• Blog,  Book Reviews

    Eric Roberts Runaway Train Or The Story Of My Life So Far Book Review

    Eric Roberts may bet the busiest actor on Earth.

    He is constantly working and I mean that.

    Movies (Runaway Train, King Of The Gypsies, Star 80, Best Of The Best 1 and 2, The Specialist The Dark Knight, The Expendables and soooo much more), TV (In Cold Blood, Less Than Perfect. Heroes, Suits, Grey’s Anatomy, and soooo much more), music videos (appearing in videos by The Killers, Mariah Carey, Rhianna, and more) reality shows (Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Dancing With The Stars), everything.

    He’s even an author now.

    Eric released his autobiography, “Runaway Train Or The Story Of My Life So Far”, written w/Sam Kashner, on September 27 of 2024.

    In the book, Eric talks about many things.

    His childhood, his relationships with his family (particularly his father and sisters, including his other famous younger sister Julia), starting acting as a kid and moving to NY to continue acting, many projects he’s done and his thoughts on them, his battles with substances, marriages (And how cats caused the end of one marriage.  Read the book and you’ll understand.), stories about people he has worked with and learned from, an example of a week schedule in his life, and so much more.

    Sorry that was a lot, but there is a lot in this book.

    I really like Eric Roberts.  He, like everyone is not perfect and he admits that, but I like him.  I think he’s cool.

    If you are a fan or just want to read a quick, but detailed book about a great talent and cool person, then read this book.

    I hope I can meet Eric someday at a personal appearance because he does those too.

    If you ever read this sir, just know I have all the respect in the world for you and I wish you well always.

    Oh and when bought this book at a book store, it was already signed by Eric!!  Thank you sir!!

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica Book Review

    Metallica ultimately became probably the biggest heavy metal band ever, but like all bands, they started small.

    This book Enter Night:  A Biography of Metallica, written by music journalist Mick Wall, came out in 2011 and it chronicles pre-band days of members growing up, how the band got started, and a lot of other times from then on up to 2010.

    Metallica are still growing strong in 2025, and to quote music journalist Lonn Friend “they are the Led Zeppelin of this generation”.  Lonn said this in the 90s, but I believe he is correct.

    Who knew that a band that heavy would ultimately become the biggest band out of the music scene they came out of, and really became a U2 level size band.

    But they did it and they did it by working very hard and with a lot of luck and great timing.

    Sadly, not everyone made it through the whole thing.  Bassist Cliff Burton tragically passed away in a band bus accident in 1987.  Original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, who later formed the great metal band Megadeth, was fired in 1983, and bassist Jason Newsted quit after 14 years of being in the band in 2001.

    But three out of the four core members, singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist/occasional lead guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett are still there, and bassist Robert Trujillo has been in the band for almost 22 years as of this writing.

    And through all the ups and downs (going through therapy and rehab) and controversies among fans (the band cutting their hair and eventually making different sounding albums, especially in the 90s, fighting against Napster and ultimately fans who used Napster), Metallica have ultimately stayed strong, still make what I think are very good albums, and still are playing stadiums and frankly don’t need an opening act to sell that many tickets, but they still have openers and usually are great ones.

    Not many bands can play stadiums, but Metallica can.

    And they do it very well.

    They’ve earned their success and this book chronicles all of this.

    It’s not an official autobiography, but Mick Wall, the author, has interviewed most of the band members over the years and has used quotes from said interviews, along with quotes from other people who knew/know them and he put together what I consider to be an almost official autobiography.

    My only complaint is that he puts his opinion in the book sometimes too much, but otherwise, it’s a great book and I highly recommend it.

    I’ve been a Metallica fan for over 25 years and I always will be.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    Wrestling With The Devil By Lex Luger Book Review

    I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was six or seven years old.

    One of the wrestlers I grew up loving was “The Total Package” Lex Luger.

    After reading his book, Wrestling With The Devil, I am an even bigger fan of Lex.

    The book covers his upbringing, playing sports, getting into wrestling and what I think was a great wrestling career, his unfortunate problems, and ultimately his great redemption and finding God and Jesus Christ.

    This book is very inspiring and even with the problems that Lex has had and experienced, he proves that it is never too late to come out the other side and be a better person and have a better life.

    Thank you Lex for this great book.  I’m so glad I became a fan of yours when I did and as I said, I’m an even bigger fan now.  Thank you sir and God Bless You.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    Alex Van Halen Brothers Book Review

    I’ve been looking forward to this book being released for some time.

    Brothers by Alex Van Halen, the drummer of the band Van Halen and brother of guitarist Edward Van Halen (RIP).

    I also bought the Audio CDs of the book because I knew that Alex himself read it for this and wanted to hear him read it as I read along too.

    It was worth the extra money because you can hear it in his voice than he means what he says and that you can hear that he’s gone back in time while reading the book.

    The book Brothers covers a lot of ground.  Alex and Edward’s upbringing, coming to America from Holland, starting to play music as kids, swapping instruments, playing in earlier bands, forming what became Van Halen, their relationship with singer David Lee Roth, playing backyard parties, clubs, making a demo with Gene Simmons of KISS, getting signed to Warner Brothers Records, making their first 6 albums, and more.

    I loved this book and especially hearing Alex tell these stories.

    I only wish the book went beyond the Dave years and focused on the other years of VH also.  There are a few mentions of some of those times, but not much.

