A very personal view of a very private man

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes. I have always been very interested in Mr. Peart - so it was for me... although, at times the "letters to Bruno" format was tiring.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

More log entries and less letters - I didn't care for the balance between the two as presented, but it was still enjoyable.

What about Brian Sutherland’s performance did you like?

He has a similar voice to Neil's so that was a definite plus - although a tad monotone at times... then again, with the subject matter, its understandable.

What else would you have wanted to know about Neil Peart’s life?

More details regarding drumming in general - and his new relationship with Carrie Nuttall. I felt the last chapter was too much of a whirlwind - i.e., lets wrap this thing up quickly...

Any additional comments?

All in all - a good read for the determined fan. Casual listeners will tire after about 3 hours.. I enjoyed the first 1/3 and last 1/3 the most... It seems that he was more philosophical in the beginning and then simply gave way to letter writing as opposed to journalizing in the middle... I wanted more of the Broken Man to New Found Life conversion details... although - its very possible there were none and it was simply the "time that did its healing".

Definitely reads more as a travelogue than a introspective view into his life. The introspection is there, but at times it gets tedious waiting for the details..

At this point, I want to address folks who are trying to decide if they should get this book and may have formed a negative view based on other reviews..I've read many Amazon reviews that are quite negative regarding Mr. Peart's attitude and the appearance of "Self centered narcissism of a rich man". I think this is absolutely untrue. Yes - he is in a different place in his life than most of us, but he also has a job that is MUCH more demanding than many people would ever dare to take on. He is travelling away from family and home most of the year and had to scratch and claw his way in the early years when they got literally NO radioplay. It was NOT an easy road - but his persistence paid of and he now has the comfort that so many people give him a hard time for.

Also - regarding his "attitude" toward others in the book - calling them "fat, obese, etc"... How about we try and be a bit empathetic for a minute - you just lost your entire family - and have nothing to look forward to - you are near the point of cashing it in and just eating a bullet as it were... and you expect him to be anything except apathetic, withdrawn and downright cynical? Please... he gave us a raw look at how he felt - and then people want to sit back on their laurels and criticize. Get back to me when you deal with such tragedy in your life and let me know how it went.

I applaud Neil for giving us this insight - and I hope my review is not overly critical - because I do believe that it is important to be critical if one is to gain insight and grow. So - here's to looking forward to another installment in the "Life and times of Elwood".

39 people found this helpful

Not happy, but fascinating

I was vaguely aware of the existence of a band called 'Rush', but I couldn't recall hearing any of their music, my tastes in music go in a different direction.

I was unaware of this Neil Peart person. I've since learned he is considered a Living God by many people, including members of my own family.

The two things I do have in common with Mr Peart is that we were both born in 1952 and we both like to take a long motorcycle ride when we feel the need to clear our head. It was motorcycles, not music, that attracted me to this book.

This isn't a particularly happy book, but it is a fascinating one. It's a good motorcycle travelogue. It's an interesting look behind the scenes of the life a famous musician. And it's a tragic story of a man dealing with what has to be about the worst loss one can imagine.

Mr Peart doesn't always come across as particularly warm or tolerant. He does come across as brutally honest with himself and his readers.

The narration and production values are excellent, the story is compelling.

I can't say I 'enjoyed' this book, the central tragedy precludes that adjective.

I am glad I read it.

42 people found this helpful

Don't Meet Your Heroes

This book was tough to listen to. it was hard to remind myself of the position Mr Peart was in when he wrote it. Although this book is a window into Mr Peart's journey from the most difficult places a person would visit and back to normal life, I certainly got the impression that it was written for no other person except the author himself. I think I am fine with that.

Mr Peart will always have my gratitude. And I am glad to have shared in this painful journey with him to the small extent that I have in listening to this book. Rest in peace, Ghost Rider. And rest in peace, Mr Peart.

6 people found this helpful

Ghost Rider review

Thank you Neil Peart for sharing your rawness! Spoke to my soul! Fellow grief survivor after losing my husband, my daughter and my boyfriend over the past 8 years. Sure makes me want to get a motorcycle. I’ll stick to running 5ks and half marathons!

