MR

I know I am late to the game but I just got around to reading the book and it is outstanding. I read it in less than 1 day. It just makes one realize that the rock and roll world it not as great as we think and they too have their problems. Hiding who you are just to do what you love and be with who you love would be awfully hard! My hat goes off to him and I would love to tell him how moved I was by his story.

Just finished reading both The Grand Delusion and The Grand Illusion in a 4 day's span. Sterling, I know you post here, and I'd like to tell you your book was as fascinating a rock read as any I've read... only thing that comes close is To The Limit about The Eagles. Really looking forward to that Van Halen biography you promise at the end of the book.

Chuck's book was a good read as well, but I found it to be a bit "diet." A lot of the stories were truncated and I would have loved more detail. Granted, the limits of memory probably play a great part in this, but I sure would have loved to hear an insider's account of what it was really like not only backstage, but in the studio, the tour bus, and the hotels with Styx on the road. Maybe I should have read it before The Grand Delusion, but most of the Styx information in Chuck's book was more or less a condensed version of what could be found in the former.. with Chuck's perspective, I hoped for something more. But past the fact that the book was not as much about Styx as one might expect from the title and the caption/subtitle "Love, Lies, and My Life with Styx," Chuck's story is certainly a moving one, whatever your thoughts are on his politics or social agenda. In a way, I now believe Chuck is classic rock's Lance Armstrong, a habitual odds-beater who was lived on to tell his story. So I guess in sum, a little checklist:

Moving? Yes
Inspiring? For most people, I would say yes
An illuminating, insider's look into the egotistical world of rock? For the most part, no

If you're willing to get past that last big part of the puzzle, it's a worthy (and very quick) read.