Description: "Geddy Lee is one of rock and roll's most respected bassists. For nearly five decades, his playing and work as co-writer, vocalist, and keyboardist has been an essential part of the success story of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush. Here for the first time is his account of life inside and outside the band. ... [He] was [born] Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, after his grandfather murdered in the Holocaust. As he recounts [his life's] transformation, Lee looks back on his family, in particular his loving parents and their horrific experiences as teenagers during World War II"--
Brief description:
Ranked by Rolling Stone as among the top bass players of all time, Geddy Lee is the vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rock group Rush. In his spare time, he is an avid collector of baseball memorabilia and vintage watches, a birdlife photographer, quaffer of fine wines, and devoted family man. The author of Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass lives in a leafy borough of Toronto, Canada, with some of his favorite humans.
Review Quotes:
"This rich brew of honesty, humor, and loss makes for a uniquely poignant memoir." - USA Today
"My Effin' Life is joyously thoughtful and engaging." - The Boston Globe
"The main takeaway from Geddy Lee's new memoir, My Effin' Life, is that anything can happen as long as you live your life with an honest conviction." - Vulture
"My Effin' Life has its share of Rush lore. But the most memorable parts of the singer and bassist's book are about survival." - New York Times
" touching and often humorous narrative." - Long Island Press
"[My Effin' Life contains] myriad revelations, a wealth of unearthed stories, great insights into Rush's music and creative aesthetic, lots of humor, his other interests (wine, birdwatching, baseball, grandparenting), heartbreaking tragedies (particularly drummer Neil Peart's death in 2020) and enough Yiddish to make his entire family tree proud." - Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A grand entertainment for fans of Rush and classic rock." - Kirkus Reviews
"The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer--who played bass, keyboards, and sang on the progressive rock band's biggest hits--holds nothing back in his highly-anticipated memoir."
- Entertainment Weekly
"A page-turner . . . gives readers a fly-on-the-wall, tick-tock perspective . . . and also provides a backstage pass into Lee's inner monologue as he balanced rising fame and enduring fears." - Toronto Star
"As someone who has spent his life telling made-up stories that are obliged to sound somewhat plausible, I am deeply envious of Geddy Lee. And it's not only the improbable, absurd, wondrous and at times heartbreaking true story that life has gifted him that I envy, but also the warmth, care, artfulness, hard-earned wisdom and--always--the gently skewed humor with which he tells it. He's one of my musical heroes, for reasons that are there on record, but with this book everyone can see why for so long he has also been one of my heroes as a man." - Michael Chabon
"An effin' good read." - Associated Press
"There was never a band like Rush. Geddy Lee doesn't want to forget it. It took a series of losses for the high-voiced rock star to confront his personal history. It all came out in his new memoir." - The Washington Post