If you could get down with a documentary about Fleetwood Mac, Daisy Jones & The Six is perfect for you. The book follows the inception and subsequent downfall of fictional band, Daisy Jones & The Six in a documentary style of writing that highlights the subjectivity of memory. I loved the way that manifested in the writing style. The entire book is set up with interviews of band members, managers, and friends all intertwined to tell the story of this band. It added a lot to the complexity to see different viewpoints juxtaposed right next to each other. Not everyone is going to see how history (or even a simple conversation) shook out in the same way.
The main players are fleshed out and dynamic people. You would think a character like Daisy would be hard to love, but when you see what she’s gone through in the eyes of her older self, it’s difficult to see her as completely one sided. I struggled at times with the amount of characters and the fact that some of the more minor characters (particularly Eddie, Pete, and Warren) felt flat and indistinguishable, but the book benefits from the writing style, always stating who is speaking, to help remember who is who. About two thirds of the way into the book it slowed down a bit story wise and I felt my attention waning, but it picked back up and finished strong.
The thing I liked the most about this book was that it never went the way I expected. We can often predict where a story is going to go, that’s why plot twists work so well. But what happened here wasn’t plot twists, just deviations from the norm and I enjoyed that immensely. It wasn’t predictable, but it didn’t pull the rug out from under you just for kicks. I also particularly enjoyed the exploring of addiction from both Daisy and Billy’s characters. They’re clearly foils of each other, but it’s not so clean cut like that. It’s nuanced. They are two complex people who are quite similar in some respects, but have dealt with their addiction in two very different ways.
One last note about the wonderful female characters in the story. Daisy, Camila, Karen, and Simone are independent, strong, difficult, vulnerable, and they know their own minds. I appreciated the wide range of these women, because while none of them are perfect by any means, they gave a beautiful snapshot of diversity in their womanhood and confidence. In specific, the relationships described are incredibly interesting, particularly Daisy and Camila. In a world where women in stories are often paper cut outs, I loved seeing these flawed women trapeze the world of rock and roll. Daisy Jones & The Six is quite a quick read, not terribly dense, but it’s packed full of story.
To read or not to read:
To read!
Content:
1970s rock and roll bands, heavy drug use, sex, rehab, families, addiction, bad parents, relationships, abortion, parenthood, strong female characters