What Does This Button Do?: An Autobiography

I really, really wanted to love this autobiography, but really it feels incomplete. I pre-ordered it 10 seconds after I saw it was announced and waited impaitently for it to be released. I still think Bruce is one of the most interesting and fascinating people in the world, but this book was a frustrating letdown. My main complaint with the book is that Bruce never really goes into any detail about anything. Everything he discusses always feel like a lead in to a deeper discussion that never happens. I can't even count the number of times I turned the page expecting him to explain his thoughts or feelings or continue on a line of thought only for the next sentence to be a new topic. Its a series of events that happen and people he meets but he never goes much beyond that.What is even more frustrating is that the first quarter of the book wasn't like that. He starts out the book explaining his childhood and schooling and this is the best part of the book. Once he gets past his years in college and into Iron Maiden the book really starts to fall apart. For someone who was in a band with 5-6 other people for nearly 30 years, he really has next to nothing to say about them. He touches on his relationship with Steve Harris a little bit, but it feels brief and incomplete. He shares a few anecdotes about Nicko McBain and a few of the other bandmates but they are all in passing and never in much detail.Once his autobiography gets to the Iron Maiden era it really becomes a memoir of his signing, fencing, and flying career. While those things are interesting and I expected him to go into detail of them it all still feels superficial. It is hard to say it is an autobiography. He never mentions family, and even states in the afterword that he chose not to include them when setting out to write the book. I can understand a person wanting to have a private life, but when you are selling an autobiography. It feels odd when describing your life's events they all occur in the absence of family. His cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery is an event that I can't imagine going through alone. Yet the way he writes it you would think it was only him and his doctors.Would I recommend the book? Yes, I guess so if your are a Maiden fan or a fan of his solo work. Of the autobiographies I have read this is one of the poorer ones that i have ready though.

For years I’ve had a guilty secret. When asked about my musical tastes I would say, “Pretty eclectic, everything from Mozart…” (an expected response) “to… Maiden!” (Usually greeted with some variant of “WTF”). But it’s true: I’ve been a dyed in the wool Iron Maiden fan since the early 1980s. And I followed Bruce when he branched out on his own. So I was a bit curious when I heard about this book. But why? I am not much interested another tedious “tell all,” book, most “facts” are there for all to see, and I don’t need the vicarious pleasure of living through the experiences of a spoilt rock star.Well, this is no standard autobiography. It’s a roughly chronological collection of anecdotes by a man who has crammed more into his sixty some years than a dozen other people. He has enormous energy and there aren’t many of us who even try to master half as many things as he has. Some of his stories are hilarious and had me laughing so hard that I was gasping for air. Which, I learned from Bruce, probably means that I should have been doing more exercises to improve my breathing. On the other hand, there are also some poignant moments, like his observations during and after performing in a war zone in the former Yugoslavia. And I did not expect him to wax lyrical about the theater of the mind, or the kind of enlightenment that can emerge from the relationship between a master and a pupil.Yes, of course, he projects an ego the size of Vesuvius. But he is the vertically challenged front man of the world’s biggest rock band. Blushing wall flower would not cut it. And Bruce would probably admit that at times he has been a bit of an onanist. He evidently has a quick wit that’s probably a shade too quick for some of the people he’s rubbed up against. And much as he might try camouflage himself, it’s also pretty clear that he is sensitive, intelligent and insightful. Sorry Bruce, you’re rumbled.Whether he meant to or not, he has actually done a great service by giving an unflinching description of his triumph over the great taboo of our time: cancer. It will be worth it if he inspires just one more person not to give up.It’s almost a throw away point in the book, but he also talks something else that I am going to pick up on another time: how switching hands - from a righty to a south paw - revolutionized his fencing. There are an awful lot of people whose lives have been changed by helping them to rebalance their brains.In all the book is a celebration of a life well lived, by someone born poor and disadvantaged, but who decided to use his energy, wits and talent to just have a go: to explore, take some risks, to drink deep of life, and to leave something behind.Very highly recommended.Richard G. Petty, MD, author of  Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life

There are few “rock stars” I find interesting enough to invest time and money in reading about their personal lives. My interest begins and ends with their music. Bruce Dickinson is a fascinating exception.Lead singer for the worldwide phenomenon Iron Maiden, competitive world-class fencer, airline captain, novelist, beer entrepreneur, screenwriter: Bruce Dickinson is no ordinary rock star. With all his varied pursuits and his 30+ years with Iron Maiden, I was eager to get more of the details and background of this interesting life.Sad to say, though, that as good as the book is -- and it is a fun read -- Dickinson leaves us wanting more, as he glosses over so much. There’s certainly not enough about Maiden, and next to nothing about his family or mates. I can understand Dickinson wanting to keep a certain amount of his life private, but then this is an autobiography. Leaving out current bandmate squabbles, though, and I assume there are some, was a good idea. Tell-all books are the ruin of many a band.There is a great gallery of photos included, and I particularly enjoyed the chapters detailing his aviation exploits, as well as his devotion to the art of fencing. As a fan of Iron Maiden, I could not pass it up. I just wish there’d been more.

