my black sabbath book: samples available

[jebreject]

Got my copy of the book in the post today.

My only question so far: In the little writer's bio on the back, is it supposed to say "raised by southern California?"

[elpollodiablo]

Jdogg was a ward of the state

[Salkin Red]

So today I got a mail from Amazon that the book won't be available until June 16th.
That's just plain unfair.

[Andrew_TSKS]

my copy hasn't come to the store yet, but i've also got two boxes left to open from today's deliveries, so i'm hoping it's in there.

[John]

Got my copy of the book in the post today.

My only question so far: In the little writer's bio on the back, is it supposed to say "raised by southern California?"

Yes.

[John]

So today I got a mail from Amazon that the book won't be available until June 16th.
That's just plain unfair.

Also while this may be true for the UK (I have no idea why), there are ample copies in the U.S., so if you're in the  U.S., tell Amazon to get real

[Salkin Red]

Sadly it's German Amazon, usually they'd just import that book then.
Well, I'll see.

It's probably just punishment for the skewed views on "indie" and "flapjacks" we have this side of the atlantic 

[John]

Sadly it's German Amazon, usually they'd just import that book then.
Well, I'll see.

It's probably just punishment for the skewed views on "indie" and "flapjacks" we have this side of the atlantic 

I can probably get you a free one if you wanna translate the book into German and find us a publisher

[John]

 

[jebreject]

Just about done. Have a lot of things to say, but not quite sure how to say them. Thank you, though, for writing this.

[John]

So today I got a mail from Amazon that the book won't be available until June 16th.
That's just plain unfair.

I have an explanation for this now, in case you're interested: the book is printed here in the U.S. Copies for the UK & Europe leave the U.S. on an actual boat (they are literally "shipped") to the UK, and from there they go to Europe. So, they have quite a journey to make. The cost of air freight is too high to allow for shipping all the books that way - selling books isn't exactly a get-rich scheme unless you're writing bestsellers. So now you know!

[edison]

Thanks for the explanation! I'm still a bit puzzled by the fact that bookstores charge $13 minimum for shipping from the US to Europe (i.e. way more than the price of the book itself). Most of the time shipping for a CD is around $5 or even less, and the weight difference isn't that great in cases like this, I think, so I'm surprised.

[difficult]

Accordingly, this might be a rare situation where airfreighting a book is going to be financially fairly reasonable...? Especially if you have any regular US distros who do books as well?

[John]

Accordingly, this might be a rare situation where airfreighting a book is going to be financially fairly reasonable...? Especially if you have any regular US distros who do books as well?

I don't have anything to do with making decisions about this stuff, I'm just relaying information. But to offset the cost of air freight you would have to sell one whole hell of a lot of books.

[difficult]

Sorry, not you John!
I meant the folks in Europe etc

[jebreject]

So, I spent a good portion of my time at work today thinking about this book. And I'm not sure that I really got anywhere, or why it's so difficult for me to articulate what I'm feeling. I related to a lot of it. My time in a psychiatric facility was not until adulthood, and I was there (more or less) by choice, so it wasn't really that, but the feelings of being profoundly unlike other people and the feelings of institutionalization were pretty universal to adolescence, in my experience. I mean, for my friends and me anyway, but I suspect it goes further than that, or at least one hopes so, though this is the sort of company in which one feels no less alone.

