This is a book written during lockdown about the life that Dave Grohl has had up until now. A member of Nirvana, almost always overshadowed by the death of Kurt Cobain and leading the Foo Fighters, Grohl comes over as a family man.

This must be a deeply sanitised version of his life – maybe he is worried about who might read it. His daughters? Drugs are mentioned, weed in particular and also Cobain’s habit because what the book focuses on is his journey from slight misfit to on the edge-of-society punk to drummer with Nirvana and then long-time Foo Fighter. Yes he had it hard – one parent, one sister, so little money, but not that hard. What he did have is the propensity for hard work and for getting on with people. As bands tour and meet up with other bands on the road with no money, some of them will meet up again once they are successful and will meet with other famous singer/songwriters. So it comes as no surprise that his meeting with Paul MaCartney is included or Iggy Pop amongst many others. What did come over clearly was the less-than-glamorous life of a band starting up and the way they have to live through lack of money.

I am not a fan of either of Grohl’s bands and didn’t really learn a lot about Grohl as a writer so the book didn’t quite do it for me although I do think that there are many for whom it did. The font, supposed to look like his handwriting?, at various parts to emphasise a point was unnecessary and a little distracting. These weren’t particularly important points and far better to let the reader decide what is important or not. If you have to make them this clear, maybe the storytelling is not quite working.