Wildflower

WILDFLOWER by DREW BARRYMORE


I really enjoyed reading "Wildflower" and it was a good read. However, I was very surprised to read about her sad childhood.  I also couldn't believe that any judge would give a fourteen year old child her emancipation, which means she would be living on her own.

Liked Drew's honesty and openness.   Her life went down many paths, but she made good choices after her "wild child" days.  She met many good people who supported her.  I liked the chapter "The Royal Hawaiian" about her grandfather, who loved Drew deeply and had a great love for education.

Drew shows that you can overcome anything, and not being perfect is okay.  I think this book would make a good movie.

Rocks: My Life In And Out of Aerosmith by Joe Perry

Always an avid reader and fan of biographies/autobiographies of musical artists, I selected Joe Perry's recent release for a number of reasons. I grew up in the 70s and it's my personal opinion that music from that decade was phenomenal ; I'd witnessed a record crowd sell-out performance by Aerosmith in the 90s ; and last but not least, the big question: What exactly happened between Joe Perry and Steven Tyler?

Born in 1950, the Italian/Portuguese Perry was raised in a small town in Massachusetts where he experienced a very normal childhood. His mother and father were very dedicated parents and encouraged his initial passion for nature and marine biology. However; at the age of nine, Joe's new neighbors (His parents owned a duplex at that particular time) introduced him to electric guitars and a different breed of music than what he was familiar with. The rest is history.

I found this to be an enjoyable book because of the subject matter which I find interesting. However; some may find it a bit repetitive in nature due to the fact that Perry and Tyler appeared to have a rather twisted routine: Album release, touring, drugs, fights, breakup, time apart, rehab, reunion. Repeat. Fortunately for them, this particular behavior fueled their creativity and surprisingly enough, kept them in hits and in the music business for over forty years.