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A review by mrsbooknerd
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
3.0
There were some elements of this autobiography that I thoroughly enjoyed. Grohl really is a fantastic Storyteller, and the book reflects his passion for music tangibly. He creates such vivid images with his words that at times I felt that I was at a screaming gig with the music pumping through speakers so loudly it is vibrating my bones. Likewise, there are some relationships where you can feel the depth of connection that Grohl has with that person, his daughters, his mother, Jimmy etc.
Where I think it falters is in the elements that aren't in the autobiography. At the start it is fairly chronological and personal, but this swiftly moves from the rigid chronology to a more themed approach, until by the end it is literally just chapters of important people and events that don't appear to be in any order at all, but were just great stories and shoehorned into the book.
Alongside the slipping chronology, I felt that some of the personal elements disappeared too. It did really become a biography of Grohl's career rather than the personal with the exception of his little girl's arrivals - and wow how he captures his love for them here.
At one point he mentioned that his first marriage was breaking down and I had to go back because I was convinced I must have missed something because it hadn't been mentioned thwt he was even married. Whole chunks of history like that were just missing. Sometimes references were made to a person or event in one chapter without context and then the context would come several chapters later so I got quite confused about who was alive or influential in his life when.
I suppose for me it lost its focus. Was it the chronological telling of Grohl's life and career (maybe if there was a lot then 2 books would have worked better to ensure context and detail was included) or was it a sort of 'greatest hits' storytelling session which just picked out the highlights, which would have worked well and then I'd have known not to expect the year to year accounting and could move with the flow more.
Where I think it falters is in the elements that aren't in the autobiography. At the start it is fairly chronological and personal, but this swiftly moves from the rigid chronology to a more themed approach, until by the end it is literally just chapters of important people and events that don't appear to be in any order at all, but were just great stories and shoehorned into the book.
Alongside the slipping chronology, I felt that some of the personal elements disappeared too. It did really become a biography of Grohl's career rather than the personal with the exception of his little girl's arrivals - and wow how he captures his love for them here.
At one point he mentioned that his first marriage was breaking down and I had to go back because I was convinced I must have missed something because it hadn't been mentioned thwt he was even married. Whole chunks of history like that were just missing. Sometimes references were made to a person or event in one chapter without context and then the context would come several chapters later so I got quite confused about who was alive or influential in his life when.
I suppose for me it lost its focus. Was it the chronological telling of Grohl's life and career (maybe if there was a lot then 2 books would have worked better to ensure context and detail was included) or was it a sort of 'greatest hits' storytelling session which just picked out the highlights, which would have worked well and then I'd have known not to expect the year to year accounting and could move with the flow more.