out, if not most of the era's rock stars?

    So I took the tale as it was, an overview of a band that started slow, pulsed and throbbed for a while before it hit the big time, and then moved on. It's a good story, done well. The almost realism gives it a special glow.

    Of course, the tale of a big-time rock band leaves little out of the mixture: drugs abound, talent and fragile egos go hand-in-hand, a rock-solid spouse holds things together. But morals come into play -- deep down, despite their problems and failings and weakness, these are generally good people.