    But either way, if you are a VH fan, this is a MUST READ.

    And if possible, please get the audio too.  You won’t regret it.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    Behind The Mask Of The Horror Actor By Doug Bradley (Pinhead from Hellraiser Franchise) Book Review

    Horror movie icon Doug Bradley (Pinhead in most of the Hellraiser movies) released a book in 2004 called Behind The Mask Of The Horror Actor.

    Part autobiography, part history book, Doug talks about getting into acting, earlier projects and working on the Hellraiser movies, but also, he talks extensively about other Horror movie icons, like Lon Chaney Sr. and Jr., Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Robert Englund, and many more.

    He also talks extensively about Horror movie characters, like Dracula, Frankenstein, Phantom Of The Opera, Michael Myers, Freddie Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, and much more. 

    He talks about earlier origins of Horror characters too and people who made up many Horror characters, including Clive Barker, who did the forward to the book.

    This is a very good book about the history of Horror but also is a partial autobiography of Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley.

    I really enjoyed this book.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    John Corabi Horseshoes And Hand Grenades Book Review

    Singer/songwriter/guitarist John Corabi (The Scream, Motley Crue, Union, RATT, The Dead Daisies, solo artist) released his autobiography Horseshoes And Hand Grenades in 2022.

    I bought it when I saw him earlier this year.  Sorry John I was late getting to it.

    It’s a great book, though.  Co-written with Paul Miles, it traces his life from childhood, some of the crazy things that have happened in his life, all the bands he’s been in, and tons of stories throughout.

    If you are a fan of John’s, I cannot recommend this book enough.  

    It has it all.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    My Tribute to Jack Russell of Great White and My Review of His Book The True Tale of Mista Bone

    When I got home from work on Thursday, August 15 of 2024, my girlfriend Mariah called to tell me one of our favorite singers, Jack Russell, of the bands Great White and Jack Russell’s Great White, had passed away.

    It was not long before this that Jack announced that he was retiring from doing concerts, because his health was not good.

    Even though I knew he had a lot of health problems, I did not expect this.

    I’m not going to say I’ve cried, but I feel very sad that he is gone.

    Mariah and I really bonded over his music and went to see Jack Russell’s Great White a few years ago and had a blast.

    I got to see him again the following year and thanks to his amazing guitarist Robby Lochner, I was able to meet Jack.

    He was very kind and thanked me for being a fan.  

    I showed him all of my Great White CD booklets, and he was quite surprised to see how many I had.  I only got out three of them for him to sign because I did not want to keep him.  Although I think he may have signed them all if I asked because I saw him interact with other fans that night, and like with me, he was very kind and gracious with everyone.

    I’m so glad I got to meet him.

    I love his albums and I can’t say enough how much I love his voice.  It was always great.  Truly one of the best singers I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard many great ones.

    I’d actually received his recently released book, The True Tale of Mista Bone, as a birthday present, a few weeks before he passed, but I had not yet had the time to read it.

    Well, I’ve since read it and even though I wish it was longer (my usual complaint with books), I’m glad he was able to tell his story, and like all of us, the book shows that he was human too.

    The book is not always pretty, but it’s the truth.

    I applaud him for telling his story to K.L. Doty, who wrote the book.

    Lots of stories, and if you are a fan of his, then I recommend it.

    Many other people were interviewed for the book too, and they tell a lot of stories related to Jack also.

    He rocked all the way to the end, and I’m so glad he made as much music as he did.  Because that will live forever.

    Thank you Jack Russell for your great gift of making music fans like me very happy.  I will always be a fan and will listen to your music for all time.

    I love and miss you forever.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    Arnold Schwarzenegger Be Useful Seven Tools For Life Book Review

    Arnold Schwarzenegger has been one of my heroes since I was a little kid.

    I love most of his movies, and his current show on Netflix Fubar is a lot of fun too.

    His autobiography Total Recall is excellent.

    And this book, Be Useful Seven Tools For Life, is quite good also.

    Released on October 10 of 2023, this book is part self help/part autobiographical/part inspirational/very positive.

    I so wish I could be as positive and driven as Governor Schwarzenegger is.

    I’ve been a fan since I was little, but I’ve never been confident or driven and ambitious like he is.

    I don’t know if I ever could be.

    Either way, I enjoyed this book very much.

    I’ve been lucky enough to meet him and just be in the room with him a few times, courtesy of the Arnold Sports Festival.

    I can tell you he is very much as he appears to be.  Very smart, confident, positive, driven, focused, disciplined, and much more.  All the things I’m not. 

    But still, he is a hero to me and he always will be.

    Check out this book.  

    And as he says “Be useful”.

  • Blog,  Book Reviews

    Sting Broken Music Book Review

    I’ve been a fan of the singer/songwriter/musician Sting for decades.

    I’m a fan of his work with The Police and his solo work.

    He’s a tremendous talent all around.

    I’m also a fan of his book.

    Broken Music was released in 2003.

    In the book, Sting talks about his upbringing, his parents, school days, first getting into music, early bands, early relationships (including his first marriage and becoming a father), and the initial days of The Police.

    It’s a great book, but I do wish he would have talked more about the rest of his career.

    But his intention was to talk about his early days, and he does that quite well with this book.

    If you are a fan of Sting, you need to read this book Broken Music.

    And in order to know what he means by “Broken Music”, you have to read the book.

    Please do.