Reviews

Daisy Jones & The Six — Taylor Jenkins Reid | Review

Grumble

31 May 2022 — 3 min read

Quick review

Absolutely loved it — the format of fake interviews to piece together the strange and magnetic oral history of a fictional 70s rock band was just what I needed to get me back into reading after being too busy (or feeling too busy, at least) to really sit down with anything lately. I loved all the characters, flaws and fuck-ups and all, and the story of the biggest rock band of all time... definitely coulda happened exactly like this.

Bonus: if you are as enamoured with Ramblin’ Frank Spicer from "DEATHLOOP" (dev. Arkane Studios, 2021) as I am, then you'll enjoy this one even more, I bet. For the rock star escapades, sure, but even more so just for the vibes 🎙

The Gist

It's a light read on the surface, but there's a lot going on underneath: Taylor Jenkins Reid effortlessly sustains the flow of the interviews through naturalistic prose, even through difficult subject matter (or interview subjects). All the characters’ voices are distinct and credibly unique while clearly being, most of them anyway, of the same generation. This creates a narration that is, by definition, unreliable. Everyone remembers certain events differently — there’s a gulf especially between how Billy sees his, shall we say, leadership style, and how the others remember the decision-making process across two albums and tours.

Billy’s narration in particular contrasts with Daisy’s in a way that mirrors their conflict, their steady push-and-pull throughout the band’s history: her way of telling this story is more airy where his is firmly rooted to the ground with what one may call concrete boots. Daisy’s story begins with all the things she could do that she shouldn’t have — clubs and drugs on the Sunset Strip, to start. An upbringing that couldn’t really be called that, considering her absentee parents, but that nevertheless opened all the doors for her. Daisy’s story is that of someone for whom so much has been effortless that, when the going gets tough, the going very nearly stops in its tracks, stone dead. And then there’s Billy, who finds a whole other way of going off the rails. Together, the two are volatile: there’s stasis or combustion, but no in-between. There’s a thread of will-they-won’t-they running through their chapters, one that’s obviously connected to Billy’s own struggles with sobriety and temptation; but it’s not only there to see him twist in the wind. It’s the centre of their relationship and it’s there for its own sake.

As it happens, Fleetwood Mac is one of the inspirations for this story — and they were very open about the fact that many of their songs were about each other; loving and hating each other. This would come through in their live performances as well:

Screenshot of a youtube comment that reads: Today I learned that it's possible to play the guitar perfectly while shivering in rage. Now, that's talent.

Another main mystery in the comments: how the shit did Lindsey’s hat stay on?

That’s what it would have felt like watching Daisy and Billy live on stage.

I won’t spoil the twist that comes in near the end, but I promise that even if you see it coming (which I didn’t), it will provide a good kick to the feels and adds an emotional layer that’s better for only being revealed later rather than bogging the narrative down from the beginning.

A great story, delightfully told, with a great cast of characters. Framing this is a series of interviews to tell the story was the perfect choice. It’s also out as an audiobook, and I think I’ll pick it up to hear these voices in the flesh, as it were!