Rating: 
Summary: biographer's disease....
Review: ...is a condition where a biographer thinks writing about a genius makes said biographer a genius too.'Shakey' has lots of interesting, original interviews with Young. But overall it seemed McDonough wanted to take a big whiff of Neil Young's armpits and then tell him why they smelled bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating story - , Bad Storytelling.
Review: In the last year I've read a lot of biographies about popular musicians from the 60's and early 70's including the Rolling Stones, Clapton, Hendrix, Lennon, Morrison, and a book about the more recent rock legends, U2. This one is consistent with the genre with it's poor, unbiased, artist-glorifying writing. Earlier reviews reference the non-linear writing, biased appraisal, and general sloppiness of this book. For some reason most popular culture biographers don't seem to understand the need for a well crafted story, even when that story is based on fact. Regardless of the poor technical aspects, if you are into Neil Young specifically or music from the era generally, it is a very interesting and reasonably quick read.
Rating:
Summary: Shakey
Review: While this bio gives some "innaresting" glimpses into one of rock's more elusive personalities, it is episodic, non-linear and difficult to follow. The sense after reading this book is that Young never wanted his bio written, and got the last laugh by picking a fan to be his biographer. By his own account, McDonough spent years getting close to Young and extracting quirky tidbits one at a time, which he bridged with a sketchy timeline of milestones from Young's career that anyone could have gleaned from album covers or websites, and filled in the canyons with superfluous personal opinion. At some point, McDonough must have realized that Young has played him for a chump, because he devotes a great deal of the book to establishing his own legitimacy as a writer and critic. Neil Young's other fans deserve better.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: Having read some of the reviews previously posted, I feel compelled to post a review. I have just finished reading this book last night and I am absolutley relieved. I had started to resent ever purchasing this book. My problem you ask? My exams start next week but I couldn't put it down.
It has ruined my life for a week. I had it in my hand every moment I could get. This book is an absorbing read. The word I would use to describe this book is ABSORBING. I read quite a lot of biographies, I only have three Neil young albums (so I'm not a fanatic) and this is one of the best reads of my life. The only other book I can remember not being able to walk away from like this was the lord of the rings. Now I'm not comparing the two, I'm just trying to illustrate how much this book as tormented me for the last week. I couldn't wait to be finished but couldn't leave it down. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Thorough read
Review: McDonough does a good job here cutting through all the B.S. surrounding the "legend" that is Neil Young. In doing so he paints a picture that does not come off glorifying the artist as so much a person, but as someone who has created some fine music.
Rating: 
Summary: Life of an Artistic Drug Abuser
Review: Ok my title seems harsh. And yes I've come to learn that the art and the artist are sometimes very different. I've been a big Neil Young fan all my life and I've been aware that Neil has smoked his share of pot. But it did come as a surprise to me just how MUCH Neil practiced drug use, i.e. alchohol, pot, cocaine, .... . I found this really repulsive. Plus exposure of Neil's inability to deal with anything unpleasant seems really inmature on his part.
I was excited when I got this book hoping to get some insight into the creative artist and his gift. Well after reading this book, I must admit that Neil talent does seem to be a gift/lark. Anyone that can produce music and be as inmature and abusive with drugs as much as he did, it has to be a Godsend. He seems able to create music in spite of himself.
Granted his cohorts seemed to be no better than him at the time.
As far as the author, his writing ability was fair at best. He did cover a lot of ground and gave lots of insight into the recording sessions. But as a writer he's not that great.
I'll continue to listen and enjoy Neil's music but I have to admit that as a person, I'm afraid I'll have to take him off my list of people I admire. I know that Neil would read this and state that he's never desired to be someone that people admire. Well.... mission accomplished.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard to Imagine How Else to do it, Heh heh
Review: At one point in my adolescence, I adored all and everything Neil. I got over it. Particularly once I got some insight on what went on at the ranch.
In some respects, Neil is a character out of "The Crying of Lot 49." Well certainly, Crazy Horse is. So, while Jimmy McDonough is no great writing stylist, all the same his loosey-goosey approach and road diary effort to track down what is the ontological truth of the Ontario loner is perhaps the best way of going about a tale that is at best and at times designedly hazy on details.
It seems most of the folks who have known Young were quite willing to present their take on the subject, and all seem to share a conviction in being as open as possible, well, maybe not CSN, but they actually have something to lose. What comes out of this are very humourous tales, very shocking portraits, and a sense that while Crosby was pontificating about Nixon and the Decline of the Roman Empire, Neil was chronicaling its demise and the soundtrack composed for it by all and everyone he knew, including himself.
This is very much a tale only Pynchon could have imagined, and while in recent years, likely as a result of what he has had to do as a father, he has redeemed himself, certainly in the deepest part of the 70's, his hand was as much in the tragedy of those around him as anyone. There are issues to be examined about his relationship with women, most of whom come away with baggage, unless they have had the sense, like Mitchell, not to get emotionally in over their heads. Young is singularly focused on his career throughout, and so people can easily become disposable as he goes for what he wants. That's admirable, but it comes with sinister elements.
Through all of this, Neil is quite objective. The fact that he has been horrible at times does not deter him. The impact of his mother is significant, and yet, Neil is very much a loving son to both of his parents.
When you finish this book, you are no closer to understanding Neil, but you have a sense of the interior roads he's travelled. In the clinch, he managed to cast away McDonough as well. Manipulated at the end, McDonough has perhaps written as accurate a travelogue of the journey through the past as one may ever write about Neil.
Rating:
Summary: Shakey at His Best
Review: His life moves like the words in his songs. The book is a unique blend of author and artist, paragraphs playing off of each other to paint a complete canvas of Young's life up to now. What really struck me was the story was about the music more than the life style. His prose came from internal experiences rather than the overdone almost common drug experience. That was a surprise. A cool surprise.
Rating:
Summary: Shakeitout
Review: Not Bad Overall. Too long and too much insignificant detail about each band member during each session or tour. The Neil Young character carries the book through the minutia. Could have been done in about 200 pages. I think the author tries to hard to make this to be the Best Neil Young bio ever. More Young. Less Crazy Horse and David Briggs, etc.
Rating:
Summary: Bogged down by minutiae
Review: Having listened to Neil Young for over a quarter century, and seen him live a half dozen times, I read some great reviews about this book. I also read Neil had sued McDonough over the book. After I began reading it, I could understand why. It's difficult to slog through supposed biographical moments like "that afternoon, he went to his mom's house and slept on the couch". If McDonough had been half the friend he held himself out to be, he wouldn't have bogged down the book with so much ... . I guess I learned my lesson: If you're really into a musician or band, let the music speak for itself, and take from it what it gives you. Don't seek out other people's interpretations of the person's life.
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