Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

11 reviews

pkucin01's review

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adventurous emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0


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mx_sunshine's review

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funny inspiring medium-paced

3.75

This book made me a Dave Grohl fan. Listening to him narrate the audiobook was a real treat. I really appreciate the time he took to pen and share his stories. I’ve never laughed out loud multiple times while reading. I had to pause the audiobook at one point because I was laughing so hard.
I also found his outlook on life and grief is very inspiring. I love how much he loves fatherhood and how much he appreciates his Mother.
I loved learning about his story and in turn the stories of Scream, Nirvana, and the Foo Fighters. But I was surprised that he went into more detail about his time with in Scream then in the Foo Fighters. Maybe he is tired of talking about it? There were many stories about him interacting with famous celebrities. I don’t think I learned about his current band mates until the end of the book.

My only gripe about this book was the amount of times he repeated himself. Like there were very specific sentences be reused multiple times within a chapter. Looking back on it, perhaps it was an attempt to insert a “chorus” but it came off as irritating to me. It comes off as an author that doesn’t trust the reader to understand. Instead the author is really trying to make a point or force a moral into the story.
He’s obviously not a writer but he is a great storyteller. He achieved what he set out to do. That’s a small style choice I didn’t enjoy although I understand the intended effect. 
I came out of this book with a lot of admiration for Dave Grohl. I really enjoyed listening to his audiobook and would recommend it to fans who already enjoy his work.

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amelody's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Essential reading for artists, writers, performers, and of course, for any former grunge kid.

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loey_h's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0


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juzabatiero's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

5.0


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kkalicky94's review

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

5.0


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pizzasprite's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.5


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karapillar's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0


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kaiouelios's review

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adventurous inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0


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loribeth1961's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

By the time Nirvana hit the big time in the early 1990s, I was in my 30s and starting to lose touch a little with what was considered currently popular in music. I knew who Nirvana was, of course (you couldn't miss "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the song or the video, if you were around back then) and I even knew enough about the band to remark to my husband that we were passing through Kurt Cobain's hometown, when a road trip from my great-aunt's home near Seattle to the Oregon coast in 1993 took us through Aberdeen, Washington... but I can't say I was a big fan or follower. (I actually like/appreciate their music more these days than I did back then.)

Likewise, when Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl formed a new band called Foo Fighters in the aftermath of Cobain's 1994 suicide, I was aware of it (that weird name...!), but didn't really follow them that closely. I think I gradually became aware of Grohl as a personality, before the Foo Fighters' music. I saw him interviewed several times, and read some of the articles he's written -- including one of several he's done for The Atlantic, about public school teachers (his mom was one of them). (She wrote her own book before he did, interviewing other rock stars' moms. I'd love to read that one too!) He impressed me as being funny and thoughtful and eloquent -- and, at times, hilariously profane. :) The more I heard about and from him, the more I liked the guy.

And then I heard he'd written a book as a project to keep himself occupied during the pandemic. (So, one good thing that came out of covid...!)

"The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music" is not a memoir in the usual narrative sense ("and then this happened..."). It unfolds more or less chronologically, but it's more like a series of short stories/vignettes from Grohl's life, making it very easy to dip in & out of.

I strongly suspected, the minute I heard about this book, that I was going to love it -- and the minute I opened the first page and started reading, I KNEW I was going to love it.

I did. :)

The book covers his childhood (in a typical 1970s suburban neighbourhood in Virginia, near Washington, D.C.), early musical experiences (he used to go to jazz clubs with his mom, and a cousin took him to a club in Chicago to see a punk rock band when he was 13), Scream (his first band), Nirvana, Foo Fighters, marriage and fatherhood (three daughters, now aged 7 to 15) and more. Some of the stories are poignant, some hilarious. Along the way, there are cameo appearances by/anecdotes about the likes of Iggy Pop, former President George W. Bush, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Neil Young, AC/DC... "Bedtime Stories with Joan Jett," anyone??

And yes, he writes about the death of Kurt Cobain -- but also about the similarly premature death of his friend Jimmy Swanson, turning the chapter into a lovely meditation on surviving grief and loss.

Nirvana/Foo Fighter/Grohl fans will love this book, I'm sure -- but if you grew up in the 1970s, or if you like music, or memoirs, or just plain old great writing, you should pick it up too. It's a fabulous read! (As I said, I knew I was going to love it. I did!)

I would also recommend that you follow Grohl's Instagram account "Dave's True Stories" for more great stories, including some that didn't make it into the book.

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