#11 Shortcomings

As said before, Steven Tyler's style of writing in this book consisted of constant subject changing and getting off track with his thoughts. He claims to get lost in his own mind, and it definitely shows when reading his novel. At points, it took a little more paying attention than usual. Not that his side thoughts were bad... just difficult to keep up with. Steven would begin telling of an experience of his, remind himself of something else, and come back to talking about the previous experience. Perhaps expectations of him being an author were too high, conisdering he writes songs for a living. The book would have been a lot thinner if he had stayed more on track with his story. Although, maybe a lot of his sensitive side would not have shown if he had stayed more on track. the opposite. Then again, maybe too much of it would have shown.

#10 Praiseworthy

To be completely honest, there is nothing really special about this book. I enjoyed it greatly, yes. However, this is coming from a very bias oppinion. This blog and evaluation is coming from a student who has been in love with Aerosmith's music for as long as he can remember. Personally, I can not see anybody who is not an Aerosmith fan getting into this book like I did. It was decently written, and had a lot of meaning behind it. The book isn't bad by any means, though if somebody like myself were to give it a completely fair, unbias oppinion, the book may recieve a 6.5 out of 10 rating. If one were to choose the most praiseworthy aspect of this book, it would be, as menchoned before, the heart behind the man who is Steven Tyler. This side of him does not show often and to see it in paper was very special and what I consider praisworthy.

#9 Main Theme

Steven Tyler's main idea behind this book isn't very different from his purpose. To inform and entertain with experiences and morals. Filled with interesting events, both good and bad, while an occasional heart warming well thought peice of advice that gives you a new view on Aerosmith's lead singer. Tyler claims to have had an extremely well lived life, but he now wishes he knew half of what he does now back then. He may have written this book for anyone who thinks they want to start a band or live on their own, and he wanted to warn and inform them of what lies ahead. Steven can probably relate to just about anything at this point in his life, according to his memoirs, and he speaks from a "been there, done that" perspective. In the end, his "main theme" and all around main goal in life and message to send is to have fun and leave all of your regrets behind. That was made clear more than once durring the book.


"Along with everything else that's happened, life is good. And I've learned that if I shoot an arrow of truth, I must first dip its point in honey. I've learned the ancient lesson of apology- OWN IT. It puts out every fire you may have walked through in life. People, too, often miss the silver lining because they were expecting gold. I've seen the sun go down only to be swallowed by the ocean! Only to rise again in the morning." -Steven Tyler

#8 Compare And Contrast

Last semester, I read The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rockstar by: Nikki Sixx. To begin to compare the two books, they both have the same genre. Both were written by well known rockstars and describe times in their life. The authors of each book both live a life of music and have written plenty of popular songs before their books. The two books have unique stories with somewhat similar messages as well.
What these two books do not have in common is their purpose. Nikki Sixx originally kept a diary to himself durring the darkest time of his life. It wasn't until thirty years after writing his diary did he rediscover the diary and decided to publish them for the world to read. His book was much darker than Steven Tyler's, and it goes into detail about the more "hard core" side of living the life of a rockstar. Sixx would often write about how scared he was in his own mind, while Tyler would often get lost in his. Tyler narrated his readers through the contents of his entire life, all of his influences, and all of his experiences, while Sixx only shared a year's worth of his life. Does The Noise In My Head Bother You? is a memoir and doesn't scare the reader from the author's past. Like said before, the two authors are both of the same social status and find themselves very successful in the music industry. The difference is their different intentions for their fans/readers.

  

#6 Important Element

There are a number of different elements in Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?. To pick the most important element is a challenge. Steven Tyler, being the main character of the book, has such a unique style of explanation and thought. However, the events he explains so uniquely are what makes up the basis of the book.Without the specific events, there wouldn't be much to read about. A book can not be successful while consisting of only one person's views and morals. There must be some sort of story line. In an autobiography, it is crutial. Tyler's adventure from growing up in the Bronx, to moving to Boston with his band, to being one of the must influencial rock bands of all time, doesn't happen with one straight forward time line. Often, there are side stories and events that take focus off of the main story, which make up of events that are relative to future chapters and life in general. Some could argue that the author's sence of character would be the most important element. Although his attitude and character may add to the morals of the stories, it does not  take away from the interest of the experiences he shares.

#5 Mood

There isn't an exact overall prevailing mood to describe the book with. Emotional at points, yes, that is for sure. Yet at other times, it felt more informational than anything. Tyler uses the first couple of chapters describing how he grew up and where he came from, and had more of an informational tone. As he told more stories as he got older, the feel for the book became more interesting, and emotional. The deeper in detail he went, the more you can practically feel the dispair he has as he looks back on his bad decisions, and the pride he has in his succsess. As well as the detailed personal stories, he describes the highs and lows of Aerosmith, too. Some of the stories about the growing Aerosmith almost felt as educational as his childhood. Regardless, his unique oppinions on topics sometimes keeps almost a humorous feel to his the book while also forcing the reader to keep an open mind on other topics.

