Review: Not sure if "favorite" is the right word
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2014
It's a little messed up to refer to this and The Long Run as my "favorite" works by Mishka Shubaly, given the subject matter; one doesn't exactly get up and cheer after reading an account of self harm, drug abuse, dreams that never quite took wing, and eventual throwing in of the towel, but I have to say, it's a riveting, gritty, and honest account. It's the kind of thing I'd suggest anyone who has a dream of an arts career should read, not because I want to be a downer, but because it's always worth knowing the whole story. What happens if you don't land a major record deal? If your band falls apart? If you're so close to success you can watch it happen over and over again for other people? It's the kind of story that you rarely hear because the people who live it usually don't have Mishka's writing chops. It's the ones who hit it big who get the hyper-articulate ghost writers to tell the tale. I'm not even sure reading this would put a person off trying for a music career, because at its heart it's a story of true love and devotion. Not everyone has a fairytale romance with their muse; even that relationship can be dysfunctional. If there's a moral to this story, it's that you don't have to let the forces that destroy what you love destroy you as well.