It’s So Easy: And Other Lies

In this honest, well-written memoir, former Guns & Roses bass player McKagan recounts the age-old rock and roll saga of rise and fall—complete with private jets, busted marriages, drunken brawls, and drug addiction. But as McKagan relates, he took an unusual path to recovery, healing himself with martial arts, mountain biking, and meditation. Along the way he also earned a finance degree from Seattle University. McKagan’s musical career started early—at age 15, the Seattle native was already playing in several punk bands. In 1983 he left for Los Angeles, where he met the other members of Guns & Roses. The 1987 release of Appetite for Destruction made the group an international phenomenon. For a rock star, McKagan is surprisingly self-aware and candid, and he doesn’t let himself off the hook easily. The first half of this book alternates chapters between his youth in Seattle and early career in L.A., and he vividly evokes both music scenes—drugs and all—and his own enthusiasm, desperation, and joy. As the years progress, McKagan, who wrote a financial column for Playboy and currently writes a weekly column for the Seattle Times and ESPN.com, is more cautious and measured but no less insightful. 16 pages color photos (Oct.)