Not Dead & Not for Sale: A Memoir

I must disclose that a certain amount of this review comes with bias. I consider myself a bit of a Scott Weiland fanatic and I eat up anything the man releases. I own all of his albums with both Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, as well as both of his solo albums. I've seen him live twice, once in STP and once in VR, and I even own a suit and vest from his clothing line. I've been waiting patiently for this book since I first heard about it and it was called Desperation #5. Well, now the book has arrived in all of it's 238-page glory (there's several extra pages after the last page of writing, but you know what I mean). How does a memoir by a man who has lived the life Scott Weiland has lived end up so short? How is it that I was able to read a book that covers his life from childhood to now in only an hour and a half? I can only speculate why Not Dead and Not for Sale lacks in-depth discussion about various events in his life, but why bother? This is the book and no amount of speculation will change the finished product.Weiland begins by saying he's not afraid of documenting details about his life and that he has nothing to hide. He stays true to this by revealing intimate, private details about his life throughout; the kind of details people would struggle to tell their closest friends. The trouble is, Weiland reveals only the surface of these troubling, deeply personal memories and offers little in-depth discussion about it.Beginning with one (of several) trips to a sober living home, he shares some memories from there, a poem he wrote, and admits that he's free from drugs, but still drinks often. From there, he jumps into his childhood, his relationship with his biological father, his relationship with his late brother Michael Weiland, and occasionally sprinkles in some humorous observations, such as his thoughts on his childhood suburb being named Chagrin Falls. At 14, Scott and his family moved from Ohio to California and he goes on to form his first band Soi-Distant. It was at the age of 14 that he started doing drugs (especially coke). Soon (and within this memoir, I really do mean "soon"), Scott has met the musicians that would go on to form Stone Temple Pilots and they begin to build a following in the San Diego area. While they work towards becoming a major-label band, Scott gets a job driving for a modeling agency where he meets Mary Forsberg who "carried a pain I couldn't name." Mary is, of course, Scott's ex-wife, mother of his two children, and an endless source of inspiration for him and his music. Scott talks about Mary at great length throughout the book. He says he's "obsessed with love" and that becomes clear from how much he writes about Mary, both in his memoir and his music. This is not criticism, merely a comment how of how in awe he seems of her even after they've divorced.These are the things that Weiland covers in The Earthling Papers about life pre-fame. The rest of the memoir has Weiland detailing things you'd expect, with a few surprises and aspects of his personal life that I had been unaware of. Aside from personal details, he'll frequently quote his own lyrics and discuss the meaning/inspiration behind them. The last several pages of the book are selections from his personal sketchbook.Already at 238 pages, the book is remarkably brief due to many pictures and half-pages (some pages are designed to appear that they've been torn in half). Due to this and the way the name of the chapter takes up a whole page, there is basically a six-page break between the end of a chapter and the beginning of a chapter...And there are a lot of chapters. Weiland covers the major events you'd expect him to cover such as STP getting signed, STP getting popular, the birth of children, and the death of STP which leads to the birth of VR. There is detail in the book, it's just the way Weiland chooses to express these details that has lead to disappointment from many readers including myself.I could talk about how Scott talks about STP's opportunity to open for Aerosmith early in their career that Scott insisted was a bad idea, without explaining why it was a bad idea and the various other times he leaves the reader hanging but I'm going to break it down like this: In less than 2 pages, Scott tells of STP getting signed, releasing  Core , and getting pummeled by critics while achieving commercial success. He breezes over various arrests, stints in rehab, meeting his first wife Jannina, and meeting Doug Grean, his friend, colla collaborator, and guitar-player for his solo band. There is detail, just not lengthy, wordy, or in-depth detail about the events. Or perhaps, there are events in the memoir and just no lengthy, wordy detail. Is there insight in the memoir? I would say yes. Is the memoir insightful? No.Weiland's writing style is all stream of consciousness, all over the place but with a mostly coherent structure (perhaps from his collaboration with David Ritz). His writing is unpretentious, brief and to the point, and with little-to-no overindulgence. His writing also tends to be rather poetic, such as when he describes meeting his first wife with "she gave me her number, a few weeks later she gave me her love."While reading this, I did wonder if Weiland had been under contract to have his memoir in by a designated time and decided to rush the writing of it. I also wondered if he had began writing it, intending to put his thoughts and feelings down but realized he wasn't ready to put his feelings down quite yet. I thought that was the most likely explanation, but within the memoir Weiland includes excerpts from his journal which are written in the same style. I wonder if Weiland wasn't rushing it and wasn't holding back, but was simply unaware of how vague he left many details. A journal typically details significant events in ways that will leave anyone reading them to want more...That's very close to how these Earthling Papers are written. Weiland is known for being a high-energy, flamboyant frontman who epitomizes rock and roll coolness when he's performing onstage. In life, he seems much more shy and reserved even from those closest to him. I can't say for sure that Weiland was intentionally holding back details.This book will only truly appeal to fans of Scott Weiland. Those unfamiliar with the man will find little insight about him. Fans will appreciate the book as it's written in Weiland's own words and gives you a glimpse into his head, despite the frustrating lack of detail. He does cover a lot of things that are well-known to fans, but the fact that it's from his perspective is the draw of it. Overall, the book is entertaining (a quick, breezy read) and well-written with Weiland's unique voice spilling out from the pages. The main problem is that it just lacks insight, which is what a memoir is intended to provide usually. There are some details he only briefly mentions that are forgivable, but even I can't fathom how Weiland has been with Stone Temple Pilots on and off for over 20 years, recorded six albums with them, toured the world with them, and yet doesn't mention a single event (significant or minor) let alone a single conversation with drummer Eric Kretz. I know that two wrote the song "Plush" together in a hot tub, but I don't even think Weiland mentions Kretz more than 3 times in the book. I enjoyed reading it and I enjoyed the photographs (some, such as the picture of him and Mary after the birth of his son are so Weiland-esque they're humorous), but the bottom-line is this: even as a huge fan of Scott Weiland, I enjoyed the book but found it very underwhelming. It's a 3-star book that I had a 4-star enjoyment of. Fan or not, buy with caution: I paid $12 for the book and I'm fine with that, but many who have paid more will only feel let down. It's an enjoyable book, worth the time to read, and I'm glad it actually came to fruition but there's so much that Not Dead and Not for Sale: The Earthling Papers could have said and doesn't. It's an unfortunate comment, but the title of the memoir (taken from the STP song "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart") seems to offer the strongest indication of what went wrong, as if Weiland is saying "I'm not dead" and therefore his personal stories are "not for sale."GRADE: B-

