Thurston Moore Sonic Life Book thoughts

I was hesitant to read this. The story among Sonic Youth fans is that Moore’s adultery broke up the band. How will he handle that?

The book starts with his introduction to music and the first bands that Moore liked. The book focuses on music career over personal details. That’s fine. Even the band isn’t very detailed. I don’t know Lee Renaldo anymore after reading this than I did when I started. Maybe that’s his tale to tell.

Moore says that he criticized everyone in the band at some point. It’s weird because the albums make it look like a partnership band. Lee has a song or two. Kim sings lead on half the rest of the songs. This book makes it sound more like Thurston was the driving force more than anything. He wrote the book so, sure.

He admits that it was him that cheated on Kim Gordon, although he wants to allude to her cheating as well, but he doesn’t say it. He marries the woman that he cheated with so he didn’t lose everything over a fling.

Writers try to end these books with a happy or satisfied ending. This ending kept me thinking about it because it’s a satisfying ending. The ending is also an end. Thurston’s mentors have retired or died. The bands he came up through the ranks with have broken up. He is a mentor or an old fogey to new musicians.

It shocked me that Kim Gordon isn’t thanked at the end of the book. I know his current wife was there for edits and the beta read so it would be tricky. Thurston and Kim were together for 30 years and created great music. They are parents. I’m not saying he should’ve showered her in affection, but at least a nod. It’s there in the text, but not at the end. Things must be that broken. It’s too bad.

Overall, it was a good book and I went back to listen to those old albums.