Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix

I loved this book; I am not what you would call a huge Jimi Hendrix fan, but being a music lover and living near Seattle, how could you not pick this title up. Charles Cross does a splendid job of retracing the youth of Jimi Hendrix, a youth that I would not wish on my worst enemies children, It becomes clear to me why Jimi was as messed up as he was. With out a stable home life and being transported from one house to another it's a wonder that he was successful at all. Jimi Hendrix was a man that wanted to do one thing and that was make music, in fact during the last week of his life when he shows up at a party without his guitar, friends knew he was in trouble. He was never away from his guitar. There were some interesting I didn't know that from Jimi being in a band with Tommy Chong; yes that Chong and that one of his rodies was Lemmy from Motorhead. It also had a story of Jimi being at a Denny's in my hometown of Mount Vernon, WA although it was an accurate of not kind description of the place. This is a tragic story of a man who may have been the most talented guitarist ever, but a man who obviously was running from the demons of his childhood his whole life, these demons did make him into the greatest guitarist ever (sorry Eddie Van Halen, and Mr. Clapton) but also led to his drug use and out of control life. I came away from this book saddened and wanting more to make sure that I give my children what every child needs, a stable, loving home.

The book was exceptionally good; though I knew Hendrix woud die, I was still unprepared for it when it occured. That is truly attributable to the fine writing of Charles Cross

Well, how to begin? First let's face it, most Jimi Hendrix fans are somewhat obsessive when it comes to him. And we each have our own individual opinions about him, his music, and his life. And it is hard for some of us to accept any deviation from our beliefs. I like to think when it comes to Jimi, all you really need to know about him can be found in his music. His hopes, his fears, his loves, his demons. That being said, I still enjoy reading about Jimi and how he lived and how he made his music. So consequently, I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Cross's book. While some may criticize it because it does not delve deeply enough into the music and how Jimi made it, I feel that in a round about way it does just that. Jimi's life, all of his childhood experiences, his life on the Chitlin' circuit, his struggle to become recognized as a musician, all contributed in some way to his music and how he approached his career and his song writing. Now this book may not go into a lot of detail when he comes to the technical aspects of his music, but that's okay, because there are several other excellent books about Jimi that do just this. I found this book to be well written and insightful when it comes to Jimi's childhood. It appears that Jimi from the beginning depended on the kindness of neighbors and relatives. I simply cannot imagine living the way he did as a child and I cannot even fathom what it did to Jimi and how it shaped his life. That part of the book was very sad. One thing is apparent, however; Jimi his entire life depended on happenstance or serendipity in his decision making. I guess he knew no other way. He just believed that things would work out eventually. And the author was correct in his belief that Jimi was just as trapped by his music and the life it afforded him as he had been during his childhood and adolescence in Seattle. Music saved him from that life, but I guess nothing could save him later. He had talent, no doubt it. That is talent in music, but no talent in how to change his life even when it obviously became very destructive. I suppose I will continue reading books about Jimi, because there is a part of me that believes if I keep reading, I can figure him out, but that will probably never happen. There will always be a part of Jimi that will remain mysterious and hidden and that is after all how it should be.

I picked this book up at the bookstore and started reading it. I did not stop reading until I was done. It was that good. I have 30 Hendrix books in my collection and, without a doubt, this is the best researched and most interesting Hendrix book of them all. I found out so many things that I never knew about Jimi and I was absolutely amazed how Jimi really recieved his discharge from the Army. This book is so well written that, like a great movie, I did not want it to end. This book clearly sets the standard for all past and future Hendrix books. I guess it took an author from Seattle to finally write the definitive Hendrix book. Well done, Charles Cross, and thank you.