Last month's Recommended Reading came from former Guns 'N Roses drummer Steven Adler, with his autobiography, My Appetite for Destruction, now, we look at another perspective of the crazy GNR years and the surprising life of former GNR bassist Duff McKagen. In 2011, McKagen released his much anticipated memoir It's So East and Other Lies, the book chronicles his rebellious childhood to becoming one of the most recognizable musicians in modern music to his fall to drugs and battle to come out clean.
What this book does tell is the surprising turn McKagen took in his life, unlike many musicians who fall to the rock and roll cliche, McKagen altered everything around him. He surprising many by settling down, starting a family and getting a degree in economics and starting a wealth management firm, then starting his career in music again with Velvet Revolver and his own band, Loaded. Instead of becoming a statistic to the cliche's many media outlets focused on for musicians of his generation, McKagen proved everyone wrong and his New York Times best selling story explains how he did and how anyone can do. Aside from being a great tale of survival filled with funny stories and captivating moments, it is a motivational piece of literature for anyone struggling.
