Duff McKagan's Book 'It's So Easy (And Other Lies)'; First 9 Chapters Posted

[FunkyMonkey]

Here's the cover of the book.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2011/05/hey_get_a_load_of_duffs_memoir.php

[dont_damn_me]

Slash's book started in the mid-2000's and then went back to the beginning too. It's the trick that's used a lot in books and movies all over the place. Start with something dramatic, and then show how you got there after the opening credits. (See Mission: Impossible III).

It could be what you said, but I'm fully expecting it to work like that. I think when he says it's not a "tell all" book, it just means the focus will be on him and him alone without going into some of the other shit that went on.

I wouldn't be telling people to see mission impossible 3.. that movie sucked 

im pretty suprised that duff hasn't read steven's book, especially if he's writing his own - as if it wouldn't be a great source for SOME memories. I really get the vibe that Slash and Duff KIND OF don't give a shit about steven, they kind of think he's a joke/drummer's aren't that important in a band. Especially after some of the stuff steven said in his book..
You know as honest & nice as these guys might be/seem to be, they will always tend to see themselves as better than they were in history. I'll be interested to see how Duff thinks he treated steven...

I have to agree, I was surprised when Duff said he hadn't read Steve's book, all the books Duff talks about reading, and he can't find a few hours to read his old pals book about their times together!? and i also got the same impression that the others looked at Steve as less important, sad really, stevie is awsome. Looking forward to reading Duffs!!

[LunsJail]

Slash's book started in the mid-2000's and then went back to the beginning too. It's the trick that's used a lot in books and movies all over the place. Start with something dramatic, and then show how you got there after the opening credits. (See Mission: Impossible III).

It could be what you said, but I'm fully expecting it to work like that. I think when he says it's not a "tell all" book, it just means the focus will be on him and him alone without going into some of the other shit that went on.

I wouldn't be telling people to see mission impossible 3.. that movie sucked 

im pretty suprised that duff hasn't read steven's book, especially if he's writing his own - as if it wouldn't be a great source for SOME memories. I really get the vibe that Slash and Duff KIND OF don't give a shit about steven, they kind of think he's a joke/drummer's aren't that important in a band. Especially after some of the stuff steven said in his book..
You know as honest & nice as these guys might be/seem to be, they will always tend to see themselves as better than they were in history. I'll be interested to see how Duff thinks he treated steven...

I have to agree, I was surprised when Duff said he hadn't read Steve's book, all the books Duff talks about reading, and he can't find a few hours to read his old pals book about their times together!? and i also got the same impression that the others looked at Steve as less important, sad really, stevie is awsome. Looking forward to reading Duffs!!

Sometimes it might just be about wanting to remember history your own way and not rehash everything through someone's book that's obviously going to contain some sour grapes considering how he was ousted from the band. Have you ever admired someone but avoid situations where they're probably going to get on your nerves? Not reading Steven's book might be like that.

Also, some of these guys might not be as interested in reliving history in their free time as us fans are. They write these books because it's a nice paycheck.

[FunkyMonkey]

A short message from Duff:

Guns N' Roses founding member Duff McKagan welcomes BEA visitors. Look for his memoir --IT'S SO EASY and other lies-- on sale 10/4/2011. Duff shares the story of his rise to the pinnacle of fame and fortune with the band, his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his unusual path to sobriety, and success as a savvy business investor and loving husband, and father.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XyO-EvFVIQ

[FunkyMonkey]

Duff's column this week:

Ain't No Business Like Book Business

By Duff McKagan, Thu., May 26 2011

A many of you very well know, I am a die-hard and hardcore book-nerd. Some of you may also be aware that I have been writing a book over the last year or so. The book, It's So Easy, is done, and has a release date now of October 4, 2011.
Cool enough. But now all of real fun begins. It is time now, for me and Touchstone/ Simon & Schuster, to actually go out and try to sell this book to all of the different booksellers out there.

Book Expo America has been taking place in New York all week. This is a closed convention, where all of the different large and small publishers show their new wares to buyers like Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon, Costco, Target, Hudson (you know, the stores at the airports), as well as all of the independent bookstores like Elliott Bay, Powell's, and the like.

For my book--and what is a common practice--they made up what's called a "catalogue copy"; mine is the first 9 chapters and the prologue to my book. It's pretty cool to actually see all of my solitary work actually coming to an endgame.

