Bruce Dickinson

I wasn't planning on reading this book. Biographies and memoirs really aren't my thing these days. However, a friend of mine who shares my Iron Maiden fandom insisted that I read it, going so far as to mail me his copy. In the end, I'm glad that he did.

This isn't the "aging rock star looks back to cash in with a salacious tell all." Yes, there's bits of Iron Maiden in here, particularly how he came to be in the band, why he left, why he came back. Notes about recording the albums are there, show more too, but serve more to mark the passage of time. Rather, this is a story about the pursuits of the man over the span of his life (so far).

"Nothing in childhood is ever wasted" is a phrase that's repeated throughout the book. Although his adolescent education may have been ill-suited to him (other than instilling his outsider POV), the curiosity that inspired him as a child was still with him as an adult. While out on his first world tour with Iron Maiden, he realized that if he didn't find something else to do besides party all the time that he'd wind up dead. For his mental and physical health, he'd need to find pursuits outside the band. He would need to apply that childhood curiosity into a lifelong pursuit of learning.

He knew nothing of fencing, but it intrigued him. He trained rigorously until he was good enough to compete. He knew nothing of aviation, but it fascinated him and he kept at it, stealing time away while on tour until he accumulated enough hours in the cockpit to qualify for a pilot's license. Not content with small aircraft, he continued his education, eventually seeing him piloting 737s.

The book's concluding chapter references his recent successful battle against throat cancer. From diagnosis to treatment, few details are spared. While initially terrified, he was determined to beat it, though he acknowledges that the treatment, a mix of radiation and chemo, took a toll on him.

Believe it or not, there's a lot that Dickinson has done that I'm not even touching on here in this review. If you're intrigued by the man, it's definitely worth reading, just don't expect your typical rock star memoir here because you'll be disappointed. It's been said that he's a polymath. This book is testimony to that. show less

Bruce Dickinson is well-known (or so should he!) for being Iron Maiden's singer. Polymath, the man also tried his hand at writing funny books. The long tours, the sleepless nights in boring hotels... He created Lord Iffy Boatrace, a delirious English aristocrat, to entertain himself. Would it entertain us too?

Extreme satire loaded with big, fat, crass and vulgar humour, here's a tale of how the said Lord, fetishist in suspenders and high heels (that sets the tone...), completely broke and show more aided by a valet straight out of jail (I will let you discover why!) decides to invite past classmates in his manor so as to rip them off their money. The jokes, way below the belt (d{cks, bxxbies, and other obscenities) are frankly not my cup of tea. Nevertheless, I had a relatively good time reading it.

The plot is well-built, with some nice twist-and-turns. I have to confess, though, that here's the kind of book anyone with a shred of an imagination could have written. Let yourself go, pull out a few pooh pooh jokes, string it all together just to have a good fun, and there you go! Was it worth being published? Well, again, the writer being Iron Maiden's singer and the book having been published in their heyday (1990)…

It's good enough to be a nice read. I personally picked it because I am an Iron Maiden's fan who has a deep respect for Bruce Dickinson, but, if you are not curious enough about the man's accomplishments, or if you are not into toilets jokes, then, honestly, don't bother! show less

I always had a deep respect, if not profound admiration, for Bruce Dickinson. Not only he is a great singer who has been fronting one of my favourite band ever, but he is, above all, a passionate polymath and typical Renaissance man at a time when such personal ideal seems to have gotten lost.

As a fan, I haven't learn anything new here when it comes to Iron Maiden specifically. The anecdotes he is retelling, the band's incredible history, the personal dynamics, the stories behind their show more albums... all of it has been told elsewhere and before. What I learned, thought, is more about his solo career (which I like too) and how such venture impacted his own development as a musician and singer when he got back to Maiden. These were nice insights, and especially welcomed considering that he had a brilliant solo career (and still does! His last album to date, 'The Mandrake Project', truly worth a listen...) yet too often overshadowed by his one in Maiden.

Music, though, is far from being it. Again, the man is a passionate polymath... and it shows! It is, in fact, what makes both the strength and the weakness of this book.

On the one hand indeed, I can only admire his enthusiasm, passion for life, 'go and get it' inspiring type of attitude, and constant will to challenge himself. As he put it:

'My life has been a continual succession of ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’ moments. Deep down, I think I probably enjoy it. You are never so alive as when learning something new and overcoming adversity.'

Ditto, and this is precisely why I personally respect and admire him, for being the embodiment of the sayings: 'life is short, make it wide', 'live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever'. On the other hand, though, his passion just took me that far as a reader, simply because some of the core interests that he has are not the ones that I share. For example, it's interesting to read his insights and thoughts on fencing and aviation, but his fervent fascination for aeroplanes takes a lot (a lot!) of space, to the point of being, well, repetitious. There's nothing wrong with that. Again, that's his passion and as a truly enthusiastic guy he clearly loves to share it. It's just that, personally, I found it unvarying and it completely flew over my head (no pun intended).

Having said that, a great point here was his choice of what to talk about and what to ignore. People familiar with Maiden will probably know indeed that these guys can't care any less about celebrity culture; are rather unassuming people for their legendary status; and deeply value their privacy when it comes to family lives. Well, Bruce is no different and so you won't learn anything here about his marriages and divorces, and children and else. It can be tedious when it comes to his personal hobbies (again: I couldn't care any less about that gizmo plane as opposed to that gizmo plane, and how it feels flying that gizmo plane compared to that gizmo plane) but give him that: it's straight to the point, with no time nor space given to gossipy issues. In fact, the only chapters which are very personal are the one dealing with his cancer, and which are as sensible as they are courageous.

All in all, then, here's a book doing what it says on the tin: taking you through a ride by pushing some of the buttons that Bruce has pushed, from music to fencing, and from flying to brewing. It's at the image of the man himself: passionate, full of enthusiasm, humorous, but over-the-top at times. I personally enjoyed reading about his solo career. show less

The life of Iron Maiden's singer, from his childhood of being left for his grandparents to raise until he was five, to attending private school, being kicked out of private school, and forming bands with moderate success until being offered a chance with Iron Maiden. Dickinson relates the touring, work schedules and some of the dynamics within the band. He then goes into the long period in which he discovered aviation and what he went through to become a professional pilot, having dual show more careers as a rock star and an employee of an international airline.
The last chapters deal with his battle with mouth and neck cancer, which began in 2012 and took him through various forms of chemo and the side effects of treatment.
Dickinson has the ego of a rock star, so we have the descriptions of everyone around him being unbearably excited by everything he's doing or putting out, but that can also come off as a remarkably optimistic personality. He's filled with belief in himself and that's what someone needs to become a famous singer, or to pilot hundreds of people or to beat cancer. What is noticeably missing is any discussion at all about relationships, as no mention of wives, divorce, children or really any deep discussion of his band mates, so what is here is mostly his working life. It switches from music to lots and lots of airplane descriptions and aviation talk, then his cancer. This part, in dealing with what he's gone through with his cancer, is very honest and graphic, yet he remains as determined as ever. show less