Rating: 
Summary: Reluctant Fan
Review: I don't know why I bought this book. I bought it like I buy so many other books, on compulsion. I allowed it into the house for a couple of days all-the-while thinking to myself - why? I'm not a Motley Crue fan. Except, perhaps, for a brief flirtation with them via the Shout At The Devil recording back when I was in high school. After reading this book, however, I feel like I've had to reevaluate my relationship with the band; I've become a reluctant Motley Crue fan. I could not put The Dirt down and down I went. The arrangement of the book is well done in that it does not follow the insipid "what I did over my summer vacation" format. It is linear, but not strictly. The quality of articulation varies from band member to band member. I found Tommy's the most difficult to read because of his excessive use of "dude" & etc. I especially found myself sympathizing with some of the band members, in particular: Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars, but more on a personal level. All the members of the band, however, have gone through their share of adverse times and at the very least deserve empathy. Despite the numerous tales of wretched revelry (which, really made me gag and, oddly enough, smile at the same time) I never once felt like any one of these guys were pretentiously glorifying their escapades and abuses. I agree with one of the reviewers for this book, that there was a remarkable sense of honesty in all accounts. Motley Crue approached the subject of their lives with a good balance between self-depreciation, equanimity, and humor. The business and social aspects of rock and roll are absurd and deranged (especially at the stratospheric level of fame they achieved) and for these guys to have made it out seemingly alive and more wise is inspirational. The book manages to express this very well. If you're a fan of rock & roll, then I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete honesty in this book...
Review: Let me preface this review by saying that I do not like Motley Crue. I think that some of the band members are slime and I think that their music is tre-80's. That being said, this biography is the best I have read about a band in a very, very long time. Reading this book didn't make me like them any more or hate them any more than I previously had. What makes this book work is the brutal honesty of the band members when talking about things from the past. The story of the band is quite extensive and not just about a porn tape of Tommy and Pamela. This books details things from the beginning to the end making you feel that you know everything about the band. Sure you've seen their "Behind the Music" on VH-1, but there is much more in this book that VH-1 would have needed all day for programming to cover. My only complaint of this book: Tommy Lee's illiteracy. The "dudes, mans, and bro's" got old after a while as well as his constant martyr techniques. Other than that, excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best rock tell-alls ever
Review: I've read exactly two rock biographies - this one and "Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith". The second one took me about a year to finish, this one took me all of a week. I'll let you guess which one I found more interesting. There's very little discussion here about the making of their albums or the stories behind the songs. It's pretty much all the stuff of tabloid legend - sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, with heavy emphasis on the sex and drugs. Some of their backstage exploits make Led Zeppelin look like a bunch of choir boys. Even their respective marriages to women both famous and not are oddly downplayed. Vince Neil suddenly has a wife and child part way through the book before you even knew what was happening. You find out later that it was actually his second child and that his first was born when he was only 16 (neither one of these kids are his daughter Skylar, whose tragic death at the age of 4 is discussed in detail in easily the most moving part of the book). Tommy Lee covers his meeting, dating, and marrying Heather Locklear in one chapter, then pretty mcuh avoids the topic altogether until his divorce (which he sums up in about two pages). The sections devoted to Pamela Anderson are understandably more in depth, but only because he devotes a whole chapter to his stint in jail for spousal abuse. Overall, a lurid tale of rock n' roll excess. It's a wonder these guys are still standing, and that they haven't been riddled with every conceiveable STD known to man (who knows, they probably are). Despite all this, my favorite line in the book was Tommy Lee saying how he wished they could've toured with artists like Iggy Pop and Husker Du "instead of cheese metal bands like Warrant and Whitesnake". Yeah, as if "Home Sweet Home", "Girls Girls Girls" or "Without You" could be considered such edgy, thought-provoking material on a different plain from either of those bands. I love the Crue, and I also like Warrant and Whitesnake, and I certainly don't consider the Crue's music to be all that much removed from the "cheese metal" glut that they helped create.
Rating:
Summary: This book rochs
Review: This book is one of those that you just can not put down because you are so excited to read what crazy thing they did next. I love this book!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Dirt: Funny, Scary, Fascinating, Dirty
Review: I bought this book because as a teenager, I loved Motley Crue. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed it. The book gives detailed descriptions of the band members' lives and careers, told by the guys themselves. They all grew up "dysfunctional," and their life stories are funny, sad, tragic, and unforgettable. The book also describes - in often shocking detail - the guy's sexual misadventures, extreme drug and alcohol abuse, and their musical ups and downs. But to me, the most interesting and surprising chapters deal with the emotional turmoil of each band member: Singer Vince Neil's struggles to overcome the cancer-related death of his baby daughter; Drummer Tommy Lee's experience with domestic violence and jail; Guitarist Mick Mars' painful muscle disease; Bassist Nikki Sixx's father-abandonment issues... and the list goes on. The book works on many levels: A funny look into the lives of four screw-ups who made it big; a disturbing journey into the world of groupies, drugs, and the business of rock n' roll; and a fascinating commentary on how fame and fortune cannot protect you from the painful wounds of life. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular read!
Review: The best rock `n` roll autobiograhpy in the world. Period.
Rating:
Summary: It's All True, Believe it or Not!
Review: I was a club owner (gentles club) in the mid eighties when the Crue was at there peak, I can tell you that this book is a very acurate protrayal of there life. It's a great book, Each of the guys tell there storie, and it's all very wild, SEX, DRUGS, more SEX! When ever they came to Houston, there management would lease out the club for a private party and pay all the girls very nicely. It was one big Party All Night for two nights str8. I've seen Vince at my new club a couple of time in the past year, and we still talk about the old days, and the parties!
Rating: 
Summary: Morbid curiosity
Review: The essential message of The Dirt seems to be that excessive drugs, alcohol and sex will ruin your life, unless you are a member of a gritty, determined metal band, and then they will ruin you life, but you will be (in)famous. Reading the book could be equated to a mile-long car wreck on the side of the road involving everything from 18-wheelers to Mazeratis--you just can't not look at it. While the Pulitzer committee won't be calling anytime soon, the story is a fascinating one and benefits from being told by at least four independent points of view. Readers looking for scintillating tales of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll won't be disappointed, but what actually makes the book worth reading is that ultimately, through their own words, these guys are revealed as human in the sense that the average non-rock star can identify with the outlandish members of Motley Crue on some level. Not normal. Not average. But still human.
Rating:
Summary: A fun read
Review: Not earthshattering, however, their candor kept me flipping pages.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible, yet. . . in a Good way!
Review: WARNING! Picking up this book is like watching a train wreak. A tragedy you can't advert your eyes from. And since these ... are actually interesting you won't feel that you wasted your time. In fact I'm convinced that one day Mick Mars will ascend into the sky, illuminated by "little-baby-jesus-rays" and become a patron Saint to everyone who has had to endure the torment of co-workers from Hell! Bless Him and let him find the peace he so richly deserves. Amen!
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