Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
Daisy Jones & The Six is an enthralling, exciting, and bittersweet look into the complicated lives of rockstars in the 1970s.
I hate to admit it, but I was only moved to read Daisy Jones & The Six after watching the Amazon Prime series. Even though I have always enjoyed novels by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I was initially put off by the format of the book. The entire work is told retrospectively through an interview format. However, once I began reading I found the format to be a perfect vehicle to tell this multi-layered story. All the characters come alive through their (often conflicting) testimonies, and the identity of the interviewer is an essential part of the novel.
The novel's portrayal of the music, party, and drug culture in LA is excellent. Reid masterfully draws readers into the world of rockstars living in an era of excess. In this environment, our cast of characters struggle with addiction, demons from their past, and the pressure of becoming one of America's most popular bands. The atmosphere in this novel is vibrant, gritty, and true to its historical roots.
The relationships in this novel are complex and heart-rending. The characters aren't always likeable, but somehow they always remain empathetic. The friendships, flings, and marriages in this novel are part of what make the pseudo-biography of this band so compelling. I especially loved the headstrong character of Camila and the development of her story.
Overall, Daisy Jones & The Six is a must-read. It's written in an intriguing interview format that kept me turning the pages deep into the night. I was immersed into a world of music, big dreams, and larger-than-life characters. This gem satisfied my love of 70s music and tugged at my heartstrings.
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