Book Review: This is Gonna Hurt by Nikki Sixx

For as long as I can remember, my very first crush; or when I started to notice boys; was at the ripe old age of twelve years old. My brother, who in a a lot of ways, influenced my favorite music and at this time I was listening to 80's glam/hair metal. I am talking about Cinderella, Winger, Warrant, Ratt, Poison and most notably MOTLEY CRUE. My love affair of Motley Crue started at twelve years old and it has not stopped. Now while most of my friends were pining for Donnie Wahlberg or Jordan Knight from New Kids on the Block, I was swooning for a man who wore make-up, bright leather pants, and had bigger hair than I did in New Jersey. That man -- Nikki Sixx.

When I heard that he was in the process of writing a follow up to his best selling memoir, The Heroin Diaries, I was beyond ecstatic. I tweeted about it, posted on Facebook, told my friends in work who followed Motley Crue. "Remember April 12th! Nikki Sixx's new book comes out!" I would shout. I would spend thirty minutes every day watching and re-watching the documentaries that went along with the book. I would call Bookends and Barnes and Noble to find out about book signings and the rules. Unfortunately due to report card night and funds, I could not attend the signings but I did get my copy of his book through Amazon.com.

Last week I finally finished reading Strip City by Lily Burana and quickly dove into This is Gonna Hurt. It took me about three days to get through it and I must say...I was highly disappointed.

Here is the book description from Amazon first: This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography And Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx is part photo, part journal—but all Nikki Sixx. It is a collection of compelling photography and stories that capture the rage, love, optimism, darkness, and determination that shape his work. Combining the raw authenticity that defined his New York Times bestseller The Heroin Diaries with a photographic journey, This Is Gonna Hurt chronicles Sixx's experiences—from his early years filled with toxic waste, to his success with Motley Crue, to his death from an OD and his eventual rebirth through music, photography, and love. Love story, bad-ass rock tell-all, social commentary, family memoir, This Is Gonna Hurt offers the compelling insights of an artist and a man struggling to survive, connect, and find a happy ending—a search that fuels Sixx's being.

Nikki Sixx is a very talented and exceptional human who is obviously working towards becoming a better person and is still facing his demons from his drug and alcohol addiction. I loved The Heroin Diaries; book and soundtrack are amazing! Unfortunately his second memoir did not speak to me. The photographs are technically interesting and creepy as well as his subjects are definitely not of the norm but after a while the overuse of "beautiful" just took away from the meaning. He also kept on referencing The Heroin Diaries throughout the book. If I wanted to read The Heroin Diaries, which I have done, I would have pulled it out of my autographed book cabinet. He should have kept this book just as a photography coffee table book and explain why he chose the particular subjects he did instead of jumping around from his drug addiction days to Kat Von D to life with Motley Crue and so forth. He seemed to have a general idea of what he wanted to do -- to prove that what he see on television and in magazines might not necessarily be your view of beautiful but, like I tell my students in writing, he did not stick to one topic. If you are looking for a photography book with an edge, get this. But if you really want to learn more about the life of Nikki Sixx and why he is the way he is right now, read The Heroin Diaries.