Like Hell

Rating:
Summary: Ehh... It was... ok?
Review: I admit, I love the other work Ben Weasle has done, but really this book is often, well... confusing so to speak. It has main flaws are right off the back, such as it is quite possibly the most vulgar disgusting book I have read when dealing with human realtionships, yet on the other hand, it is often a perfect image of punk rock-ism. Sex, rock n' roll and drugs are a perfect match, then alas this book seems to be beyound morbid. Yet this explains the darker side of punk rock music and can be really depressing at times which was the main goal in the book, I beleive. The book though, does let you feel like you can relate though to the charecters at times, although it seems the only charecter that needed alittle more backround was Joe. the main man in the book. Joe really in my thought was kinda a odd ball jerk, and often really did what he did out of pure randomness. Sure, I think Ben was trying to hit me with a anti-hero charecter, yet it was just to flippy-floppy on Joe's persona, often I was rooting for him, and other times I was in complete disgust. But on a over-view of the book, if you are a punk fan, or someone who thinks highly of the romantic rock and roll image, I think you will like this. If you are not a punk or a rock and roll fan, you will get to about page two, then be sickened and have no intrest in it.

Rating:
Summary: you'll like it if you are in 7th grade
Review: i read this book in two hours, and i was NOT at all impressed. the quality of writing was very, very poor. i have seen high-school kids write better. what did i come with after reading this book? that i just WASTED my money. it seems that the only reason somebody would read it, would be because they enjoy the punk references, which can be slightly interesting. i wouldn't read this book again... if you are interested in a simple read, go for it... but to me, this was just plain boring. i would reccomend SALAD DAYS over this tenfold. also, MY WORLD by jeff ott is a bit more insightful than this.

Rating:
Summary: Underwhelming, but still enjoyable if you're a Weasel fan.
Review: I'll get my complaints about the book out of the way first. I have to admit being a bit disappointed with the writing in this book. I have been a longtime fan of Ben's acerbic writing style in his columns for "Maximum Rock 'N' Roll" and in his own "Panic Button" fanzine, but overall, "Like Hell" isn't nearly as witty or funny as his punk-zine columns consistently are.

My guess is that if you've never been in a punkrock band, or hung out with people who were, reading "Like Hell" would be a downright boring experience. I can't imagine this book holding much interest for people who don't relate to the travails of being in a struggling band. For such people, Ben's pedestrian writing style doesn't have much to recommend to it from a pure literary standpoint, so the storyline itself probably wouldn't appeal to them either.

Another disappointment with the book is that the characters just aren't very interesting or memorable. At a certain point, you begin to lose track who's who, because thier personalities are much too similar, with thier unique differences not unique enough to really matter. It's sort of like the punk-rock version of the TV show "Friends". This isn't helped much by Ben's penchant of writing insanely large blocks of dialogue without breaking them up occasionally with obvious character attribution.

For anyone who has followed the history of Screeching Weasel and read most of Ben's writing in MRR, the storylines in this book are all too familiar. "Like Hell" reads like a made-for-Hollywood adaptation of the life and times of Screeching Weasel. Though this is supposedly a work of fiction, it's obvious that Joe, the book's protagonist, is none other than Ben Weasel himself, albeit with much fictional embellishment. All of Ben's real life cynicism about punkrock--his disdain for the johnny-come-lately "fans" who think they actually own the bands they listen to, the disingenuousness and hypocrisy of the supposed "ideals" that have become punk's own form of political correctness, and general indifference to punkrock in general--is faithfully mirrored by the words and actions of "Joe" and his semi-successful band, Pagan Icons.

Many notable chapters in Screeching Weasel's history have been obviously adapted for the book. Maximum Rock 'N' Roll 'zine is portrayed as "Punk Bible" (a very clever and funny jab at MRR's well established reputation for being the self-proclaimed arbiters of what it means to be "punk"), a fanzine which "Joe" writes a column for (and which he later quits due to philosphical differences with it's editor--not unlike Ben's differences with MRR founder Tim Yohannon). "Stinkbomb Records" and its Hippie owner are clearly the fictional equivalents of Lookout! Records and it's controversial dictator, Lawrence Livermore. --which is torn right out of the real life diary of the Screeching Weasel / Lookout! controversy.

