Backstage Pass
by Staff -- Publishers Weekly, 12/6/2004
Blame it on Marilyn Manson. Rockers let it all hang out this year with accounts of drug addiction, heartbreak, foursomes, epiphanies and A&R ledgers. Here's a rundown of some of the bestsellers.
Chronicles, Volume 1
Bob Dylan (S&S)
Dylan declares that he was "indifferent to wealth and love." After reading his adoring riffs on folk and blues men, you just might believe him. An instant classic.
Scar Tissue
Anthony Kiedis with Larry Ratso Sloman (Hyperion)
Pops turned him on to drugs when he was still in elementary school, but Red Hot Chili Peppers' Kiedis's 12-stepping ways have helped him compose a mea culpa of surprising clarity. The biggest surprise: great concert descriptions.
Tommyland
Tommy Lee with Anthony Bozza (Atria)
The Möltey Crüe drummer offers a triple-X account of his escapades with porn stars, band mates and ex-wives Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson. Not to be missed: Lee's list of books "that moved me."
Don't Try This at Home
Dave Navarro with Neil Strauss (Regan)
His days with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction may be over, but in this self-aggrandizing scrapbook Navarro shows that he can still rock the "troubled boy" angle with the needles, the hookers and the groupies. And there's a happy ending, too.