It's a very general overview of his life. I liked that he spoke his truth in an honest way. I liked the pgs, pic, scrapbook. I am just glad he wrote it! Also spoke of his songs. What a talented artist. I love his voice that he could change it esp raspy. STP Core came out when I graduated high school and throughout my 20s so the songs hold a special place.

Can't put it down.

Every STP/Scott Weiland fan should get this book to not only get to know "The Man" in his own words, but for those who only want to trash him for his drug use history....at least buy it to understand his upbringing into adulthood to what he had been through that triggered him to do what he did. He acknowledged in his book that he took full responsibility for his drug/alcohol addictions...here is a snippet: "NO ONE TURNS YOU INTO A DRUG ADDICT OR DRUNK. The blame game is pointless and harmful. I don't believe in pointing fingers. We do what we do and are responsible for our own actions. I don't believe we are victimized by circumstance. There are, however, stories to be told. The story does not begin with us, but rather our parents, and parents' parents. The story goes back further than we know or can even imagine. Our stories are linked together because we share this space on the planet. We influence one another, whether we like it or not." This was on page 19 in the book. I won't give anything else away. Anyone who states he made excuses in the comment sections for his addictions is wrong. I never read Mary Forsberg's book. I read she admitted and took responsibility for her drug addictions in her book....but slammed the father of her children like she did right after his death on social media...which was both cowardly and very disrespectful towards not only Scott Weiland's memory-(the fact he wasn't alive to defend himself) but to their children too who might someday read her bashing about their father. Mary Forsberg didn't take responsibility for how she mistreated-(physically, emotionally, and financially) Scott Weiland during his later years....including physically assaulting his mother back in 2007 in front of their children. I'd never buy her book for those reasons. Scott never slammed her with animosity in this book, which he gave her that much respect. Maybe a light verbal jab saying, "Mary Forsberg only cared about his career...while loving him less and less before their divorce." I get the impression he was telling the truth about her. He does mention Mary Forsberg as being part of his life story....which many things were positive about her. Keep in mind, this book was releaed in 2011. This book doesn't go into 2012-2015...especially 2015 of when his mom and biological father were diagnosed with cancer as he constantly toured to pay $600,000 of child support to his greedy ex-wife Mary Forsberg while having been in ill health. It's too bad Scott Weiland passed away-(12-3-15) at age 48. He had hopes of making another album with his band "The Wildabouts" and planned to write another book to update his life since this book. "Blaster" is a great album-(like many of his previous albums)...so get it if you haven't already. Scott was one of the greatest Rock N' Roll frontman, lyricist, and singers that ever lived. Despite his imperfections, he did gave it his all to his loyal fans performing onstage since the beginning of STP when making the "Core" album....even during the pre-STP-(Mighty Joe Young) era. He loved and appreciated his fans. He loved his children Noah & Lucy. It's terrible Mary Forsberg prevented Scott Weiland of seeing their children for one whole year through "parental alienation"...which is child abuse. It's no wonder in that last year he looked like a broken man on stage and some of his later interviews. The media wasn't always good and fair to Scott Weiland. Let us remember him in a fair and positive way as the man, musician, and legend. For those who read Mary Forsberg's book but not Scott Weiland's book with hostile judgments against him.....remember...there will always be "two sides of every story". My thoughts go out to his widow-(Jamie Weiland), his children, Stone Temple Pilot band mates, Velvet Revolver band mates, and The Wildabouts-(R.I.P to Jeremy Brown) band mates for their lost. Rest In Peace Scott Weiland....your legacy and music will live on forever. :-)

This is an interesting candid take on a pretty mundane American life. I can't say I'm surprised by any of it, but I wish there had been more actual material, and less stylistically filling pages with large type, pictures, or simulated ripped pages. One thing I can happily say though is that my opinion of him didn't change after reading it, so it won't hurt future STP listening. Actually, I look forward to seeing them this summer!

This book shows quickly important moments on Weilland's life from his childhood in Cleveland to his STP and VR days. Important details such as STP recordings and his junkie habits deserves more exploration than the book reveals, but it's worth.

Lacked impact.. Although a good insight into a troubled life. Seemed more of a retaliation book to his former wife's book published the year before. My next read

Ahora todo tiene sentido. Vale mucho la pena, sobre todo siendo fan de STP y Velvet Revolver. Me dejó picado para saber lo que pasó del 2010 (año que se editó el libro) hasta su muerte.

chego no prazo

For someone who has clearly led a very diverse life this book is a very casual 3hour read. He talks about his young life that could've been expanded as some significant things happened but they are sumed up in a sentence here or there.I feel that Mary's Fall to Pieces gave more insight into varied subject matter - drugs, mental health, family, bands, modelling, life of band etc. Scott's book jumps over significant time periods and touches on a few areas of Mary's but doesn't really add too much