DNF. Late, Late at Night by Rick Springfield

Late, Late at Night by Rick Springfield (Canada) - (US)

Pages: 320
Ages: 18+
Finished: 22/320
First Published: Oct. 12, 2010
Publisher: Touchstone
Genre: memoir
Rating: DNF

First sentence:

So here I am, seventeen years of age, feeling as ugly as the *ss end of a female baboon at mating season, unloved, very much in need of a good caressing by some attentive young woman and, right now, swinging by my neck at the end of a very thick twine rope like some pathetic B-Western movie bad guy.

Acquired: Received a review copy from Simon & Schuster Canada.

Reason for Reading: I loved Rick Springfield in the '80s, especially on my favourite television show General Hospital, as Dr. Noah Drake. Secondly, I liked his music and had his albums. My niece is named Jessica and my nickname for her is Jessiegirl. Gee, guess where that comes from!

I couldn't finish this book. This is all me, the book is getting great reviews elsewhere, mostly 5 stars on amazon, so don't let me dissuade you from reading it if you have this on your list. I just simply couldn't read the book. I usually have a 50 page rule before DNF'ing but just couldn't will myself to read any further after the prologue and chapter one. I've never quit a book so early in my life.

Briefly my reason is because of the language. In the 22 pages I read Rick told me about his p*nis three times and colourfully used all the common swear words including multiple versions of the f-word. When I picked the book up the next day I just had zero desire to read any more. I have other books calling my name and am happily reading someone else's memoir right now.

One other thing that was oddly irritating (to me) was that Rick was writing about the past and would switch arbitrarily between the past and present tense in the narrative. Your opinion will probably greatly differ than mine. Here is the publisher's summary:

In a searingly candid memoir which he authored himself, Grammy Award-winning pop icon Rick Springfield pulls back the curtain on his image as a bright, shiny, happy performer to share the startling story of his rise and fall and rise in music, film, and television and his lifelong battle with depression.

In the 1980s, singer-songwriter and actor Rick Springfield seemed to have it all: a megahit single in "Jessie's Girl," sold-out concert tours, follow-up hits that sold more than 17 million albums and became the pop soundtrack for an entire generation, and 12 million daily viewers who avidly tuned in to General Hospital to swoon over his portrayal of the handsome Dr. Noah Drake. Yet lurking behind his success as a pop star and soap opera heartthrob and his unstoppable drive was a moody, somber, and dark soul, one filled with depression and insecurity.

In Late, Late at Night, the memoir his millions of fans have been waiting for, Rick takes readers inside the highs and lows of his extraordinary life. By turns winningly funny and heartbreakingly sad, every page resonates with Rick's witty, wry, self-deprecating, brutally honest voice. On one level, he reveals the inside story of his ride to the top of the entertainment world. On a second, deeper level, he recounts with unsparing candor the forces that have driven his life, including his longtime battle with depression and thoughts of suicide, the shattering death of his father, and his decision to drop out at the absolute peak of fame. Having finally found a more stable equilibrium, Rick's story is ultimately a positive one, deeply informed by his passion for creative expression through his music, a deep love of his wife of twenty-six years and their two sons, and his life-long quest for spiritual peace.