But it wasn't the first half of the book that really got to me. Yeah there was a lot I could relate to, yeah did I ever--and do I ever, still--know that feeling of music being the only thing in the world that could "fix me." But it's the second half, it's the adult Roger--revisiting the most difficult time of his life, working a shitty job that is probably the best job he's ever going to have, watching his friend's jam band--still try, after all this time, to explain, to really explain, what it feels like to be him. Because that's what he's getting at, when it comes down to it. That's why it's so important to make Gary (who will likely never understand, and who probably isn't particularly interested, especially after all this time, in understanding) really see what this album is about, because what Roger really needs is to be able to articulate what he's feeling, who he is, and it's a task that's impossible. And I think it's that aspect that I relate to more than anything else, that feeling of need bordering on obsession, for someone to just understand, completely, who you are, why you are, plainly--all the ugliness, all the sadness, the darkness--and the beauty and joy (which seems to come only in small bursts) as well. But it's that ugliness that needs to be explained, more than anything else, and really, it's all for the benefit of Roger, or me, or whoever else, because in trying to explain it, we come to understand it more and more ourselves. Or maybe we never really do, but we keep trying, we are compelled, we cannot stop, because we do not feel whole, we cannot feel whole until we know what it is that is missing, or tainted, or just plain fucked up. It's why I constantly push books and movies and albums on those closest to me. It's why I write and make music as well, I suppose, but I'd rather not think about those particular motivations right now. Hell, it's why as soon as I finished reading this book in particular I immediately shoved it into the hands of one of my friends, and will do so again as soon as it's returned to me. It's not spoken, of course, or not usually--and of course I like to think that these friends will see something of themselves as well, and that it will help them understand themselves as I hope it well help them understand me, me understand myself. To reach a perfect understanding of one another, that, I think, is somehow the goal, a goal which some of us refuse to believe is impossible, or just simply don't care one way or the other whether it's possible or not. (In the end, I imagine this is also why I feel the need to write this NOW, rather than doing whatever else it is that I could be doing right now.)

Of course, this is still a book about music, about Master of Reality, and a rather superb one at that. And I think it touches on not only what is special about this record in particular, but on the way that music is important to people like us, the people who are compelled to know every tiny detail, to explore the cave, to live inside it. How music can give us what we otherwise lack--or at least think we lack, feel like we lack. The passages talking about this (and here I wish I had the book with me to refer to) are incredibly powerful, I think some of the most powerful in the book. Where Roger talks about how sometimes you find peace and happiness in intense darkness and ugliness. Again, I wish I had the book here with me, but needless to say, it's something I feel rather strongly as well, and it's something that I think about a lot in terms of what I write.

The thing that hit me the absolute hardest, though, was Roger going into the church, knowing the congregation had something that he did not, that maybe he would never have. I was waiting for a prescription to be filled, sitting on a bench outside of Walgreen's, and when I got to that entry, I felt full with emotion, and I cried a little, feeling like a fucking idiot sitting out there on the bench in front of Walgreen's, pulling my hood over my head so no one could see. Later, Roger realizes that it's not completely true, that he has what they have, if not in the same capacity, but it's that moment that sticks with me more than anything else, that reverberates in my head. It's a feeling that I always come back to, over years and years: that there is an emptiness that cannot be filled, and that not everyone has this emptiness, and you at once both envy and hate these people, because what else can you do? At least you have your Sabbath cassette, and your plate that overflows with salad. And maybe that's enough. It's enough, anyway, to keep you going, no matter how much you sometimes wish you could just lie down somewhere and never get up. And you wonder if maybe everyone feels this way, it's just that hardly anyone talks about it, and again, you are not consoled by the thought that you're not the only one, because still, you're all alone.

[girl]

Wow. I honestly wasn't planning to read this book, but after reading jeb's thoughts on it, I just ordered myself a copy.

[jebreject]

john you better gimme a cut

[John]

haaahaha free tmg songs for the LPTJ forums if the book breaks even, I think people overestimate how much money there is to be made in writing books if your name doesn't rhyme with "May Slay Howling"

I tell you what though: y'all know I hate pandering like this, when I was first starting out in music I hated to even sell merch at shows, but if you read the book and like it - or even if you don't I guess! but anyhow - and you have the time to leave an Amazon review, I'm sure that wouldn't hurt the cause at all.

I hate asking for stuff like that (when bands are like "call your local radio station and ask them to play our song!" it makes me feel so bad) but well anyhow! k bye

[alistarr*]

john we will boost your plays on myspace

[WhereTheSlimeLive]

ORDER CONFIRMED

[John]

john we will boost your plays on myspace

haha sometimes I wonder whether people are actually making money doing this & if they are, why doesn't God kill them

[Andrew_TSKS]

i'm still waiting for my copy to come and i'm sure i will have much more to say when it gets here and i read it but jeb, i can really relate to your feelings where that whole church thing is concerned. i've thought about that a lot myself over the years.

[Doctor Bob]

No more spoilers please!

Also, still trying to work out what this all has to do with the Tak Matsumoto Group.

if they are, why doesn't God kill them

And let who sort them out?

[WhereTheSlimeLive]

I also ordered the one on Celine Dion.  Did i fall into a trap?