NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup—from the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and the new novel Malibu Rising, available now!REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • IN DEVELOPMENT AS AN ORIGINAL STREAMING SERIES EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY REESE WITHERSPOON … STREAMING SERIES EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY REESE WITHERSPOON
“An explosive, dynamite, down-and-dirty look at a fictional rock band told in an interview style that gives it irresistible surface energy.”—Elin Hilderbrand
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • The Washington Post • Esquire • Glamour • Real Simple • Good Housekeeping • Marie Claire • Parade • Paste • Shelf Awareness • BookRiot
Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
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The book was only missing 1 thing- a Daisy Jones & The Six reunion… sequel maybe?!?!
I started reading this book about at 11pm and got about 10% of it read that night before forcing myself to go to sleep. This is the kind of book that makes you want to finish it in one sitting, but also makes you want to string it out to make it last forever because you just don’t want to give up the characters yet. It’s told in an interview style with each person giving their recollection of events … very well done especially when different characters remember things from their own perspective and knowing them after a while you see why they saw things differently. Daisy Jones is a young girl who has been on her own from a very early age … a golden girl, hippie child, drugged out groupie who finds her voice, literally, and becomes the biggest thing in rock and roll. The Six is a band of six individuals each with their own story to tell and their own lives to lead. The main character in the band is the singer songwriter, Billy Dunne. The story truly revolves around Billy and Daisy and boy what a ride. I’d read this story again and again … and I am sure I will. I just wish that I could hear the music their fictional characters made because the songs sound like they would be awesome. A terrific read … a really terrific read. Heartbreaking, uplifting, dark and sad, and very warm and genuine all at the same time.
This was a fun book. If you like the rock and roll scene of the 1970s, this is the book for you. I really enjoyed it. I will probably read it again at some point.
It’s not that I don’t think the book is good—in fact, the story is vivid and immersive and genuinely fun to read, but, and I’m sure this is going to be controversial… while I think this is an incredibly quotable book, it’s also a pretty predictable book. The beautiful prose just hides that really well and even then, at times it felt like the dialogue was just a string of really good one-liners. All aesthetic without enough substance.
There are some really wonderful, colorful characters, but you always know exactly what they’re going to do and how they’re going to react to conflict. A lot of the tension is lost because it doesn’t feel like these characters stand to lose anything, especially since we know where everyone ends up from the beginning. Knowing how the story ends is fine, but if I know the destination I would at least be surprised by the beats of the journey.
A buzzy book which most people recommend, but not the Book of the Year I was hoping to read. It was still unique and enjoyable despite itself, so if you have the chance to read it, you might as well pick it up. Otherwise, it looks like we’ll be streaming it soon enough!
I had mixed feelings about this one during the early chapters. I was thinking you either love it or you hate it. I will say I’m glad I listened to the audio version, it worked so so well. The writing was excellent, at times I thought I was listening to a true story, I literally googled Daisy Jones and the Six to see if they actually existed. It was a different style of writing, told in multiple POVs (multiple narrators) telling the story of the rise of the 70s band. Very much told like a documentary, and I’ll be honest, I was on edge, I really felt for these characters. I completely loved Camila, and in a way Billy, I practically cried for Daisy. I really understood where they were all coming from, and got to say, I was rooting for them all to do the right thing. There was so much angst, so much back stabbing, and oh so many feelings. During the interviews I loved all the different perspectives of the same incidents, how they all felt about things. It was happy, it was oh so sad, and it was highly emotional. All these people dealing with their own issues, and that’s all they can see. None of them can see past their own issues. Multiple stories in this one book. A clever little twist at the end. A truly addictive audio. The narration was perfect, each character was down pat and totally believable. I’m a little sad I didn’t know which narrators were which because there were some who literally blew me away.
Taylor Jenkins Reid has got to be one of the most talented writers I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I don’t know where she gets her ideas and I’ve only read two books by her, but I already know she has a gift. Daisy Jones & The Six is an immersive experience, especially on audio, and while it didn’t make me bawl my eyes out like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo did, I loved it very much. I loved all of the different viewpoints and the entire format of the book overall. The characters were flawed and real, and I loved getting a peek at what life might have been like behind the scenes of a band in the 70s. It was also a nice touch that when you read the book it feels like it is the actual history of a real band. This is something I loved most of all and the way it is broken up gave it even more of that feel.
The audio of Daisy Jones & The Six can only be described as a masterpiece, and it so incredibly well done that I will be recommending it to everyone. The main narrators are Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer, Robinne Lee, & Pablo Schreiber, but it also has a full cast as well. This creates such a great listening experience, and even though it switches between different characters a lot, I didn’t find it to be confusing. I know reading the book will probably be great as well, but I am telling you there is nothing like the audiobook.
I have a special edition physical copy from the UK and I am in love with its cover, everything about this book is just so well done, and the song at the end of the book (played in the audio), along with all the lyrics throughout made it even more special. If you are a fan of TJR I recommend reading Daisy Jones & The Six because you will not be disappointed. I will definitely be doing a reread at some point of my physical copy and I already can’t wait!
Thank you to the publisher for my advance review copy via NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
This book blew me away! That doesn’t happen often. You know when you read a book that stays with you all day long for several days after you finish it?
This is one of those books, thought provoking, unique, funny, and with huge pathos; it still stays with me now. One of those rare books that just speaks to you.
Loved the audiobook version. Loved that if felt very real, but the characters were so good.
Very entertaining. Easy, quick read.
The author does such a great job with recreating a rock band from the 70s you’ll think Daisy Jones and The Six are real!