The night before my signing at the Expo, my senior editor and her staff at Simon & Schuster threw a cocktail party in my honor at a fancy restaurant in Manhattan called Lamb (so damn posh, right?). It was actually one of the sweetest things I've ever been too.

The publishing community is VERY different from the music community...or probably to be more exact--the publishing community is like some wonderfully kitschy and nerdy indie movie. The mood and personality that filled the room at this cocktail party in my honor was really not unlike the mood that we strike here in the comments section of this column: Interesting, thoughtful, smart, nerdy, and diverse.

I have been trained to be a little (OK, a LOT) dubious of rock and roll press. They always want "the dirt," or are looking for some snidely and wise-ass way to catch me off-guard or mis-quote me so that it seems much bolder and dumber than the things that they actually ask me about. And there was press at this cocktail party.

I quickly pulled my editor to the side and frantically told here that I didn't know that the press would be here at this party, and that I didn't want to talk to them at the risk of being miss-quoted for the umpteenth time. She looked at me quizzically, and stated that "The publishing press would never dream of doing something like that!" Yeah, I guess Kirkus Reviews and the book side of Associated Press and whatnot, just don't want the dirt. The publishing industry, it turns out, is just still a quaint little field, that is still in the business of actually being excited about new things, and press and all of the different publishing companies are still in the business of helping each other out. They want their industry to be strong, and there just really doesn't seem to be any sort of under-handedness and BS happening behind the scenes. This may seem like a bold statement from a neophyte like me, but I am pretty sure that I am right on this fact.

At dinner after the party, I sat with a few of the mucky-mucks from S&S. We were talking about books we had been reading. I had just finished One Bullet Away by Nate Fick, and one of the gentlemen that I was sitting with had edited that book. Yeah, that's right, for a book nerd like me, that was like sitting with the guy who had just produced the latest Rolling Stones record. Pretty cool.

At the Book Expo, I signed copies of my 'catalogue copy' for a thronging line of like-minded book nerds. There were a lot of people from other publishing companies, book buyers for larger and small stores, and librarians (even one from our own downtown Seattle Public Library).

The one big difference--and I must say that I WAS a tad crestfallen--was that none of them asked for me to sign their tits.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2011/05/aint_no_business_like_book_bus.php

[FunkyMonkey]

Book Description:

A founding member of Guns N? Roses shares the story of his rise to the pinnacle of fame and fortune with the band, his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, his unusual path to sobriety, and success as a savvy business investor and loving husband and father.

In 1984, at the age of twenty, Duff McKagan left his native Seattle?partly to pursue a music career but mainly to get away from a host of heroin overdoses then decimating his closest group of friends in the local punk scene. In L.A. only a few weeks and still living in his car, he answered a want ad for a bass player put out by someone who identified himself only as ?Slash.? Soon after, Guns N? Roses, the ground-breaking hard rock band that went on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide, was born.

In It?s So Easy, Duff recounts Guns? unlikely trajectory to global acclaim: the near-homeless years when they played gigs in exchange for free beer; the creative collaboration that led to the writing of their biggest hits; the legendary ill-fated yet band-forging trip to Seattle; touring the country as the opening act for Aerosmith, M?otley Cr?ue, and eventually even the Rolling Stones; deepening drug troubles for most of the band; and finally, the collapse. And in the aftermath of that collapse: Duff?s near death as a result of alcoholism; his unique path to sobriety; his newfound love of books; his hard-won path to the dean?s list at Seattle University; and the formation of Velvet Revolver.

Now sober and happily married with two daughters, Duff, one of rock?s smartest and most articulate personalities, relates his remarkable story in his honest, funny, and indelibly original voice, taking readers on a harrowing journey through the dark heart of one of the most notorious bands in rock and roll history and out the other side.

[lynn1961]

So cannot wait to read this.  I have it pre-ordered.   

[D]

me too. can't wait to get this.

[FunkyMonkey]

It's So Easy (and other lies) U.S. Book Tour!!

by Duff McKagan on Friday, August 19, 2011

Let there be words! This will serve as my official statement, that I have a book-It's So Easy (and other lies)- coming out 10/4. So there!
 
