
This week I checked “A Celebrity Memoir” off my 2019 reading challenge list. Technically, the book is about fictitious celebrities but I’m still gonna count it because y’all…it was phenomenal. And I like checking things off lists.
I fell in love with Taylor Jenkin’s Reid after devouring The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (possibly my favorite book published in the last 4 years) and when I heard she had another coming out, I knew I was going to buy it no matter the topic. And I did. And it was great.
Daisy Jones & The Six is written in an interview style and tells the story of one of the hottest (fictitious) rock ‘n’ roll bands of the 70’s. It has everything you’d expect – drugs, sex, drama, music, love – and although it’s delivered in an untraditional format, Reid cleverly presents readers with a story of intrigue, heartache, and fame that made me laugh and cry at the same time. I cry at some point during most novels so that’s not a great measure of emotional weight, but any book that makes me actually laugh out loud gets 5/5 stars in my book-book.
The funny thing about this book is that there isn’t really a plot. I mean Of course there’s some kind of plot because it’s a well written novel, but it almost feels like reading a really long magazine interview-style article. So, there’s structure and a timeline as you learn about Daisy Jones & The Six getting together and all that but there’s no one true climax. And surprisingly, it totally works.
My favorite part about this writing format was the author’s ability to tell the story from multiple points of view all at once. It’s written as interview quotes spliced together so even though the characters weren’t all interviewed at once, you’ll get commentary from all of them at the same time about one event. This is where a great deal of humor comes in as you see the juxtaposition people remembering events differently or giving details that others missed.
I also loved it because it’s a quick read and easy to put down. Because of the fluid interview style, I was able to set it down whenever I needed to (to attend to “real” responsibilities – ugh) and pick it back up without feeling lost. As a last semester grad student, I needed an easy read.
Other than just being a great story, this book really hits home the idea that imperfection is difficult and perfection is impossible. As you might have guessed, each of the characters has their own issues (drugs, booze, drugs, love, drugs – you get the idea) and is looking for something in life; they’re all striving to be something more or something different.
Finding peace with our imperfections is rarely easy, but these qualities are what made them so great, it’s what set them apart. Daisy Jones in particular is a character who owns her self-identity and doesn’t care what anyone thinks, imperfections or not, and becomes a rock star because of it.
A lot of people have talked about a quote from the first part of the book where Daisy says,
“I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse.
I am not the muse.
I am the somebody.”
And I agree, iconic line, but this idea of owning your imperfections has been on my mind a lot recently and there’s a different quote form the end of the book that really resonated with me. Daisy, the Stevie Nicks of this story, is all down in the dumps about her future and someone says to her,
“Don’t count yourself out this early, Daisy. You’re all sorts of things you don’t even know yet.”
And damn y’all, I felt that.
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Aimee Lerman says
Great review – very thorough! I looked hard at this one when choosing my March Book of the Month selection but ultimately went with something else. This might have to be an “extra pick” in my next box.