Originally Posted by
Grey Sadler
Ohhh kay...finished the book this evening...how do I put this??
I tried to read the whole thing objectively. I haven't read Eliot's book but I have skimmed it, and I wasn't too pleased. Then I found out some of the "fact-checking" for Don's book came from that one...which will be next on my Eagles reading list (but seriously...how the heck old was Randy when he had his first son, 15 or 17??!!??)
I tried not to read many of the other posts...I tried not to even read the Amazon reviews...but I caved...still trying to be objective...I just can't help but analyze the writing style, he and his co-author seem so...choppy...several typos/mistakes (the 60s were not the Me Generation, were they??)...seems like Don't writing/tone progressed from "high school Senior term paper for Honors English" to quite angrily articulate by the end...
I did enjoy the chapters about his upbringing. I grew up in a single-wide trailer beside my grandparents' house, virtually dirt poor for a time--I empathize with Don there. I enjoyed the parts about learning guitar and starting his early bands. I liked the human part of Don...the father that wished he was at home more and I'm sorry his marriage had to suffer and finally break down.
But what of "The Gods"?? I know the Boys were no angels (especially Glenn), but then, neither was Don F. He likens himself to a battered wife, and maybe that was the case. I do not choose to pick sides in this "battle" though...if anything (even as much as I like Glenn), I might probably be on "Team Meisner"!!
I kept reminding myself "this is just one side, one story"...and I await Glenn and Don's respective memoirs. Funny thing, a lot of you may not know my other favorite band/fandom is KISS (strange, eh?). I could go on for hours about how I see parallels between the two bands (how Randy/Bernie were treated vs. Eric Carr...Don going through a lawyer vs. Ace/Peter doing the same...two band members coming to the forefront...etc etc...)
Speaking of KISS...when Gene & Paul were in the predecessor band Wicked Lester, they recorded a song that speaks to me right now..."what happens in the darkness/will surely reach the light of day". So, I'm waiting...I get the feeling Glenn & Henley will be competing to see who gets their "book" out first...Joe might produce a roller-coaster of a memoir...I wonder if Bernie has much to say about any of it all. I wish Randy could speak for himself, I get the sad feeling that that ain't happening...
...just my $0.02...