Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums

I am not the biggest Blink-182 fan. I like a lot of their songs but in no way, shape, or form would I say I've listened to all of their albums or singles. I do like hip-hop and EDM, so I've always seen Travis Barker appearing on stuff: "Oh Travis Barker is playing with Yelawolf." "Oh Travis Barker and DJ AM just remixed "Welcome to the Jungle", and so on. It never occurred to me on how this person who became famous drumming for a pop-punk band and was married to a Playboy model would then appear on the BET awards. Well this book answers that and a LOT more. It is truly an amazing book: it's part tell-all memoir, part self-help tome, mixed together in a blender.The style of writing is a little jarring at first, mainly due to so many people appearing in the book. For example, Travis might be writing about Person A, then Person A will get their own mini-section to write out what was going in from their perspective. While at first it was wrecking the flow of the book, the more and more you read, you realize that it actually fits perfectly inline with who Travis Barker is: he's not going to put words in other people's mouths, and he never thinks of his own perspective as gospel. The people he talks about should get a chance to respond (even in HIS own autobiography, lol).In the end, the tale is a relatively simple, but inspiring, one. A kid who is slightly off-center (as we all are) looks up to his father, who in turn has passed on his amazing work ethic to his son. The son throws his life into his passion, never compromising. Along the way the son becomes rich and famous, and struggles in his personal relationships with women, success, and substance abuse. After suffering loss upon loss of his closest friends, the son strives to be the man his father was to him, and pass along his passion for life to his own children.Awesome book, Mr. Barker should write more.

I'm a HUGE fan of both Blink 182 and Travis Barker. I'm also a HUGE fan of biographies and this one happens to now be included among my absolute favorites! I couldn't put it down. I started listening to Blink 182 around '97. Right around the time "Dude Ranch" was released. Unfortunately, it nearly took til the release of "Enema of the State" in '99 for me to became a life long fan of the group. This also happens to be the time of change from former drummer, Scott to Travis. After seeing Blink in October of '98, they were just the most energetic, fun band I'd witnessed. Luckily for me, there were approximately 50 people total at the show. The following year, AFTER "Enema" was released I got to see them in front of nearly 10,000. Huge difference! Regardless,....This is one of the best told biographies I've read. Travis pulls no punches when talking about his childhood and adolescent years. His relationship with his parents and two older sisters. He talks about his constant desire to be a drummer and how he never wanted to be anything else. He even went as far as to alter his appearance with tattoos so no one would hire him. Gotta admit, it takes guts to go after something you want like that. Fortunately, he had the only real thing he ever needed: Incredible TALENT!Honestly, you like music? You like awesome, TRUE stories?! You will LOVE this book!Final Verdict: Read! Read! READ!!!!!! Why haven't you bought it already?!

Definitely a page turner! Travis has been through a lot and yet has overcome and remains to be one of the most talented drummers of all time. I have even more respect for him. Huge fan!

mostly engaging

Of course I knew who Travis was but I had no idea he collaborated on so many tracks with other top tier artists. The book is an easy read and very riveting. I won’t add spoilers here. But for anyone who enjoys a good read and is a fan of punk rock AND/OR rap (not necessarily a fan drummers or even TB himself) will enjoy this. It’ll be nice to get a follow up book actually.

Loved this book. Travis told his life story. It was awesome to read. I have friends waiting to read my book.

It was enlightening in many aspects and so honest and real. I LOVED THAT! It was sad, but it was uplifting despite the unfortunate events. I read it to my child and was bleeping out the SoCal language, (smile). The story still read well, and we both learned. Travis issome kind of crazy genius, but his skill is pure passion for expression. I introduced my child to their music while reading through this book, and it helped to find in books what cannot be expressed through other forms of media alone.I explained the difference in culture and environment causes one to express themselves differently, kind of like an accent, yet environment plays a role for sure beyond language. It opened up lines of communication that we may not have had opportunity to discuss.WE LOVED THE BOOK ! God Bless. Thanks for sharing your experiences and how love and wisdom strengthened you.I'd recommend this book to anyone. It's so much more than just another book about a musician, he is respected for good reason. He has a beautiful heart.

One of the best books I have seriously ever read. I blasted through faster than any other book I’ve ever read, because I just could not put it down! I love the honesty, and introspection. He has grown and has overcome a lot through this journey he shares in this book. He clearly loves and lives for his family. Loved reading about such a talented artist and thoughts behind his work. Write more Travis!!

They book was great and very informative.

Muy buen libro

Scritto in un inglese assolutamente comprensibile, racconta tutti i retroscena della vita di uno dei batteristi più famosi e talentuosi dell'intero universo (famiglia, amori, musica ed esperienze), impartendo al lettore anche qualche bella lezione di vita! Consiglio questo libro a tutti. Penso che a breve inizierò a leggerlo per la seconda volta.

Très bon ouvrage avec anecdotes exclusives.Intéressant pour les fans de rock et de Travis Barker.Entièrement rédigé en anglais cependant.

La biografía de uno de los mejores baterías del post-punk (Blink 182, Aquabats, Transplants), lectura muy interesante sobre los entresijos de la industria musical, la escena y la vida de un tatuado millonario en California.Resulta muy interesante la trayectoria ascendente de Barker y como se unió a una de las bandas más exitosa de los 90/00 así como la historia de como casi muere de la forma que llevaba temiendo durante años. Música, pastillas, batería y groupies.Muy recomendable.