Within the first few pages of this memoir, former Guns N' Roses bass player Duff McKagan is on the verge of death after crippling alcoholism caused his pancreas to swell to the size of a football and burst. But before McKagan revisits that rock-bottom moment and the spiritual and physical redemption that followed it, he explains how he came to be in the ER at 30 years of age, impervious to morphine and begging his doctor to kill him.
That story starts with a punk-rock youth in Seattle, a move to Los Angeles at 20 and a want ad for a bassist placed by someone named "Slash." A couple of years later, after rigorous rehearsing and even more rigorous partying, Guns N' Roses was playing sold-out stadiums. But conflicts within the band--largely spurred by Axl Rose's notorious antics--were amplified by drug abuse and shoddy management. As the band fell apart, so did McKagan, and he slipped deeper into a soul-crushing addiction and misery that nearly killed him.
But it didn't, and 17 years later, McKagan is not only frontman of the band Loaded, but also a husband, father, Seattle University student and wealth-management consultant for other musicians.
in a book that mourns friendships and talent lost to drugs, his transformation is a relief and an inspiration. McKagan writes with honesty and even humility, seemingly refreshingly devoid of rock star egomania. But though his recounting of his supposed glory days is decidedly unglamorous, there are still plenty of wild stories of debauched rock 'n' roll excess for anyone looking to live vicariously. --Hannah Calkins, blogger at Unpunished Vice