It's So Easy (and other lies)
The Autobiography
-
-
4.6 • 117 Ratings
-
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
Explosive autobiography of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver bass guitarist Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan was a co-founder of Guns N' Roses, with a 13-year tenure on bass in what was at the time the biggest band on earth. As well as pulling together the classic line-up (Slash on guitar, Steven Adler on drums, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and vocalist Axl Rose), Duff was the unofficial musical director of the band and the most experienced musician, and played bass, drums and guitar, as well as co-writing many of the songs. Over the years, Guns N' Roses have broken many records in rock history - APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION is the most successful debut album in the history of recorded music; the band's 1991 records, USE YOUR ILLUSION parts 1 and 2, debuted at one and two on the album charts, a feat never achieve before or since; and their 28-month ILLUSION world tour is still the longest running concert tour in history.
Duff charts the rise of the group, and his own fall, as with success came heavy drinking and drug use, culminating in his hospitalisation for acute pancreatitis in 1994. Forced to sober up, Duff started taking an interest in business, eventually completing a degree in economics and making a killing on the stock market. He has since worked with Slash in another band, Velvet Revolver, and has continued to play with various artists over the last 15 years.
IT'S SO EASY (AND OTHER LIES) is the explosive memoir of a great rock musician who, against the odds, has lived to tell the tale.
Customer Reviews
A great rock bio! Not exactly what you
Extremely well executed and articulate read from an ultimately inspirational rock and roll survivor. In some ways it may seem like just another warts-and-all bio of one of the guys in the biggest bands (McKagan played bass for Guns n' Roses and Velvet Revolver) outlining the blind ambition, rags to riches, substance abuse hell, near death experience to redemption story that many rock fans are familiar with (most recently Nikki Sixx's best selling Heroin Diaries comes to mind) however, this tale is as compelling and ultimately readable as anything else you will find with some truly unexpected self redemptive turns for the battle worn rocker.
Duff's ability to not only save himself from drug addiction and extreme alcoholism that near ended his life (in a gruesome episode of acute pancreatitis) but to reeducate himself through university and become a martial arts expert, avid mountain biker, marathon runner and financial consultant who dabbles in writing columns for various respected publications as a loving father and husband while still rocking around the globe is overwhelmingly inspirational while seemingly incongruous!
This is a must read not only for Gn'R fans but all those interested in a well written and insightfully transformative yet cautionary tale that cuts into the rock and roll heart of the American dream, and sometimes nightmare.
End of chapter
This is truly an incredibly written book. By far the best writing on GnR's, rock and roll and an ability to move on from something that wasn't working. A must read
Truthful lies
As a teen I grew up idolizing Guns N Roses, I am one of those fans that believed something died when the band imploded. I have read a lot of the books around about Gunners and understand first hand the reality of addiction.
This is a great read, it was hard to put down - but what I did love about this book is it showed all sides of Duff. There were the highs, the lows and all that stuff in between. I was reading about a boy with dreams turning into a man who made those dreams happen cause he learnt to believe in himself and to embrace who he saw in the mirror without substances dulling the life within those eyes.
This is Duff's story and it ends well, recovery gives each addict a chance to start over and live - not live like a suicide!