An entertaining story, almost read it in one sitting.
M.A.G.N.I.F.I.C.I.E.N.T.
Timeless and classic, the book takes you behind the stage, giving us the shocking exposé that could headline the Rolling Stone magazine! Set in The musical 70s, the Era of rock N roll, Acid, LSD and coke. They’re all stirred into a pot with brillaint songs written out of pain and Heartbreak.
A cock sure Mick Jagger-esue rockstar and bohemian stevie-esque, tambourine shaking, songwriter singer.its a marriage made in rock N roll heaven
It’s all about unrequited love steeped in loneliness. Told in the oral-interview format,this is a book like I’ve never read before. Music and passion are melded into the lives of songwriter Daisy Jones and the band Of Dunne brothers. Daisy is the loneliest, famous girl. She’s born and bred in Hollywood and richness but she’s alone in the crowd!
Dunne brothers – Billy and Graham are starting to form a band and as Pete & Eddie, Warren and Karen join to make them The Six
Their amalgamation and collaboration was inevitable. Their banding was fated.
I swayed to the music, fell in love with characters. Felt their love, lust & longing, I dived into their lives, cried with them, hurt with them.
Fantastic book, gave me a hangover!
4.5 stars for Chasing Nightmares & Chasing Dreams
Very original story. I felt that I wanted to hang out with the characters and buy their album. A must read.
I love the concept of this book. It’s written in a unique narrative way with perspectives from each character, all unique with their own voice and own recollections of the past. While it was unique and provided a different perspective, it prevented me from really feeling the angst, the heartbreak, the passion, and the joy as fully as I wanted to. That does not mean that I didn’t enjoy the story. Billy Dunne was the most enjoyable to read. I thought he was an incredibly complex person who wanted more than anything to do the right thing. The love he had for his family and his wife was what we all wish we had and that someone felt that way about us. Daisy, however, was the opposite for me. She was a simple girl who fell into success and didn’t have to work hard for it. She evolved throughout the story with songwriting but she came off as selfish, weak, flat, and a bit pathetic towards the end. perhaps that was how she was meant to be portrayed because every character has their purpose.
The story and the band reminded me of Fleetwood Mac immediately as all things ’70s, band, and love triangles do and when I read the author’s notes I was not surprised by Reid’s explanation. An infamous band, making a hugely successful album based on the difficulties within the band makes for a stellar read.
The beginning of the book really held my attention. The middle kind of lagged a bit for me but once it hit the making of the album I was back on track. Reid’s knowledge of all things music and songwriting were totally on par. It added to the authenticity of the story and made it personal.
I enjoy all things music and I am a huge fan of classic rock. It was a good read.
This book was a bit of a let down for me. There wasn’t a redeemable character to be found.
While nobody gets murdered, and there’s no detective racing against the clock as they hunt for a killer, this novel about the highs and lows of a moderately successful rock-and-roll band that takes on a troubled up-and-coming girl singer – a decision that skyrockets them to superstardom – is a page-turner that kept me up nights (unlike the thrillers and crime novels that I read this year). In what is a thinly disguised tribute to the rise and fall of Fleetwood Mac, the 70’s rock scene is on full display in all its glorious excess.
The presentation of the story innovates in that it reads like the transcript of an in-depth documentary, one that intercuts conflicting reactions and recollections.
At its heart, it’s a romance between two damaged, addicted rock stars who both love and hate the fact that they owe their stratospheric success to their combined creativity.
What elevates this book above any will-they-or-won’t-they romance trope (of course, I was dying to know if they will or won’t) is that it poses the questions all artists ask – at least the ones who have wild success from the start – is: Can I ever create something at that level of excellence ever again, and is it even worth it to try? What if I fail?
Just ask Harper Lee and JD Salinger.
I’m giving it four and a half stars out of five because the reveal of the narrator’s identity was jarring. Did we even need to know? Like any good documentary, the one asking the questions should be more like the man (or woman) behind the curtain – pay no attention to them. Otherwise, this is a highly recommended read.
I definitely plan to pick up Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo next.
Another book that I couldn’t put down by Taylor Jenkins Reid! I truly love all of her writing! This story, in particular, was so realistic that I questioned at one point whether this was about a real band. Truly well written and a page turner!
Highly recommended this as an audiobook. The full cast really brings the story to life.
I very much enjoyed the way in which this book was written. I found it to be very entertaining and quite original. It was very easy to get caught up in the characters lives.
Taylor Jenkins Reid, O.M.G….Daisy Jones & The Six is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. That’s it! Get it. Read it.
I. ABSOLUTELY. LOVED. IT!!!!!
It took me a while to get around to listening to this one, and to keep the different voices of the narrators straight once I did, but as soon as I got into the story, I was hooked. It’s so convincing, so real, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was about a real band and real people.
The 1970s setting jumped off the “page,” the drama and feels were palpable, and while the music industry highs and lows were predictable, it was the complex, well-drawn characters that drew me in until the very last word.
The oral-history interview storytelling format is perfect on audio, and I’m so glad a friend of mine told me to listen to this one and not read it. The full-cast narration was phenomenal—the best I’ve listened to—especially the actors who voiced Billy and Daisy. I’ll be honest, it’s going to be hard to watch the TV show and not expect the same actors to be in those roles—Jennifer Beals *is* Daisy; Pablo Schreiber *is* Billy. That said, I cannot wait to see the miniseries and revisit this story again.
RATING: A+
(CW: drug use/abuse, alcoholism, abortion)