review: it's so easy by duff mckagan

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In a word, Duff McKagan’s memoir is amazing. With It’s So Easy (and other lies), he details not just the infamous Guns N’ Roses days of touring while heavily intoxicated, but also reveals some of his childhood and family life. The book opens with Duff and his wife hosting a birthday party for their 13 year old daughter. As Duff sees some of the young party-goers making out, he runs through a checklist of the things they could be doing…the things he was doing at their age and is summarily relieved. It sets the tone for what will come as Duff recounts his early start in the music industry.

With a number of the celebrity memoirs I’ve read, there tends to be an underlying theme of either “how awesome am I?” or “look at my tragic life;” It’s So Easy has neither. Although Duff talks of early financial difficulties, he seeks no sympathy; and when it comes to bragging about successes, Duff actually says things like, “I suppose competition makes a better ‘product,’ and Steven Adler and I would go watch Jane’s Addiction play gigs whenever possible once we got to know them. It made us better—and I think we made them better, too.” I thoroughly appreciated his manipulation-free candor on every topic addressed.

This memoir isn’t just for Guns N’ Roses fans; it’s for anyone who was into the Seattle or Los Angeles music scene of the era. Duff writing of Seattle’s now defunct weekly The Rocket and shows at VFW halls brought back so many memories. It’s So Easy will definitely strike a note with fans.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Touchstone.