Tuesday, October 4 - NYC
Strand Book Store Event 7pm
828 Broadway NYC 10003
 
Wednesday, October 5 ? NJ
Bookends Event 7pm
211 E. Ridgewood Ave.
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
 
Thursday, October 6 - Long Island
Book Revue Event 7pm
313 New York Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743
 
Saturday, October 8 ? ORANGE COUNTY
Barnes & Noble Costa Mesa Event 2pm
901 B South Coast Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
 
Sunday, October 9 ? SANTA MONICA
Barnes & Noble Santa Monica Event 2pm
3rd St. Promenade, 1201 3rd St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
 
Tuesday, October 11 - LA
Book Soup Event 7pm
8818 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
 
Sunday, October 16 ? TWIN CITIES
Mall of America Event 2pm
60 E. Broadway
Bloomington, MN 55425
*Signing
 
Tuesday, October 18 - PORTLAND
Powell?s Books Event 7:30pm
1005 W. Burnside
Portland, OR 97209
 
Wednesday, October 19 ? SEATTLE
University Book Store Event 7pm
4326 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
 
Thursday, October 20 - SEATTLE
Third Place Books Event 7pm
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA  98155
 
Friday, October 21 - SEATTLE
Elliott Bay Book Company Event 7pm
 
Saturday, October 22 ? SAN DIEGO
Warwicks Event 6:30pm
7812 Girard Avenue
La Jolla, CA 92037
 
Please Note: Duff will only be signing copies of "It' So Easy (and other lies)" Any memorabilia or outside items will not be signed.

[FunkyMonkey]

It?s So Easy: And Other Lies - Review

Duff McKagan. Touchstone, $26 (304p) ISBN 978-1-4516-0663-8

In this honest, well-written memoir, former Guns & Roses bass player McKagan recounts the age-old rock and roll saga of rise and fall?complete with private jets, busted marriages, drunken brawls, and drug addiction. But as McKagan relates, he took an unusual path to recovery, healing himself with martial arts, mountain biking, and meditation. Along the way he also earned a finance degree from Seattle University. McKagan?s musical career started early?at age 15, the Seattle native was already playing in several punk bands. In 1983 he left for Los Angeles, where he met the other members of Guns & Roses. The 1987 release of Appetite for Destruction made the group an international phenomenon. For a rock star, McKagan is surprisingly self-aware and candid, and he doesn?t let himself off the hook easily. The first half of this book alternates chapters between his youth in Seattle and early career in L.A., and he vividly evokes both music scenes?drugs and all?and his own enthusiasm, desperation, and joy. As the years progress, McKagan, who wrote a financial column for Playboy and currently writes a weekly column for the Seattle Times and ESPN.com, is more cautious and measured but no less insightful. 16 pages color photos (Oct.)

[FunkyMonkey]

From Duff:

Woke up this AM and received my 1st official copy of the book. It smells GREAT!

Photo: http://yfrog.com/kjavkeaj

[FunkyMonkey]

Duff has posted the first 9 chapters/80 pages of his book on his new website.

From Duff:

My friends and old band members may remember some of the stories I recount differently than I do, but I have found that all stories have many sides. These are my stories. These are my perspectives. This is my truth.

Book excerpt here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/59886432/It%E2%80%99s-So-Easy-by-Duff-McKagan%E2%80%94read-an-excerpt

[metallex78]

Fuckin awesome read so far, can't wait to get this book!

[lynn1961]

I'm not readin' nothin' until I get the book!  Ha! Ha!  That's just me. 

[D]

Read all the excerpts last night

U get his life up till the beginning of GNR then it cuts off

Great read

[DeN]

just finished to read the first nine chapters, it was really good and interesting.

[FunkyMonkey]

From Duff:

Gig ALERT! 10/20 @Neptune in SeaWa. 1 night only. Book reading with songs performed from whole career. GNR. Punk. VR. Loaded. I'm psyched!

12 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry?

[FunkyMonkey]

Duff McKagan on Addiction and Recovery

Uploaded by SimonSchusterVideos on Sep 27, 2011

Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses discusses his journey through addiction and the brink of suicide, to recovery and sobriety.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzs2SlRIvHk

[FunkyMonkey]

OMG

In his autobiography, It?s So Easy: And Other Lies, McKagan, 47, explains how he drank his own vomit, because it had alcohol in it.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/duff-mckagan-guns-n-capital-09292011.html

[lynn1961]

   OMG is right!  That is so disgusting!  That's desperate!

I should be getting my copy of the book, any day now.  Can't wait to start reading it! 

Loved the video from a couple posts above.  They are stories I've heard before, yet are still always very compelling to listen to.