Bruce Dickinson

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I just finished What Does This Button Do? The whole Afterward talks about how he made a conscious effort to not include any family details into the book, but honestly, I would have far preferred a little insight into Bruce's home life as opposed to another damn story about what elevation his various planes were at when they deployed the fucking wing flaps. All of the Maiden stuff is great, as is the childhood stuff, even the fencing stuff I found super interesting. His battle with cancer was also really empowering.

But, I mean seriously, if you have time to tell a story about faecal impaction, you could probably talk about how you influenced your kids in music and how touring, cancer, etc. affects your home life. I understand not wanting to share your personal side in a book...but isn't that kind of what autobiographies are for?
 
I would've liked to have heard about that too, but with or without it, it's still one of my favorite books ever.
 
It’s interesting how much of the Maiden ethos is in that book. Fans often blame Steve for the unpolished and unfinished production style of the Maiden albums, but What Does This Button Do was pretty much that in book form and Steve had nothing to do with it.

I thought it was strange how much was made out of it being a first draft without a ghostwriter. It definitely reads like a first draft, I’m not sure what Bruce was trying to prove other than that he too isn’t above needing an editor. I enjoyed reading most of the stories but it was not a well written book by any means.
 
It was interesting, but as far as autobiographies, it pales in comparisons to the greats in the genre (Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Out of Africa are three of my favourites), and certainly doesn't get to the ranks of good.
 
I beg to differ: not perfect but a really good autobiography if you ask me, on par with Mike Scott's.

I think the book was always meant to be like that, as if you were being told a very interesting story by a narrator (with an excellent command of the English language), whose voice is heard throughout the book, unlike so many other autobiographies written by ghost writers. Some chapters are more interesting than others, but all in all a pretty good read and we have learnt more about Clive an Adrian's exit from the band than from Mick Wall's biography. The audiobook is even more amusing, with Bruce in self-deprecating mode.

It would have been interesting to read about his family, but apparently Paddy did not want their private life made public, which is completely understandable considering how obsessive Maiden fans can be.
 
LooseCannon said:
It was interesting, but as far as autobiographies, it pales in comparisons to the greats in the genre (Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Out of Africa are three of my favourites), and certainly doesn't get to the ranks of good.
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You don’t even have to go outside the music bio genre for this. Frank Zappa and Miles Davis both used ghost writers and were still able to maintain their own voice while still having coherency.

The rambly style certain has its merits, just as the raw sound of Maiden has its own charm, but I saw a lot of untapped potential. There were stories that I wanted to hear more about.
 
What is the best thing about WDTBD is Bruce's writing style. He doesn't posses one single thing that I hate about writers.

The book could've been better. I mean, he didn't need to go into his personal life in deails, but he could've just touched the subject how having his kids affected his life as a touring musician/pilot.

But yeah, Bruce is an amazing writer, I hope he writes some more books, because his writing style is great IMO.
 
matic22 said:
The book could've been better. I mean, he didn't need to go into his personal life in deails, but he could've just touched the subject how having his kids affected his life as a touring musician/pilot.
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I believe Austin, Griffin and Kia were all born at his house in Chiswick; the life-changing experience of home birth, the challenges associated with paternity, fear of death when you have kids could have been interesting topics.

Anyway, the book is dedicated to Paddy and his three kids, clearly showing who are the most important people in his life.
 
I'm definitely with Mosh and LC on this one - it's certainly not a great work of literature.

It's a good read as a Maiden fan, and even that is only for half the book. The descriptive aviation chapters are some of the most boring prose I've read, even with Bruce's singular wit. The book has its moments and I don't regret reading it, but I certainly wouldn't pick it up again.
 
Bruce's book certainly isn't a "great" work of literature. It's no Anna Karenina or 1984 or Atlas Shrugged. Or even among autobiographies, it's not a titan. What it is, however, is an incredibly enjoyable read by an incredibly talented guy who happens to be extremely interesting. His rambles may not be to everyone's taste, but for me, I really enjoy reading it and going over certain bits again.

One of my favorite things, for instance, is hearing how the Chemical Wedding film came to be. The way it pops up every few chapters before finally being created - it's more fascinating than the film itself, lol! Sure, there are plenty of things I would've loved to hear about, but as it says right on the cover, you're mainly going to get a background of the man, music stories, and aviation tales. And that's okay, because Bruce makes it interesting.

That's $25 I'm happy I spent.
 
jazz from hell said:
Instead we get too many adventure stories, which are entertaining but not much more.
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That sums it up. It is entertaining (light entertainment), but (unfortunately for me) not very detailed and not enough focused on stories from the studio and about songwriting. I miss the thorough musical/creative aspects in this book.

I think that's because Bruce is not very good nor very interested in it. He seems to forget a lot of details, unless something was incredibly adventurous/exciting.
 
Forostar said:
That sums it up. It is entertaining (light entertainment), but (unfortunately for me) not very detailed and not enough focused on stories from the studio and about songwriting. I miss the thorough musical/creative aspects in this book.

I think that's because Bruce is not very good nor very interested in it. He seems to forget a lot of details, unless something was incredibly adventurous/exciting.
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Are you saying Bruce is neither very good nor interested in the musical and creative aspects?

If that is the case, and your post reads like that, that probably is the biggest piece of shit I have read here so far. :lol:
 
I agree with @Forostar. I too was disapointed by the lack of details on the creative aspects of his life. A few remarks here on there about a studio session or a song, but no detailed information. The man is a musician, first and foremost, and we don't get that much on that side. As for planes, I'd rather read again Adolf Galland's or Pierre Clostermann's autobiographies: much more entertaining.
 
Fair enough, in terms of planes there are definitely better autobiographies out there. ;)

I would have liked to read more about the tensions in Maiden, but as I said previously, we have learnt more about Clive and Adrian's departure from Bruce's book than from Mick Wall's hagiography.
 
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