Edward Van Halen: A Definitive Biography

I highly recommend this book to any fan of EVH.As other commenters have noted, there is a fair amount of material in this book that many of us EVH fans already know. But, there's also plenty in this book that I didn't know. For example, I never knew that EVH put up his own money so that his golf teacher could take a leave from working to become a full time pro. Or, that a young EVH actually tried to barter with a writer from a guitar magazine to get on the cover of the magazine during Van Halen's early days.Sure, it's written by a huge EVH fan and it shows. But, how could it not? Notwithstanding, the author does a good job throughout the book of separating the facts from his own editorial. In my opinion, the author's take on things made the book that much more interesting. Despite the fact that the book is written by an admitted EVH nut, the author paints an unbiased picture of EVH, including the good, the bad, and unfortunately in some cases, the ugly. And yes, there are a few typos here and there, but who cares. It's a self-published book after all, not a book published by a huge publishing company with an entire staff of proofreaders.What matters most is that the author did his homework. He basically scoured everything he could find about EVH from magazine and radio interviews, the internet, and from books written by people close to EVH. Where he could, he took it a step further by contacting people who knew EVH, such as Jas Obrecht (music journalist who conducted dozens of interviews with EVH over the years), and the doctor who runs the cancer treatment center that EVH co-founded. Then, he condensed everything into a 372 page book. Short of interviewing EVH himself (or a band member or family member), I'm not sure what else the author could have done to research the subject (especially in light of the fact that the subject is someone who is known for being rather private and perhaps even reclusive). I give the book (and the author) two thumbs up. Job well done, Kevin!

Kevin Dodds does a nice job here (no Pulitzer yet)...It is an easy entertaining read, and Dodds (as a musician/guitar player) gives some insight a traditional journalist might not have. I love that Dodds somehow relates EVHs bio to himself (and his own struggle with alcoholism) and the unfortunate/tragic death of his brother Brandon, but it is done in a tasteful and loving way that he somehow pulls off-it just works...in my view. Also he he is dead on correct about Sammy and VH 2.0-as I see it Sammy's lyrical ability might make Ted Nugent look like a Rhodes Scholar. So overall for the price...it is a steal...My only negatives are...some typos...you forgot to let people know that Sam HAD to go back on the road with Eddie in 2004 because of contractual obligations (that might explain even more why Ed acted so crazy)...Jeff Porcaro (the groove master-fantastic drummer) died of a cocaine OD not pesticide poisoning...AND finally VH parachuted into Anaheim Stadium NOT Oakland in 1978 (I was there and check Dave's BIO for that clarification)...either way-all good-nice job!

He is the G O A T. In my opinion. Even in all the adversity faced. Wish he was still alive. And he triumphed in his sobriety to boot.

I must admit when I first saw this book I very sceptical. I've read pretty much all books on Van Halen as well as DLR and Hagars biographies, and figured this would be the same old story re-written by a fan. I was actually pleasantly suprised by the time I finished it. At first I found the author's personal fan stories a little corny, but as I read onI really warmed to him and enjoyed reading the book from a fellow fans point of view.It's well written and very interesting and a good easy read. After saying that it is also well researched and I found out a few new things. I did find quite a few typo's which were annoying, but the author gives his details for people to report such things so the second printing will be flawless. Overall a really good book.Now Im just waiting for Aaron Cohen's know it all reply.

Kevin Dodds did a great job illustrating the highlights and pitfalls of Edward Van Halen's life. Adding a personal angle to it gave the biography a different flavor, and helped the reader to understand the passion that he has for the artist. After having read several books about the group, I did not find much redundancy here. It could have used another proofread, but errors did not take away from the overall enjoyment. A great read.

As a fan of the man and the band that shares his name, I was interested and a little skeptical when I saw this book come out. There's a lot out there about Edward and Van Halen but nothing that could be considered a biography, until now. The author has done a wonderful job and tirelessly researched his subject.When I finished the book, I came away feeling that I knew more about Edward, his motivations, his strengths and weaknesses than I had before I read it. Isn't that the point of a good biography?The author has done exactly what he set out to do, create the definitive biography on Edward Van Halen.It's a great book, whether you're a fan of Edward or Van Halen or music in general. The author has given the rest of us a rare glimpse into the mind of an acknowledged musical genius and has done it in a very balanced way.

My husband is a Eddie Van Halen fan. He never asks for anything ever. When I showed him this book on Amazon, his eyes went wide and said order it for me. I was shocked. He’s reading it now and he loves it. There’s a lot in the book he did not know. Highly recommend.

Overall, I really liked this book. There were a lot of tidbits that either I never knew or had long forgotten. However, I rated it at three stars because there are some instances where it just seems like facts are thrown in randomly just to get them down in writing, they don’t really fit into where they’re placed. Also, it is very clear the author cannot stand Sammy Hagar and the Sammy bashing is rampant. I really wish he would’ve dialed back on that a bit. But once I caught on to what was happening, I just skipped over those paragraphs. It’s a book about Eddie Van Halen, not how much the author hates Sammy.

The book was a gift for myself and I enjoyed it very much. It also came on time before Christmas. Thank you.

Really enjoying this. Well done!

colis hyper bien emballélivraison rapide.parfait !

Very definitive book on EVH. Made a great gift

Loved this book, was searching for a while and was so happy to get it