Thanks to this book, I’ve officially added Richard Marx to my list of people I’d like to have dinner or even just a few hours of conversation with. He’s open, honest, humble, funny as F (which happens to be one of his favorite words, so add another check in the “pros” column, please and thank you!), and an incredibly classy guy. I already follow his Twitter account and recently discovered his YouTube channel, so I had an inkling of the humor and intelligence behind his “fluffy mullet” (his words), but I was unprepared for how difficult it was to put his memoir down. He doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t have anything nasty, cruel, or unfair to say about anyone, and he owns up to his mistakes as a young man. Don’t get me wrong, there aren’t many mistakes. He’s clearly spent his life working and striving to satisfy both his own ambitions and those of people fortunate enough to encounter him, but he still takes it all with many grains of salt and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor and comments. He’s made an art out of succeeding at the private life while being the unlikely driving force behind so many wonderful songs and is reminiscent of Springsteen with his absolute refusal to say anything remotely negative about his first wife. His commentary on what most people would deem a “failed marriage” is something that many of my friends who have ended a marriage would take to heart. Heck, his outlook on life in general is why I was so happy to give this book a try. And it’s that same outlook and attitude that kept me enthralled until the very last page.

Kudos to a memoir well written, sir. May you find continued happiness, success in all things, and answers to your health questions. This book is definitely going to be a “just trust me and read it” gift to family and friends this year because we all need some of your thoughts floating through our heads as we (hopefully) strive to put this pandemic firmly in our rearview mirror.

This book was better than I thought it would be. I originally wanted to read this because I know how opinionated Richard Marx is, so i couldn't wait to read this. Once I got into it though, I liked his stories behind his songs. I'm surprised there weren't any pictures. I am grateful that netgalley let me read this in exchange for an honest review