This is a novel in VH1 Behind the Music format. It’s posed as a behind the scenes tell all of a famous, if ethereal rock band from the mid to late 70s. In the beginning, the band is a kind Allman Brothers band type deal, then it morphs into a kind of Fleetwood Mac type deal with the addition of the beautiful, damaged, and beautifully damaged Daisy Jones, who herself feels like an amalgam of Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, Marianne Faithful, Dusty Springfield, etc etc etc.
The novel itself is formatted into a series of interviews and soundbites (literally if you’re listening to the audiobook) (figuratively if you’re reading) about the rise of the band, the rise of Daisy Jones, their fateful meeting, the virtuosic album they create together and then their dissolution.
This novel is a lot of a fun, and the audiobook is absolutely stellar, with Benjamin Bratt and Jennifer Beals doing the heavy lifting, alongside Judy Greer and then a cast of familiar audiobook industry narrators rounding things out. The effect is like watching the actual documentary that this seems to take the form of, and the only thing missing would be the actual music itself.
The limits of this books, however, hold it back from being a strong novel. It’s fun, it’s sweet, it’s touching, but it’s relatively lightweight. In part, the entire book feels a little too clever, and the writing, while engaging, relies so heavily on tropes and cliches (some on purpose, because let’s face it, rock musicians are rarely profound in their spoken sentiments). So it’s enjoyable, but it’s a little too constructed. The other issue is that it’s too clearly based on the stories of familiar musicians. It’s not based solely on any body, but the stories are too familiar. And as happens with a lot of books, authors who love music (Stephen King comes to mind for sure) often mistake their joy in music for any level of insight or eclecticism.
(Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Jones-Taylor-Jenkins-Reid/dp/1524798622/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DS5ASD2W1UCZ&keywords=daisy+jones+and+the+six&qid=1554649014&s=gateway&sprefix=daisy+jones%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1)