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41st out of 380 books
—
560 voters
My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses
No secret is too dark. No revelation too sick. But you must have the appetite for it.
After forty years, twenty-eight ODs, three botched suicides, two heart attacks, a couple of jail stints, and a debilitating stroke, Steven Adler, the most self-destructive rock star ever, is ready to share the shattering untold truth in My Appetite for Destruction.
When Adler was eleven yea...more
After forty years, twenty-eight ODs, three botched suicides, two heart attacks, a couple of jail stints, and a debilitating stroke, Steven Adler, the most self-destructive rock star ever, is ready to share the shattering untold truth in My Appetite for Destruction.
When Adler was eleven yea...more
Hardcover, 286 pages
Published
July 27th 2010
by It Books
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I was never a fan of GNR but was attracted to the seemingly genuine person Steven Adler could be when he wasn't high on the Celebrity Rehab show. He was always there for his mates and seemed to care deeply about their sobriety. He has relapsed several times....addiction is a life long illness....and he has lost his health, sanity, career (which he is hard at work resurrecting..a talented drummer!) and has a beautiful wife that must have went through hell and back with him. I thought his book was...more
It’s a good while since I’ve read a rock autobiography and, upon reflection, this book gave me what I pretty much expected from it. It’s not War and Peace and it’s by no way a collection of nursery rhymes. Put simply, this book is a fairly hard-core account of sex, drugs and rock and roll. From this standpoint, it may have a fairly limited appeal being niched to a particular target audience.
Although opinion is divided on them, I’ve always been a fan of Guns and Roses and find that most of their...more
Although opinion is divided on them, I’ve always been a fan of Guns and Roses and find that most of their...more
As a huge Guns and Roses fan, I was really looking forward to this book. Having read other rock memoirs, such as Nikki Sixx's Herion Diaries, I wasn't expecting much, but I did expect some good stories and some understanding of exactly what lead to the breakup of Guns and Roses.
I really got neither. I stuck through to the end but I kept looking for an excuse to stop. There was just enough history sprinkled throughout that I kept looking for more, but now that I'm done, most of what I learned co...more
I really got neither. I stuck through to the end but I kept looking for an excuse to stop. There was just enough history sprinkled throughout that I kept looking for more, but now that I'm done, most of what I learned co...more
Steven Adler certainly has experienced a rough life of the cliche world of sex, drugs and rock & roll. The question that I have to ask is why write a book about it? Not a single event in his life was without remarking about the glory of finding a fix, or retelling in crude detail his sexual exploits with women along the way. Not only was his stories quite juvenile, but there was a conflict between the two Adler's, one a drug addict, the other sober but reliving the days of getting high as so...more
This is interesting both as a rock-star memoir and as the story of a drug addict. The stories about his time in LA and the formation of the band are interesting to those of us who grew up with GNR and enjoy some good stories about the scene and lifestyle of these guys as they hit the bigtime. But Adler was the first one kicked out of the band as he sunk into addiction (and as Axl started becoming the Axl we all know and love), and he spends the next 20 years trying to reclaim those few surreal o...more
I've got to admit when I saw this book offered on my library's e-book list I jumped at the chance to download it. Not because I was a big Guns N Roses fan growing up, I barely listened to the band and if I did it was only to hear their most famous songs at the time. No, the reason I wanted to read it was because I watched Steven Adler's struggle with addiction on Celebrity Rehab. While I wanted this to be one of those books I just devour (no pun intended) I was suprised at how apathetic I was to...more
Former Guns and Roses drummer Steven Adlers' memoir begins like a carbon copy of all other rock star biographies. Born in the mid-west - Check. Troubled child hood - check. Moving out to LA based on happenstance - check. Famous folks drifting in and out of their lives - check. Wild groupies - Check and finally success. It's when success hits that Adlers tale take a decidedly more sinister turn.
Unlike Adlers' 80s metal contemporary Nikki Sixx in Adler never has a break. His near death experiences...more
Unlike Adlers' 80s metal contemporary Nikki Sixx in Adler never has a break. His near death experiences...more
Oh, Steven Adler. I bought this book because I'm fascinated with drug addiction and recovery, especially when it comes to people with long-standing addictions to hard drugs. I'm especially intrigued by anyone who developed these addictions while in the throes of a wild celebrity lifestyle. All too often, rock and roll musician and drug addict are synonymous terms. Steven Adler is no exception to the rule.
He begins the book by recounting his carefree childhood and teenage years (when he was no st...more
He begins the book by recounting his carefree childhood and teenage years (when he was no st...more
From the first chapter I hated this man. He is completely self-centered, nothing is ever his fault, every woman that has ever existed apparently is in love with him and he has no remorse whatsoever. This book is a glorification of drugs. It is obvious he is going to relapse as he quite evidently loves being off his face more than virtually everything else on the planet. I think the only thing he loves more than being high is himself.
