Goodbye, Guns N' Roses

The Crime, Beauty, and Amplified Chaos of America's Most Polarizing Band

De: Art Tavana

Narrado por: Peter Berkrot

A valentine and a breakup letter to one of rock's most controversial bands.

Goodbye, Guns N' Roses is a genre-rattling attempt to explain the appeal of America's most divisive rock band. While it includes uncharted history and the self-lacerating connoisseurship of a Guns N' Roses fetishist, it is not a recycled chronicle - this book is a deconstruction of myth, one that blends high and low art sketches to examine how Guns N' Roses impacted popular culture. Unlike those who have penned other treatments of what might be considered a cliched subject, Art Tavana is not writing as a GNR patriot or former employee. His book aims to provide an untethered exploration that machetes through the jungle of propaganda camouflaging GNR's explosive appeal.

After circling the band's three-decade plundering of American culture, Goodbye, Guns N' Roses uncovers a postmodern portrait that persuades its viewer to think differently about their symbolic importance. This is not a rock bio, but a biography of taste that treats a former "hair metal" band like a decomposing masterpiece. This is the first Guns N' Roses book written for everyone; from the Sunset Strip to a hyper-digital generation's connection to "Woke Axl", it is a pop investigation that dodges no bullets.

©2021 Art Tavana (P)2021 Tantor

Disjointed but interesting

This book is very disjointed and does not follow a chronological timeline. Thus, it is a bit tough to follow. It also ignores some key elements about grunge. That said, the author states this in the prologue…and he’s right.

Worthwhile read

Definitely way different from all the other GNR books /autobiographies I’ve read. The author makes some valid points and connects a lot of the dots.
Lots of Rock music history, which I like. I especially liked the part where he talks about how hair metal became obsolete in the early 90s and bands like Nirvana captured what society was actually grappling with much more accurately.
He does jump around from topic to topic a bunch, and doesn’t give the band enough credit for successfully reuniting for the past 7 years, what still holds the audience’s attention 30 years after their last album release.
Also, what’s with the cover art?
Worthwhile if you’re a fan though.

An imagined history of what GnR are all about

Bad writing. Bad author. Bad book. Save your credit for something else. This was a waste of time.

The story was 90 precent about the authors political opinions and 10 precent about the story of guns n roses.

I feel like this book could have been great but the author painted everything through the eyes of a sensitive liberal who takes everyhting too seriously. Even saying to enjoy listening to the music you would first have to put your morals to the side or you would just be too offended. Its like how about the things said in music should be taken as an artist expression and not so litterly. A lot of the offensive things done by the band or axl was done on purpose to cause controversy and I don't need an hour long lecture on what they could have done differently or why what they were doing was wrong or misinformed.