No doubt this book title and/or author name sounds familiar to you. I’m probably writing this review five months too late because the hype was at a deafening roar during its release in March, but I’ve just finished reading it and am excited to talk about it, so bear with me. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid was announced as a Reese Witherspoon book club pick shortly after its publication date, which typically guarantees a book will skyrocket to the bestseller list. This was of course no exception, but that should come as a surprise to no one especially considering Reid’s last book was such a commercial success as well; I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, my review can be found here.
The book is written in the style of a music documentary. It’s made up entirely of people’s statements plus a few articles as background information. There is no back and forth dialogue, inner thoughts or extraneous description. At the end of the story, we learn the identity of the interviewer, which is supposed to be a twist, but I found that part unnecessary and disappointing. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. The interviews are about the fictional band Daisy Jones & The Six, which hit superstardom in the 70s and then broke up at the height of their fame on one particular night, with no explanation, all in the middle of a huge world tour. The results of these interviews are the first time the reason of their demise will be revealed publicly. We hear from each band member, including the lead singers Billy and Daisy who have fiery chemistry on and off the stage. Daisy is stunning, born to rich parents, incredibly famous and an effortlessly talented singer. Billy is also handsome and talented, and both struggle with addictions to alcohol and drugs. Other voices included are Billy’s wife Camila, the rest of the band members and a few supporting characters on top of that.
The atmosphere this book evokes is visceral; you can feel the heat of the California sun, you can see the bellbottoms swinging along the sidewalk and you can hear the catchy, slow rock music that was building in popularity. I’m not a big music person myself, (too busy reading) but you don’t need to have any prior knowledge of that time period or music movement to appreciate what’s happening in the book. The format is strange, and may take some getting used to, but I appreciated its uniqueness. The interview transcription style is also extremely accessible; there’s no struggling to learn how a character is related to another or why a particular event is relevant, the ‘documentary’ is meant to teach you something, regardless of your starting point. You are told what you are supposed to know, when you’re supposed to know, and any gaps are quickly filled in by an aside from the interviewer.
This book is commercial fiction at its finest; it has wide appeal, attractive and rich characters, an easy to follow plotline with a bit of romance thrown in, and lots and lots of drama. It’s a book that I can recommend to someone who doesn’t read very much, or someone who reads voraciously and looking for a ‘lighter’ story to elevate their mood after reading a heavy memoir or work of non-fiction-we all need this reprieve. There isn’t anything totally unbelievable or unrealistic about this work, no doubt the author based it on a smattering of bands from that era, but these characters aren’t relatable, so you won’t be having any epiphanies while reading it. But so what? It’s fun, it held my attention, I wanted to know what happened to everyone in the end, and it was a treat to immerse myself in that world for 350 pages.
I can’t wait to get to this – I’ve read and seen all the hype and I’m glad to see your review confirming how good it is!
I’m positive you’ll like it-even people who don’t like it still raced through it, and found it very ‘readable’ so I’m confidant in recommending it to people
I enjoyed this one. I don’t think it packed the emotional punch of Evelyn Hugo but it was still fun. I loved Almost Famous a long while ago now and it very much reminded me of that 🙂
Me too! I really loved Evelyn, and you’re right this one isn’t as serious, but it was the perfect summertime read for sure.
I think every review I’ve seen of this one is positive, so the author must be doing something right! Bellbottoms… *shudders reminiscently*
haha so I remember when bell bottoms were popular when I was in school (they came back that second time around, remember?) so we can both shudder reminiscently haha
I like this: “commercial fiction at its finest.” Your review is the first that makes me think I should give this a try. I’m not a fan of this genre of music or time period, but if it’s so immersive I might enjoy it anyway. And it’s always good to have some popular fiction to be able to recommend to library patrons.
yes totally, it’s a good book to recommend. I’m not a big music person but I still enjoyed it!
This book has been so hyped I’ve lost all desire to read it but you do make it sound fun. I read part of Forever, Interrupted by Jenkins Reid and found it emotionally manipulative and never finished it. There is a great book called “Please Kill Me” which is an oral history of punk rock, made up of interviews, that sounds kind of similar to the format of this one.
Hmmm interesting! I haven’t read any books by her, other than her last two. I’m curious-what do you mean my emotionally manipulative? Perhaps i’ve felt this way about a book too but never been able to put it into words, I’m curious if it’s what you mean…
That’s how I feel when it seems like books or movies are setting up a scene or a character simply to make the reader or viewer upset. Like, there’s no other reason for it to exist except to elicit a strong, emotional reaction. My go to example is Grey’s Anatomy, where you have these side characters existing simply to make everybody feel sad about death. (I’ve never really watched the show but that’s been my impression!)
Ah ok I see what you mean!
I was surprised to see you review this because all of your posts are about super new books, but then that was the first thing you addressed! And I think you were smart about it; too many people write a review of the same book, and I’m only half-reading the review, TBH.
I’m not sure I’m into books about what bands did from their own perspective, whether it’s true or a work of fiction. It’s all the same, with the sex, drugs, drinking, someone dies, new members, old members, shows they can barely remember, long nights on the tour bus, hotel rooms they trashed, children they write off.
I’m more interested in what a band does within a genre of music, which is why I’m reading Wicked Woman right now. It’s about women in the underground metal scene, which already shakes things up thanks to the under-dog perspective and looking at how women fare in the scene compared to the chauvinistic invincible male tale we get ALL THE TIME.
haha yes I know the feeling. And isn’t it sad that the alcohol and drugs seem to the running theme among all of them? Like, I wonder how it’s possible to avoid those things? or is it impossible when travelling on the road like that? I don’t go to alot of concerts (I hate standing while listening to music, why can’t we all just sit down and enjoy it like we’re in a living room, like civillized people?) haha
I’ve heard that the drugs and alcohol just come flooding in from everybody when a band gets famous. You get some bands, though, like Metallica who only drank (until they were hardcore alcoholics) and never did drugs, for example. Not a great example, but shows that some people say “no” in some ways? Also, a lot of bands form when the members are still teen-aged, and what’s cooler than drinking? I honestly think that image is changing though, if you talk to young people today. They seem to think it’s kind of lame.
and what a lovely turn of events that is! That gives me hope for the future. Also-I had no idea Metallica were non-drinkers, good for them.
Metallica doesn’t do DRUGS. They were heavy drinkers for a long time. James Hetfield went to rehanb for about two years before rejoining the band after Jason Newsted departed.
Ah yes ok that makes more sense
I just re-read my comment. Why did I capitalize “drugs.” I look indignant on their behalf.
hahaha