{"id":37970,"date":"2026-09-10T13:55:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/?p=37970"},"modified":"2026-09-10T13:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:56:08","slug":"michael-mcdonald-with-paul-reiser-what-a-fool-belives-a-memoir-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanardentfan.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/10\/michael-mcdonald-with-paul-reiser-what-a-fool-belives-a-memoir-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael McDonald With Paul Reiser “What A Fool Belives: A Memoir” Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Singer\/songwriter\/musician Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Solo), along with actor\/comedian\/writer Paul Reiser (My Two Dads, Aliens, Mad About You, Stranger, and much more) wrote Michael’s autobiography “What A Fool Belives:\u00a0 A Memoir” and released it on May 21st of 2024.<\/p>

I’ve been a fan of Michael’s work since I was a teenager, but I really did not know much about him outside of his work.<\/p>

This book taught me a lot about him.\u00a0<\/p>

I honestly thought he was fairly squeaky clean, but he partied as much as many musicians have.<\/p>

Luckily, he’s been sober since the 1980s, but for a while there, he was a party guy.<\/p>

Like most autobiographies, Michael talks about growing up, getting into music, various bands he was in, ultimately joining Steely Dan by a chance encounter with a fellow musician, getting a call to join The Doobie Brothers initially as a fill-in, but ultimately stayed and helped the band attain just as much, if not more success, solo career and working with various musicians, relationships, and much more.<\/p>

Michael is a PHENOMENAL talent.<\/p>

If you are a fan, you must read this book.<\/p>

If I have one complaint, I wish he would have mentioned the time he worked with Van Halen singer David Lee Roth on what would become a big hit for them “I’ll Wait”.\u00a0 But that’s OK.\u00a0 I’ve read that story in Michael’s frequent producer, particularly with The Doobie Brothers, Ted Templeman’s book.<\/p>

Aside from that, Michael has a lot of stories and as a fan, it was great learning a lot more about him.<\/p>

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