5 people found this helpful

Little Baby Soul

An enjoyable book about getting away from grief. Neil is a world class drummer as well as writer, and while his writing is impressive with this tragic tale of escape and acceptence of the death of his daughter and wife, it dose sometimes get long in the tooth- especially with his letters to everyone and his constant telling of caring for his ‘Little Baby Soul’. The front half of the book moves faster than the second half and I felt myself speeding up the audio book to 2X just to move on from letter afeter letter.

5 people found this helpful

Great story of heartbreak and the process of healing!

As a fellow man who understands the call of the road. Having driven most of the western states I know how it’s alluring! More recently riding a motorcycle as well! This heart wrenching story is written in such a way as that you can experience the motorcycle trip and also feel great empathy for someone’s pain and healing as well. Understanding that you don’t fully understand what you have not personally experienced!
Thank you Neil for sharing your story with us!
It is a great privilege to be let into your pain and healing!

5 people found this helpful

Surprising… At First

From reading reviews I was expecting a lot of philosophizing. At the beginning there wasn’t much of that. In the latter part of the book, which I suppose is the Letters section, there was a lot of philosophizing. Being a “philosophizer” myself I didn’t mind too much, but it wasn’t as good as the travelogue pieces.

Having ridden probably only a fraction as much as Mr. Peart (350 K miles in 40 years) I found the travel log more fun than most. So many of those tales are “We Went Here, We Saw That, We Ate Something. We Went There, Saw That, Ate Something.“ I did like the philosophizing more than I did in Pirsig’s book. Being a technical writer who also reached the end of the road, I never found Pirsig very affecting.

At least Peart only called his bike a “steed“ three or four times. (My pet peeve. 😉 )

A lot of effort went into this book and I think it is worth a read.

5 people found this helpful

I truly unique book!

I don't think you have to be a fan of the band Rush in order to love this book. granted he covers 50,000 mi, so there are times when you might be tired of the road and you might want to take a break, but Neil is such an amazing writer with such a gift for words with such an amazing memory and the ability to describe the things that he sees, it's truly unique I think. You could listen to this book and just build or reading list of the things that he reads, build a map of the United States end of the best roads in America. He's an observer of wildlife, of Flora and fauna, and I'm very happy to say he loves good food, good restaurants, and he tends to review every place he goes to including hotels.
some of my favorite parts where when he was not on the road, in his house in Toronto, and free to think and to ponder the deeper meanings of life that he is so familiar with, and so skillful at explaining. while reading this book I actually opened up a separate page on my phone and I would stop and I would record quotes that stood out to me, and there were so, so many. did he talk about what it was like to be on the road or to be on the stage with Rush? No, almost never.
The little snippets and quotes from songs that I've long been familiar with, that might open or close a chapter, hit me with such newfound meaning when simply read in the context of the story. now I understand why on his tombstone, or his monument, he has written Neil Peart, author.
I now understand that his amazing career as being one of the greatest drummers of all time, voted drummer of the year at least 10 years running, and one of the greatest lyricists of any rock band ever, Was only one small portion of his life, and as he got older it's possible that his life is a musician became even more eclipsed by all the other things that he set out to achieve.
a gifted writer, a tremendous observer of life, of people, and of the situations that we all find ourselves in, Mr. Peart receives only a the fraction of the credit that he deserves.

4 people found this helpful

Started Ok

As a recent retiree and a new motorcycle rider/tourer, I enjoyed hearing of the same rides I’ve made in the last 4 years, almost identical in the first few chapters. The enjoyment petered our, with the incessant whining. The “just saying “ phrase got to be annoying. After all the grieving, he finds a new soul mate! Hard to relate, not being blessed with talent and loads of cash. Sorry, don’t mean to offend fans, my son loves Rush. Just sayin

3 people found this helpful

I really enjoyed this book.

drummers make good thinkers it seems. I really enjoyed this book, and not only cause I was invested in the character(s). I think we hurt less when we hurt together, and one way of hurting together is by reading and writing. there's a lot to learn in these pages.

3 people found this helpful