Layne Staley: Get Born Again by Adriana Rubio
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Book Reviews of Layne Staley: Get Born Again
Book Review: If I didn't adore Layne, this would've gotten negative stars
Summary: 2 Stars
There's nothing I can say about this book that hasn't already been said in the other reviews. It's really sad to know that this is the best the author could do. It makes me want to write my own book on Layne and do his memory and fans justice. God knows I'd do a better job!! It looks as though no one involved with the book cared. I mean, couldn't someone use spell check?! Not only that, but the author keeps repeating quotes throughout the book as if we wouldn't be able to comprehend them if they were said once. She wants to make the words feel intense, but by repeating them she just ruins it!
I have to admit that if she had tried harder to get some of his friends to participate in the book it would have been better. Sure, his mother and sister can give us insight on who he was before the fame, but that doesn't give us the whole story. There's a HUGE gap in this book. She starts out when he's a baby, skips through to his teens for a second, and then straight to his final years. What about all that time we knew him? You can't honestly tell me that NONE of his countless friends wanted to talk about him. I guess she thought the guy only had 4 friends, who happen to be the other members of AIC. Guess again Adriana!
Another thing that ruins this book is the fact that the author keeps comparing her bulimia to Layne's drug addiction. I don't know about everyone else, but I DON'T CARE!! I bought this book because I wanted to read about Layne Staley, not some unknown author. When Layne said "you should write a book about yourself" he meant "leave me alone and write a book about yourself INSTEAD". At least that's my interpretation. And the goat stories and talk of the Renaissance don't help. I know he enjoyed Chinese philosophy, but how do you link that to comparing him to a goat?
After reading his final interview, I found it odd that she glorified his mother so much. Don't get me wrong, Nancy seems like a great lady and everyone who's met her says so (even Layne), but it seems as though he feels betrayed by her. She could've tried getting more of Layne's side of the story.
At the end of the day, I still have to say that I enjoyed looking at pictures of Layne and the things he made (although I do wish the pictures were in color. I know, I'm asking for way too much). I thought some of the stories his mother shared were really cute and his final interview was an interesting read even though I was expecting it to be longer. I also hope that if they actually make a movie about Layne it is better than this garbage and does not involve this "writer". So in conclusion, buy this book for the pictures and the final interview. And you might as well buy it now when it's $20 instead of waiting for it to be "rare" and selling for $135. But if you really want to know Layne, listen to his voice. Buy the CD's and read his lyrics. Then you'll really know his pain, his troubles and his heart.
R.I.P. Layne. We love you
Book Review: Interestingly weird and filled with subjective fluff
Summary: 2 Stars
I put off purchasing this infamous Layne book up until just recently, when my curiousity finally got the better of me. To think this is the near only book about Layne's life or Alice in Chains' history is frustratingly astounding. While going into reading the book, I was very skeptical given the framework behind it and the author. I finished the entire book in 4.5 hours, which for me, is a big thing.
The author, Adriana Rubio, wrote this book as if an enlongated newspaper article or college-like term/thesis paper. It is very chopping, inconsistent and repetitive. Several times the same quotes are strung through multiple chapters and pages. As a reader, this fueled my frustration with the author. Add to that the fact that she adds her own thoughts to so called "biography" and we get a bunch of subjective fluff. Even more annoying is that her subjective storytelling bits run into aspects that have nothing to do with Layne whatever, though at the same time, she defends in her book how they coorelate (prime example - that damn goat thing?).
By stating those negative points, I must clarify why I kept reading it until finish and that was because of the direct quoting of Layne's family and him himself. Those were the most interesting parts of the book, the actual words from these people, telling the stories as they saw and lived them. Adriana's take on what they had to say was merely irritating, chopping off quotations to add her own one-sided superfluous banter. In the end, I finished the book feeling even more frustrated for Layne and his family's integrity more than anything. Throughout the book, Adriana kept trying to rationalize why she was adding specific things into this book, as if defending herself from the start. It created a sense of tension and incoherence within the book that would later transpire after one finished the book, to create even more questions about this author's initial intent.
Basically, the book starts off weird, the book's middle is weird and the book ends weird. If you don't read it, as a fan, you may feel weird. But when you do read it, as a fan, you feel even more weird. Don't read this book to find insights into Layne's life - look to his artistic merits for that. ...but perhaps, that is exactly what this book was aiming to tell us afterall.
Book Review: Dissapointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I won't lie the only reason I brought this book because it was the only book on Layne Staley( I mean really why isn't there any more books on Layne or Alice in chains?)If there was another more professional read availiable I would have avoided this one like the plague. And as you can tell by my ratings it wasn't a partcualrly enlightning read.
The book isnt really a biography more of a chapters of interviews with Laynes mother and sister, there are some interesting things in there, you get to hear about his childhood which is fine but theres hardly anything about his musical talents. I mean you dont hear how and where he met Jerry Cantrell his musical partner, Where the name Alice in chains came from, what caused them to stop playing in 94 and make Layne go form Mad Season? All we get in alot of the interviews is stories about his drug use and how bad he looks.
The author herself I found iratating I know her heart was in the right place but jeez does she like to go on about herself and her own problems really I'm NOT interested in the authors past problems.
The best part of the book is the final interview with Layne although all he does is talk about how drugs destroyed his life nothing at all about his music which was a shame.
The book does have some sweet childhood photos of Layne and some of his artwork which I Surpose is something. Get born again altogether tho is a big dissapointment a wasted oppotunity to celebrate the talent of one of Rocks greatest ever frontmen.
I kinda hope someone else will write a proper biography that will give us an insight to what Layne was really like and where the musical talent came from,otherwise best avoid this book and stick to Laynes records.
Book Review: Really?
Summary: 2 Stars
Love Layne. Being a big fan, I wanted to read this book to understand him a bit more.
I thought this book was a huge disappointment. It really did not give me any more insight into the man than I could have found on the internet. The final interview with Layne is written in a way that I wonder if it is even legit. I hardly think that he would have quoted his own lyrics to describe himself during the tearful final interview in which he admits that he is dying. "Yes, I know that my 'pain is self chosen'". Come on.
Not only is it FULL of typographical and grammatical errors, it is choppy, hard to read and full of holes. A lot of information on his mother's choices in life which may shed some light on part of Layne's depression but I really wanted more background on Layne.
At least we still have his songs and videos to remember him by.
Book Review: this book not an autobiography
Summary: 2 Stars
I like books about interesting rock stars like kurt cobain or layne staley and this book is more about the author than it is about layne which is a let down. This book is very unorganized and hard to follow. I skipped most the book and just read the parts about layne which only took me like an hour to do. Dont buy this book if you wanna read about layne.