All writing flaws aside, "Like Hell" is still a page turner. The writing is simple and unpretentious, like punk rock--get to the point quickly, and don't say in ten words what can be said in three. One of the reasons why Ben Weasel is such a compelling writer (both in print as well as musically) is that he candidly speaks the unpleasant truths that none of us wants to admit are true. Likewise, as much of a jerk that "Joe" might seem to be, his attitudes toward everything that is wrong about the punk scene are largely true. What's sad is that like Ben Weasel himself, Joe is indifferent to this scene entropy, and is content to not really do anything to try and change it for the better. Perhaps that's how punkrock is supposed to work--as is a recurring thought in the book, once you stop caring about the punk scene, you get out of it and get yourself a "real life".

There are no happy endings in this book. In fact, the book is consistently depressing and filled with sad and negative human relationships from every angle. This is the real side of "punk" that MTV and thier lemming corporate-punk followers will never see nor understand. I'd like to think that this book is really for them, but I am so cynical of them that I doubt they would get it in any case.

Rating:
Summary: It just is
Review: Reading the other reviews after i read the book made me feel like those people didnt really even read the book - or otherwise over read the book. Its about a guy, what he thinks, and what goes through his mind as his life changes and stays the same at the same time. Its punk rock. Its growing up. Its finding yourself, and loosing everything else.

Rating:
Summary: Like Hell is authentic
Review: This book is really not for everybody. But the psycholgical aspects within this book, in regards to the punk rock lifestyle are so seemingly true and real you can't help but get emotional. I speak from experience as being a former frontman for a punk band, this book is right on. Some will not like the writing style, which is gritty, simple and rough. But it is an authentic view of words, culture and traditions in the punk scene and I highly recommend this book to anyone intrested in how it really is out there and what goes on inside a true punks mind. Ben weasel does a great job.

Rating:
Summary: bit of a disappointment
Review: This book seems to tell us everything while revealing nothing. There are lots of anecdotes that become repetitious after a (short) while, and too many over-used phrases, especially for someone with so much talent as a lyricist. At the end of the book we have little to no idea who the author/narrator is, what makes him 'tick' or why he has chosen to live the life of a musician other than the fact that (according to him) he has no other marketable skills. But it is a first novel and of course Ben gets props for making an effort to tell his/narrator's side of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Damn fine book!
Review: This is NOT just a book for fans of Screeching Weasel or of punk rock music. I had my 41 year old roommate who despises punk rock and punk rockers read this book and he loved it. This book is something like a Charles Bukowski novel with all the alcohol, sex, and bitter screwed up human relationships, but with a little punk rock thrown in. The only bad reviews I've read for this book have to deal with Ben's lack of literary form and the use of bigger words. Sure, you can tell the author never really had much more schooling than high school, but the story that he tells is so good. The story itself is hilarious, sometimes deep, and absolutely sad. The character constantly evolves, the Joe Pagan in the beginning of the book is not the same Joe Pagan at the end of the book. If you've ever had a relationship with a woman that is forever sour but for some odd reason you feel you can't go on without her you'll love this book. If you've ever struggled with who and what you really are you'll be able to relate to the main character in this book so much. This book is not a politically correct book by any means, so all the whiny little PC punks really should ignore this and go get Jeff Ott's political propaganda crap book My World.

Rating:
Summary: Ben Foster delivers.
Review: What is there to say about 'Like Hell'? I will start off by saying that this book is extremely entertaining from cover to cover. Ben colorfully describes the life and world of Joe Pagan, lead singer of the Pagan Icons, a Ramones-influenced punk rock band. Ben shows off a comical and raw outlook on the events that occur day to day in Joe's life... the dialogue is hilarious. Book contains message "Any likenesses of fictional characters to real people is strictly coincidental" but any Screeching Weasel/Ben Weasel fan would know that that is not true in this case. Well worth the cover price!