Henry Rollins, �Get in the Van � On the Road with Black Flag�
What a colossal, colossal disappointment.
A long time back, I swore that I would not read another Henry Rollins book for as long as I lived, due to the fact that I had read seven of his books and they were all terrible. Then I slid in an addendum, saying I would still read Get in the Van if it came in so I could read about his tour with Black Flag.
There�s a reason for this � I�ve seen Rollins speak live, and I think he�s incredibly talented and for the most part, he divides a line of being both insightful and extremely funny. I have some recordings of his spoken word appearances where he does talk about tours, and so I had no reason to believe that this book wouldn�t be great.
But great it is not. Last semester, I had an instructor who also worked as a DJ at KSJO, or for those not knowledgeable of the SJ scene, the local buttrock station. We were sitting around, waiting for class to start and smoking cigarettes, and he told me about the pain of interviewing Rollins.
�See,� the guy said, �when he�s doing a spoken word tour, he�s a great interview � he�s funny, he�s talkative, and he responds. But if he comes through with the band then he�s a completely different person � Mr. Tough Guy � and getting him to answer a question is like pulling teeth. And since I�ve done both, I keep hoping he�ll relax, but he puts on such a show.�
That�s what this book is like. He starts friendly and approachable, but by the time it�s done, you don�t want to talk to him because he�s acting like such a dick. Yes, I can see how it�s hard to deal with a fan base who steal your clothes or ask drunken stupid questions every day, but it doesn�t mean you have to punch everybody you see. And so the book regresses from a tour diary, which is what we want to read, to a bitch session.
I like Rollins. I respect his work. I wouldn�t mind talking to him. But now, after reading his thoughts, I would have no idea how to approach him, and am not sure I would want to in the first place.