Enjoyed the book, not overly long, keeps moving at a nice clip, good anecdotes. Some insights into the workings of Maiden which won't surprise. Martin Birch does come across less well, especially as his alter ego Marvin. Trusty Old Tractor, hoot!For non Iron Maiden fans there is a lot to read, Bruce's early life, fencing, making a movie, becomng a pilot, visiting Sarajevo, cancer scare etc, so not all about metal.Having read other rock autobiogs Bruce comes across as a bloke who would be good fun chatting to in a pub or long train journey.Recommended.

A lot of people have left negative reviews for this book because they were expecting a book full of gossip about Bruce's band mates. Ridiculous! How would the dynamics of Maiden be left if Bruce told tales and then faced his band mates in the studio?!No, this is Bruce Dickinson's autobiography, it states as much on the cover! Iron Maiden has been a massive part of Bruce's life but so has fencing and flying, not to mention his solo career. And that is what this book is about, Bruce Dickinson's life, it covers his fencing, flying, solo career, many other projects and yes Iron Maiden!!I've been a Maiden fan since the very beginning but I wanted to read about Bruce Dickinson's life, and boy has he lived it to the full!This book is extremely well written and in a style that made me feel like I was having an interesting chat with a really nice genuine guy, I couldn't put it down.If you want band gossip go to Google or YouTube, if you want to read about Bruce Dickinson and his amazing life then I recommend you buy this book.

I love Iron Maiden and love Bruce's vocal style. So when there was a chance to read up on his life, I was licking my lips. We are both the same age and I have followed his career with interest. I've never met him, but have spent some time with Nicko during the Bruce less Maiden years, he warned Bruce can be difficult and very self centered. So I suppose I was warned? I much preferred the early part of the book which is a real hoot. But the mid to later section reads like a pilots log, Bruce skips over decades as though they did not happen. Barely discusses other band members, Dave Murray gets one or two mentions as does 'Harry' Harris. Adrian and Janick fair a bit better with Nicko third. The band split is sketched over which I know was very difficult for the band and the reunion is barely given a paragraph? At the end of the book Bruce states he chose to include no deaths,births,marriages or divorces. So really it not an autobiography more of an account of incidents that are prominent in his life. After reading 300+ pages I really don't know anymore about BD (than I did not know already) other than he in very ambidextrous! All in all Ifeel I was a bit short changed, Bruce really does not want to disclose his full life which of course is his choice. The cancer chapter at the end is a little more open, but still he very guarded. Very well written which you'd expect from such a very intelligent person, but perhaps he's a bit of a narcissist. If you want the inner workings of Iron Maiden then you won't get it from this book which I think is a real shame!

Although obviously this is a Bruce autobio and not going to be just about IRON MAIDEN I am a Maiden fan which is why I bought it, I felt not only did it not tell me anything new about Maiden but also skipped over long periods, talking more about his flying adventures rather than musical. A few interesting stories but would have liked more about Maiden, also doesn't mention anything about his family at all, in stark contrast to Phil Collins's book that I also read recently which is much more interesting tbh.

I was a bit disappointed with this book. In fairness my disappointment stems from fact that this is not the book I was I was expecting. Reading the Afterword Bruce states he did this on purpose. If he filled the book with stories, anecdotes and other people it would have been an 800 pages book. Really I would have preferred that.The problem for me with this book is with out all the stories, people and emotions Bruce comes across very robotic. Even from an Iron Maiden fan point of view the book definitely does not deliver. To the point there are not even any many inside stories. An here are a couple of examples, Bruce is asked to join the band he joins the bant on his own terms. Facts/statements not emotions. The impression I got from this book is the band came together for tours then everyone went their own was in between with no talking between each other. I am sure this is not the case bit this is the way I felt it was in the book.The subjects I thought Bruce was passionate about are fencing, flying and peoples sufering. If Bruce wrote more chapters like these the book would have been much better for me.A disappointingly different book from what I was expecting and even more disappointing for the fact that Bruce experiences, achievements and in writing about the important things are so much better then the sum of this book.