Source of
book: Borrowed from the library
This was
this month’s selection for our “Literary Lush” book club. One of the things I
enjoy about this club is that I end up reading interesting books that I never
would have discovered on my own. Daisy Jones and the Six is definitely one
of those books I had no idea existed, and likely would never have decided to
read. Let me say at the outset that this book wasn’t really my cup of tea. It
wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t my kind of book.
The basic
idea of the book is that it is a rock mockumentary. It’s a book about a
fictional rock band (that kind of sort of resembles Fleetwood Mac, maybe?) I
think Reid’s point is to write a book that looks at the rock and roll lifestyle
from a more female perspective, and the book sort of does that. But I have to
wonder why it had to be a fake band rather than a real one. I found it hard to
get interested in or invested in the characters, because they and their songs
didn’t actually, you know, exist.
The usual
rock biography stuff is in there. The band members sleeping with each other.
Lots of booze and drugs. All night songwriting sessions. Drama. Lots and lots
of drama. It’s stuff that you expect.
It might
have been one thing if the characters were somehow unique or compelling (as in
the case of The Air You Breathe),
but they really felt like stereotypes of particular rock stars. Or perhaps like
real rock stars who had the identifying details removed.
On the more
positive side, Reid did a good job at keeping the voices of each character
distinct - and their stories straight. After all, each has a different
perspective and memory of events.
One thing
our group agreed was a significant misstep was the twist at the end: (spoiler
alert!) the “author” of the story is the daughter of the male lead singer. The
problem with this is that there seems to be no freaking way that the characters
would actually be open her - particularly her parents. I mean, who tells their
kid about all the sex and drugs in that kind of detail? Or spills their guts
about their problems with their spouse? It seems implausible. And unnecessary
to the story.
My wife also
noted that despite the lurid details, the language itself was rather naive. Not
really much cussing.
Overall, not
the best book we have read, although diverting in its way.
***
Due to Covid-19, this was our first book club discussion via Zoom. While not as good as an in-person meeting, it worked, and helped keep us all from feeling isolated.
***
Just for
fun, here is the list of books that our book club has read. At least the ones I
have read too. Most of these were read for the club, but a few were ones
I read previously - those posts pre-date the club discussion - and some I read
afterward, because I missed the discussion.
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