My family users this book all the time. Our child pulls it off the shelf for songs regularly, and she always loves the stories we read for the sabbatsMy family users this book all the time. Our child pulls it off the shelf for songs regularly, and she always loves the stories we read for the sabbats....more
Maynard is a genius, and I absolutely love his work. I've been listening to Tool for more than a decade, and I've checked out APC and Pucifer as well.Maynard is a genius, and I absolutely love his work. I've been listening to Tool for more than a decade, and I've checked out APC and Pucifer as well. All of his work is thoughtful and cerebral. It stretches me as a listener and a thinker, and it sounds good.
Now that I have gotten that out, I need to point out that this book is definitely not an autobiography. Maynard may be quoted here and there, but he did not write this book. The writing is pretty halting and stilted, boring in places, and Jerger clearly worships Maynard. There were more than a few moments where I laughed out loud because of Jerger's over-the-top descriptions of Maynards achievements.
Who knows, though, maybe he does do everything perfectly right the first time (doubtful). But what I would find more interesting than all of the things he did right, is all of the things he did wrong (none of which were included in this book). I'd love to hear about the wrong turns he took while driving across the country, the fights he had with his roommates about his aviary or dirty socks, the songs that never went anywhere, and the legal battles he fought with Volcano. I feel like this book was half-finished—Jerger got an incomplete story, or maybe Maynard should have waited a few more years to write it.
My favorite part of the book was when Maynard and Tom Morello's stories became intertwined as they both explored music together in L.A. (obviously Marnard basically started RATM *eye roll*). I also enjoyed the portions about Maynard's interest in martial arts and sacred geometry. These parts actually felt real. The whole last section about the vinyard was long and pretty boring. I was hoping to read about how Maynard FELT about digging in the dirt and how he knows what to do with a grape, but that isn't in the book. Instead, I learned that he uses lots of people to make his vinyard work. Cool. That makes sense.
I am still happy that I read it, and I didn't hate the book, but I do hope he tries again and maybe writes it himself. I bet he would be really good at it....more
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