It can be hard to want to stop reading when he says things like "Fame is a bitch.... It's a riderless horse, it's a two-headed dog sniffing its own butt, a one-eyed cat peeking in a seafood store. And it's the absolute greatest generator creative fiction there is." and "Are all drugs bad just because some of them took over my life from time to time? I wrote some beautiful songs under the influence, just as jimson weed inspired Carlos Castaneda..." within just pages. The mood of the book periodically took shifts, but for the most part remained somewhere between emotional and informational. Of course the mood may have felt more serious to Tyler, considering what he has been through. However, the interesting expressions and examples he used could hold a reader's attention.


Aerosmith's song, "Something's Gotta Give", appears on their 12th studio album, Nine Lives, released in 1997. Steven Tyler titled his memoir, Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?, after a lyric in this song. Steven Tyler would more than likely agree when I say this song accurately represents the general mood of this autobiography. Reading the book reminded me of this song on more than one occasion, and I am positive that I am not the only Aerosmith fan to think so.

(LINK TO SONG)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdDiv006mIw 

#4 What Kind Of Person Is The Author?

Obviously, reading an autobiography, you get to know exactly what kind of person the author is. Steven Tyler, born Steven Tallarico, was born and raised in the Bronx as a country boy. Not being the most popular kid among his peers, Steven would often find himself in a number of fights durring his time in school. The attitude he aquired from these fights and the gang infested neighborhoods shows in the adult he became. Stereotypically, rockstars and musicians are tough guys that just do not care about anything but their women, their drugs, and their music. Steven Tyler may have fit that steriotype in his earlier years, but deep down he has too big of a heart to be completely careless and selfish.

Throughout the book, Tyler tells tales of interesting, dangerous, dirty, and illegal situations he would put himself in as a young adult. He did his best to make his young life sound as "hard core" and cool as possible. At points in the book you think "Wow, how could you have been so stupid?", and at other points, even later in the same chapter, you may find yourself feeling that you completely understand and are touched by his heartfelt words. From practically bragging about the amounts of cocain he would consume, to pour his heart out to a girl he really cared for. If one had to summarize in just a few words, what kind of person Steven Tyler is, he would be defined as a big hearted, caring man who is caught behind the edgy life, stereotype, and expectations of a famous rockstar.

#3 Author's Purpose

Based on the content of the book, the author's purpose behind it is probably to inform and entertain. Like any autobiography, the content of the book is simply information and experiences about the author. Prior to writing the book, Tyler may have assumed that his past is interesting enough to express in a book and decided to share it with the world. Along with specific detail, Tyler's book includes photographs of himself and his family throughout the years to reference to while reading.
Not only does he share his tale of growing from a country boy to a rockstar, Steven also expresses meaningful words of wisdom at an attempt to show the public more of his thoughtful and sensitive side. Anybody who is 63 years of age has plenty of life experience and knowledge to pass down. At 63 years old, Steven Tyler is completely aware that he has seen the highs and lows of not only his own life, but the world around him. This book's primary objective is to tell the life story of Aerosmith's lead singer, but at the same time, the author does a good job of sharing his meaningful epiphanies with his audience.

"Life is short. Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that makes you smile. We're not quantified; there's no chart of desire. When the roaring flames of your heart have burned down to embers, may you find that you have married your best friend. Hunch, conjecture, instinct... a blind allegiance to anything can get you killed, and always remember... sing as though no one can hear you; live as though heaven is here on Earth" -Steven Tyler

#2 Why This Book

Although there were plenty of novels to choose from that were recommended via Blogger, I decided to read a book that not only I have been egar to read, but a book in which I actually had faith in being interested enough to read all the way through. The author of this book, Steven Tyler, is an iconic figure in American history, and could almost be considered a hero of mine. Recently popular for his position as a judge on American Idol, Tyler is more well known for being the front man for the rock band, Aerosmith. Steven wrote this book to tell the story of his life and explain how he got to be the man we know him as today. I read this book not because there weren't any good books recommended by peers, but because I am excited that a figure like Steven Tyler has written more than just a song to tell a story. Anyone who has ever looked up to an icon knows that anything new that the icon does will be exciting and interesting, no matter what it is. Though maybe not all too appropriate for high school, every one of his 376 pages was worth reading and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share it as a blog.

#1 MLA Documentation

Tyler, Steven. Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?; HarperCollinsPublishers; May 3, 2011