I enjoy books that keep me up late at night to finish them. Peter Woody Rising has kept me up several nights as I am reading it for the second time (at least the juicier parts). The characters seem to be pulled from loud concert stages and out of wild clubs where anything can and does happen. The drug culture that exists in the world of rockers is depicted here in a most realistic and frightening way. The subtitle (sex, drugs, power rock) is reinforced in a very creative way on the inside pages. This is an unusual read, very different in many ways. No holds barred!

I've always enjoyed reading stories that are off-center, but still depict a hidden reality. The main character, Peter Woody, is a very strange and very realistic character. His journey through this story reminds me of a Charlie Chaplin movie--humorous but tragic also. And the writing has a touch of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" to it. No doubt Peter Woody and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson would be partying buddies. The drug and sex scenes are shocking, but in the very best way--to be read over and over. That's what I plan to do.

Rolling Stone magazine has tried to warn us for years that people like this really exist, but maybe I didn't believe them. This book delivers a jolt of reality that is stunning. My friends and I listen to rock music every day and often hear about the outrageous behavior of rockers, but reading about Peter Woody's life is an experience all its own. The plot is like a psychedelic trip filled with self-inflicted pain, but also suffused with glimpses of love and in the end, self-redemption. The rawness of the language backed by the quirky, brash, unapologetic writing style is reflective of the subject matter--power rockers unbalanced on the edge of total craziness. This totally rocks!