Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A hot read on a long winter's night for the true fan, 8 Feb 2007
Finally, a book that is researched properly with primary sources and what must have been thousands of hours of interviews directly with the amazing Billy Joel and also with the key eyewitnesses to the history that this little guy from Long Island made and continues to make with his music. As a hardcore fan I was hungry for a book like this and once I picked it up, could not put it down until I was finished. For all the many millions who have measured the milestones of their lives with Billy Joel music, this book is a must have and a really enjoyable read. If you love Billy Joel, you will love this book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Careless Talk, 8 Oct 2007
A music biography - unless it's about someone whose soul has been tortured in the same manner as, say, Ian Curtis or Brian Wilson - should not be a chore to read. Harrowing, perhaps, or stark, or 'gritty' (i.e. full of expletives and graphic depictions of groupie sex), but never torturous. You should, at least, want to turn every page without dreading what you're going to find on the next one.
Unfortunately, that's exactly the problem with I Go To Extremes. The book feels a good deal longer than its three hundred-odd pages. This has very little to do with Billy Joel's life story which, while hardly as dramatic as Jim Morrison's (kid from Long Island works up the career ladder, becomes rich, divorces, battles alcohol, sues brother-in-law, fails to reconcile with father), is at least semi-interesting. As biographies go the subject matter makes for a plausible character arc, and the narrative is structurally sound - the writer does at least manage to move through the major episodes in his subject's life story at a reasonable pace, with tours covered in paragraphs and years in single chapters. There is a wealth of information, a light sprinkling of humour and a good deal of input from friends, record company moguls and band members alike.
Instead, the problem here lies in the style. Smith claims not to be a part of Joel's inner circle but in spite (or perhaps because) of this he is as fiercely defensive of Joel's every move as the man's closest friends. As a result the book suffers greatly from a lack of objectivity and a tendency towards sycophantic fawning, marking out Joel's every move as either genius or a good effort, whether openly or within the confines of a thinly veiled subtext. As for the supporting characters, all bets are off. In particular Smith is given towards vitriolic diatribes against the machinations of the music industry - tempered, it would seem, by his publisher, but you can sense the bile lurking in his mouth. Issues such as Joel's frequent inability to communicate with his band on important issues, such as not wanting to work with them any more, are glossed over - the band certainly get to have their say but there's no real sense of blame, with Joel's behaviour justified on the grounds that (forgive me) it's Just The Way He Is.
Indeed, the cocktail lounge standard is the subject of one of the most grating passages in the book, in which Smith berates Joel's father for taking insufficient interest in the popularity and enduring appeal of his music. During one such exchange, in which Billy's informing his father of the song's worldwide success and its ascent up the poll of Most Popular First Dance, the gruff response is "You've written better songs than that", as if this were some ghastly punch line. So what? It's true. Established fans of his work would agree that despite the fact that Just The Way You Are is one of his most accessible (and most covered) songs, it is far from his best...so why all the drama?
Such interchanges are, sadly, all too common, and Smith's tendency to make mountains out of molehills (to the detriment of actually talking about the songs, which he seems to do only when it's absolutely necessary) makes the book tiresome reading. You find yourself wanting to find out what happens next but wishing that someone else was telling the story - it's like being regaled with an anecdote by the talkative, opinionated half of a married couple and wishing that they'd shut up so that you can ask their silent partner what really happened. There are also far, far too many typographical errors for a hardback edition, and it was all I could do to stop myself going through each page with a red pen before returning the thing to Robson Books with a note reading "Must try harder".
There is a dearth of serious books about Billy Joel and his music, and it's unfortunate that in this case his life story is being told by someone who thinks that being a yes-man is cool. Being a casual friend is one thing, but choosing to Stand By Your Man no matter what is quite another. Smith's frequent, scornful indictments of the music press, in particular, look out of place and ridiculous, and the impression you get here is that - rather than the candid insider's view that this might have been - this is entirely the wrong man for the job. At its best it's a missed opportunity - at its worst, the metaphorical equivalent of asking a video games addict to land a 747. You'll probably make it down in one piece, but it'll be a hell of a bumpy ride.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A curate's egg of a biography, 4 Mar 2007
Nowhere does it state that this is an authorised or endorsed biography so I don't know the veracity of its contents. I would have preferred an AUTObiography, maybe we'll get one eventually! It is however an interesting read. The early chapters detailing Billy's grandparents and his father's life in Germany were fascinating, as were the details of his upbringing in Hicksville and his relationship with his first wife.
The photos are a little disappointing, some too dark to see and not many of them. None of Elizabeth Weber (or any of his wives for that matter) and none of his daughter and all were black and white! The book is peppered with grammatical and spelling errors which is quite annoying and some info is repeated.
I didn't find it as insightful or as interesting as say, Gene Simmons' "Kiss and Make-up" or Bob Geldof's "Is That It?" (both brilliant reads).
They say that the sign of a good piece of writing is one that leaves you wanting more, I'm not so sure that applies to a biography and after reading it, I wanted more.
Come on Billy, let's hear it from you! Until then, this is worth a read.
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