It was quite evident to me that this book was written by two p...more
It was quite evident to me that this book was written by two p...more
Okay, so I only read this book because I couldn't get my hands on a copy of Slash's book, and then I started to read Nikki Sixx's new book but I couldn't take more than a chapter or so at a time and I still wanted a rock memoir. And Steven Adler is actually the only original member of Guns N' Roses that I wasn't particularly interested in reading a memoir by (interesting number paradox, anyone?) but what the hell.
And it's really not bad. It's definitely not well-written, which is a shame, since...more
And it's really not bad. It's definitely not well-written, which is a shame, since...more
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Drummer Steven Adler's memoir is a candid, no-holds-barred narrative describing the sordid details of his life from adolescence to present and was crudely written, optimistic account. I felt I did "get to know" Adler better, and it definitely changed my opinions of how the band's external cohesiveness felt to this lifelong fan. I felt there was a sense of depression, a "coulda-woulda-shoulda" type emotion eminating from Adler's pages, that perhaps if things (drugs) hadn't happened, his life woul...more
A cursory look at the outrageous highs and troublesome lows that have made up Steven Adler's life thus far. He does an adequate job of rehashing the childhood misadventures which set the stage for his rock star/fallen star future and his later (current?) life as a junkie is depicted in horrifying detail. However, what should have made up the bulk of this book, his days in Guns & Roses, seemed to be lacking needed substance. He covers a few important events and shares some sordid stories, but...more
This may seem harsh, but a better title for this book would be "Chronicles of a Wasted Life". Steven Adler's ambition in life has been to acheive success as a rock star and to party and get high as often as possible. He admits his life is a wreck and that he has hurt alot of people. Beyond that admission, dont expect any grand story of redemption or character development on Adlers part. He seems to have learned little from his past. He is a great model for how not to live life...unless you have...more
What starts out as an interesting insight into who Steven Adler is and what made him into who he became, things took a sharp turn towards the end of the GNR days. Having read several auto biographies of GNR members it strikes me that their stories are consistent and Adler's drug infested brain has remembered things quite differently. Time after time Adler presents himself as the victim who was the only one trying to keep the band together.
Not sure whether that's his actual memory or him trying...more
Not sure whether that's his actual memory or him trying...more
Although I can't get enough of stories about my all-time favourite band, this was quite a disappointment. Adler fails to give any real insight in the band's processes and focusses mainly on the amount of chicks an dope he scored. As you can imagine, that gets quite boring after a while. Every time he starts to get a bit deeper into a story, he feels the need to mention that he banged a chick right before, during or after this or that happened. Although quite pathetic, you can't help bu to feel s...more
Never realized Steven had been thru so much with GNR. He has a great heart and holds no grudges, more of the world could take lessons from Steven. Good read.
The story of the drummers drug fuelled "Rock" days! Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book and felt pangs of emotion for this poor guy as he slipped down the slippery slope of addiction, but Mr Adler eventually comes across as being on a "Pity Party" trip, blaming all others for his lack of respect for himself, band mates and event organisers. I felt he continually tried to blame his lack of success on others when really, it was he that was too wasted to get up in the morning. His total dislik...more
From the book jacket:
"I'm the undisputed all-time booze-chugging, pill-gobbling, drug-shooting, Katrina-caliber fuckup. Throughout my wretched life there isn't a friend, family member, or fantastic opportunity that I haven't shoved into a blender and mutilated."
I can't top that.
Typical Hollywood-Strip hair-rodent crash-and-burn saga of too much too soon, former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler saddled with the shame of being turfed to the curb by his bandmates for doing TOO MANY drugs, a real...more
"I'm the undisputed all-time booze-chugging, pill-gobbling, drug-shooting, Katrina-caliber fuckup. Throughout my wretched life there isn't a friend, family member, or fantastic opportunity that I haven't shoved into a blender and mutilated."
I can't top that.
Typical Hollywood-Strip hair-rodent crash-and-burn saga of too much too soon, former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler saddled with the shame of being turfed to the curb by his bandmates for doing TOO MANY drugs, a real...more
Well, talk about unreliable narrators! This guy is the ultimate example of that. He manages to alienate everyone. Interestingly, the book does discuss Mr. Adler's relationship with his mom. Mother-Son relationships are not often discussed in pop culture. A fast read. If you have ever seen the old VH1 show Behind the Music, you already know what happens.
