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Synopsis (From Goodreads):
Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
Review:
I first heard of author Taylor Jenkins Reid when my book club selected her novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, a few months ago. It put me straight into the Hollywood of the 1950's and 1960's. Her newest book, Daisy Jones & The Six is set in the 1970's. With wildly entertaining characters, I felt like I was a groupie following this fictional rock band. The audio book, itself, has a full cast and is delightful. One can understand why Reese Witherspoon snatched up the movie rights even before publication.
What I Liked:
Audio Narration:
The audio book has a full cast of very accomplished actors. Jennifer Beals portrays Daisy as a woman who has done it all: tough, self-assured, but also with some battle scars. Pablo Schreiber plays rock star Billy Dunne as a genuinely nice guy... but perhaps in denial about the harm his drug and alcohol addiction had on his family.
Even the secondary characters are memorable, as played by this talented group. I particularly enjoyed the performances of Fred Berman (as Eddie) and Ari Fliakos (as Warren). Both acted as though they were the main characters. I loved every scene they were in.
Setting:
The setting is the rock music scene in the Los Angeles of the 1970's. With all the vivid details of recording studios, wild parties at the infamous Chateau Marmont (where John Belushi died), and life on a tour bus, readers will feel as though they are getting the ultimate behind the scene access pass!
Characters:
I loved all the characters in this book. Daisy was heartbreaking in her longing, while Camilla (Billy's wife) was a study in how a person can have faith in their partner. I also really liked Karen and Graham. They were so wonderful together, but you knew their differences would tear them apart.
Story:
This book was set up like an oral history. There was a "reporter" interviewing all of the characters. This format was great because each person speaks from their own perspective. And, since they are remembering event from decades ago (and most were drunk or high at that time), everyone remembers what happened a bit differently. It also makes the reader question the motives of each character. What do they gain by recollecting in this way?
I liked that there were multiple story arcs involving all the characters. This made me really invest in each person, not just Daisy and Billy.
Rating:
Release Date: March 5th, 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Audio Publisher: Random House Audio
Audio Length: 9 Hours, 4 Minutes
Print Publisher: Ballantine Books
Page Length: 368 Pages
Source: Random House Audio
Format: Audio Book
Recommendation: Very entertaining. I think you should really listen to the audio book version as the actors add so much to the story.
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