So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life: Slichter, Jacob: 9780767914710: Amazon.com: Books

"'Are you the drummer for Everclear?'
No, I'm the drummer for Semisonic, and this is my story."

Timid, inexperienced, and insecure, and given to "goony" grins and fears of vomiting all over his drum set, Jacob Slichter is the perfect anti-star to narrate the improbable rise and fall of a (dare I use the one-hit-wonder label?) rock band. When he forms Semisonic with friends and industry old hands Dan and John, he finds himself on the outside looking in, and we, the readers, learn the ropes alongside him.

The murky and frequently absurd world of record label contract negotiations, radio station payola and blitzkrieg tours is at this point nothing new. One might be forgiven for writing this off as yet another in a long queue of behind-the-scenes looks. And Semisonic - with all due respect - are not the stuff of music legend.

But what "So You Wanna..." lacks in cocaine mountains and eager groupies, it makes up in wit, warmth, honesty and colour. It's a funny book, but also a purposeful one, and doesn't lose itself in punchlines.

Some minor areas for improvement include a somewhat hesitant start, one whose language could at times be stronger (and across which Slichter sometimes seems to vomit punctuation). But he grows into the book, and as Jake the musician learns his way around the music industry, Jake the writer finds his voice. And in any case, I read this book not for the quality of its prose (which was a happy surprise), but on the strength of its reputation as an informative read. Which it was.

Five stars, no hesitation.