I finished it. Mr. Adler and his co-author do create a memorable voice and style. It is tough reading this book at times because Mr. Adler is a m...more
I finished it. Mr. Adler and his co-author do create a memorable voice and style. It is tough reading this book at times because Mr. Adler is a m...more
This was a pretty interesting read if you are a child of the 80's especially. I had no clue he wrote a book and was looking through my library online (kindle) options. Glad I picked it for my lake book. Probably heard a bit too much about his and other's sex lives but he told all. Do not let your kids pick this book up and read that is for sure. LOL. Adler really takes you through the good and bad times in his life - not just the GNR years. I hope he continues the path of sobriety for sure. I am...more
This isn't a very good book. Yeah, it's full of the typical excesses associated with a rock and roll lifestyle, but it's the same tired story. There's some celebrity name dropping and Steven's version of the break with GNR, but it's mostly one long lament for the bygone days of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. While other aging rockers have cleaned up, Adler seems to be stuck in the era. Even worse, he appears to be okay with that. He may say he wants to break his addiction, but the way he recalls...more
I loved this book . I was not a huge fan of GNR back in the day. I liked the music, but not the men(with the exception of Duff McKagen) yeah, Axl is an ass .. But after watching Celebrity Rehab, I love Steven, and just pray that he can get clean and stay clean.. I bought this book, read it in , like 3 days. It made me want to go back and listen to their music , give it another chance, and now I love it.. I also read Slash and Duff's books.. Which are also good. This is a great bio, Steven seems...more
The great thing about Steven's book was that he wrote about some things from the band’s history that Duff nor Slash didn’t write about. Like that part about Ritz ‘88 which was actually one of their best performances ever. Did you know they performed 30 minutes late because Axl refused to come on because he couldn’t find a friggin’ bandanna? Or about how they shot the video for Patience? What about that time they shot a cameo for The Dead Pool, and on the day they were going to film the second sc...more
My Appetite for Destruction by Steven Adler, a Kindle book I began reading on September 6th. I believe I chose this to read out of the same vein of books as 'I Fall to Pieces.' For all I know, Steven and Mary might've ran in the same circles. And chosen the same writing style.
Steven Adler has a very frantic, energetic, pity-me, apologies to all, faulty Californian tone to his writing, making it difficult to gauge what he's really like as a recovered drug user and alcoholic (maybe he himself is f...more
Steven Adler has a very frantic, energetic, pity-me, apologies to all, faulty Californian tone to his writing, making it difficult to gauge what he's really like as a recovered drug user and alcoholic (maybe he himself is f...more
I watched this guy on Celebrity Rehab and just thought he was a mess. This book shows you why. Its sad because
If someone has mentally "peaked" in their life, they tend to get stuck.(see 48 laws of power for further explanation) or a your prom queen who is now a junkie. This guy still hasn't gotten over his days in gnr. He seems to be still waiting for the phone to ring. If he wen out and got into another band, then it might happen for him. I walked away from this really valueing my life and my...more
If someone has mentally "peaked" in their life, they tend to get stuck.(see 48 laws of power for further explanation) or a your prom queen who is now a junkie. This guy still hasn't gotten over his days in gnr. He seems to be still waiting for the phone to ring. If he wen out and got into another band, then it might happen for him. I walked away from this really valueing my life and my...more
I honestly don't know what to make of My Appetite For Destruction. It started off pretty good, but the more I read the book, the more suspect I became of who actually wrote this book. Early in the book there really was no frame of reference to compare to as it was just one voice. But the further you get into the book, the more obvious it becomes in that there are two different "Steven Adler's" telling the story. I'm not being mean here when I say that it's clear which part is the real Adler (the...more
I’m a huge fan of Guns N’ Roses, so I’ve read my fair share of biographies about them. After reading the band’s ex-guitarist, Slash’s autobiography, I was more than a bit dubious about picking up ex-drummer Steven Adler’s book. After all, he is the one that has the severest drug problems, and probably has the worst memory of all the band members. However, although I was far from blown away by this autobiography, I did end up enjoying it more than I thought I was going to.
Alder starts the story a...more
Alder starts the story a...more
I'm not sure what to make of this book. As a GNR fan I felt like I had to read it. The style of the writing was a bit all over the place for me. I felt like it was a lot of the same story being told over and over again. I know it was a different city/house/club each time, but the story was usually the same. There were also too many blanks that needed filling in, but based on the content of the book, I think I know why these gaps exist. This has to be the saddest of the Guns' stories for sure.
I started this book psyched to finally read about Adler's childhood and how it affected his adult years. What I read was disappointing. He seems to enjoy referring to women as inferior to him and stresses over and over again that he had "the pick of the litter" when it came to women. It also seems like he was reliving his sexual encounters and drug abuse as his "glory days". The more I read, the more disgusted I became and by the end of the book any sympathy or empathy I had for Adler was comple...more
It's a good book, but Steven Adler appears to have no depth as a human being and, as a result, achieves nothing more with his writing then a lurid listing of events. There's really no story here. From what I can tell, from the earliest days of GnR to the very end and way beyond, Adler remains completely unchanged; he's a 16-year-old kid to this day, enamored of beer and girls and drugs and rock and nothing more. When I finished the book I simply felt sorry for the guy.
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