Thoroughly enjoyable read, unusually for biographies in the music sphere he balances the detail in early and later years very well. The narrative is elevated by personal insights contained in the Holocaust chapter and his engaging style. Reinforced my notion of him as a good man, doing great work. ( )

I didn't know exactly what to expect, but this was a surprisingly respectful and reflective look back on Geddy Lee's life (so far). Geddy starts right at the beginning with his unusual name, his tragic family background (both parents survived the Nazi concentration camps), and how he wandered into the musical life. Geddy takes a chronological approach to the growth and success of Rush, laying out the circumstances of each album, how the band worked together, and how their music changed over time. What struck me most was how much art came into it for Geddy at least. He gives the sense that he has always been trying to grow and mature as a musician and that the band Rush was also driven by that same motive. There is no secret dishing here, but there is a sense of great friendship and comradery among all those that made up Rush, including families. ( )

I often don't much care about the lives of the rich and famous. Lee's made some effort to think about what's important about his life, and his honest look at his parents, the holocaust, his relationships with his great friends, his marriage, fatherhood, and loss is what's best about this memoir. He does spend a lot of time traveling album by album through Rush's years. While it's interesting to watch the band develop their art, it can also be a slog of details that I found hard to associate with particular albums later. ( )

Strictly for fans of Rush, this is a great book. Geddy tells the tale of his life, from his early days in Toronto when his name was Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, referred to at school as Gary Lorne Weinrib, to when he became a rocker and Geddy Lee. The long years of being in Rush, the tours, working on the albums, everything is in here. As he himself says, it is long, he likes to go on. Still, there's enough detail, but not too much, he doesn't dwell on anything too long or get too personal. If you are looking for words on how some of the records were written or made, it is in here. Not every record, but most of them. If you want some great trivia from tours, it is in here too, like the Jack Black Crack appearance. I enjoyed his thoughts on their music, other music and their albums and shows. ( )

OK, so, yeah. Geddy Lee. A rock legend and the voice of my breaking out of the norms of high school thru prog rock in the early 80's. Rush's audacity of combining lyrical folk-guitarist openings like "Closer to the Heart" or the messaging of "Trees" with pounding drums and break-out rock rhythms was novel in the world of AM and FM radio play. Or not, in the case of Rush. I mean, to end the problems between oaks and the maples ("The oaks are just to greedy/And they grab up all the light") with the iconic "The trees are all kept equal/With hatchet, axe, and saw" at a time when the North American landscape was being clear-cut for the "Subdivisions" that are part of the problem? So incredibly foresighted.

Geddy has not had an easy life; he reserves Chapter 3 to describe the horrors of the work camp of Wierzbnik, Poland, where his parents met and, somehow, fell in love is a brilliant piece of research, and he gives fair warning to the reader that *this* is the chapter they may or may not wish to read. And if so, Geddy will pick back up with them in Chapter 4.

Losing a father (and a faith) at such a young age was also traumatic, and the fact that he had music to turn to is a Gift to the rest of us. He describes his earliest band and the fact that he could "apply studs and shiny sequined bobbles" as a nod to his many talents. The book is chock full of pictures, captions, and anecdotes from these and later years.

What also helped humanize Geddy Lee were his stories of the road. This was not the touring band that had girls on every arm and leg, or chartered flights on private jets; this was the band that packed up their gear and took turns keeping the driver awake to the next gig on the tour van. Or the van that had the flip-down beds that they thought would work better but didn't. Or the marriage dynamics of coming home, not saying anything about what might be wrong for the weeks that one is home, and then finally, by the time the tour is ready to start, having *the* fight on the way out the door. His wife, Nancy, whom he met while still very young, plays a central role in this book throughout the years, and Geddy takes time to describe her burgeoning career in fashion, along with their children who take her time, and how he is not really there during most of their marriage.

Each of their albums is covered at length (thank you Geddy!!), with more detail at the beginning of how the lyrics came to be, to the recording, to the mixing, to the producer and the search for a producer, or mixer, or studio, and all these details give me, as a fan and listener, a greater insight when the album notes say "recorded at . . . " "mixed at . . . " "produced at . . . ". Zowie! What a lot of work went into what I used to listen to on my turntable and wonder how I could ever be good enough. Now I know. And I am good enough.

And the tragedies. Holy moly. Geddy is very honest about these as well and goes into great detail about former bandmates, photographers, publicists, friends, and what their loss has meant to him. Which of course brings up the most well-known loss, that of Neil Peart's family's deaths, Neil's new family, and then Neil's death. It's OK - I skipped to the end to read a bit of that part, too. I'm sure Geddy knew that would happen.

This book was written during lockdown and Geddy is honest about the impact lockdown during Covid had on him and on his mom. And how being at home and retired has led him to a new understanding of life and how it continues despite the odds.

For a fan of Rush or prog rock, or how the trauma of the Holocaust is multi-generational, or a burgeoning musician who dreams about life on the road, or a spouse of a traveling musician, or . . . I could go on. If any of these are your checkboxes, I highly recommend this book. It is a treasure, and I am grateful for it. ( )