Geddy Lee’s ‘My Effin’ Life’ Is a Sarcastic, Emotional Roller Coaster Ride | Book Review

Let’s get this out of the way; I only bought Geddy Lee’s My Effin’ Life (2023) book because of Sea of Tranquility. In fact, more than half of my music purchases from the past 2-3 years were because of Sea of Tranquility. I’m not a Rush fan (yet), by any means, but I’m trying to read more books to keep away from screen time and Pete Pardo said the book was excellent, therefore, I bought it without hesitation. Lee’s book takes readers on a journey through his humble beginnings all the way to the present day, years after Rush called it quits.

Right away, I noticed that Lee has a sarcastic sense of humor, which is my cup of tea. If I had the time, I would quote a million lines from this book because he’s so damn funny. He’s a guy that’s not afraid to joke about himself, which takes guts. He also doesn’t hold back on the people who did him wrong.

Very early in Rush’s career, the band made the mistake of working with the ill-fated concert promoter, Bill Graham, who gave his bands top priority over everything. While touring the states with KISS in 1975, one of the in-house stagehands carelessly and purposely tossed one of Alex Lifeson’s amps to the side of the stage, damaging a speaker. Graham and his crew refused to pay for the damaged speaker. In November 1976, while on the road with Ted Nugent and Be-Bop Deluxe, Graham messed with their intro tape and purposely announced Rush as “Mahogany Rush.” A year later, while touring with UFO and Max Webster, Graham added a fourth band to the touring lineup, Hush. 

The band refused to work with him again. At the time, Graham had San Francisco under his control, but California’s smaller cities like Fresno and Sacramento were another story. Therefore, Ray Danniels, Rush’s manager, teamed up with promoters from the northwest instead. Graham’s ego suffered a blow and consequently, while the band was in San Francisco as part of their Moving Pictures tour in 1980, he tried to make peace with the band by gifting them Napa Valley wine with a label that read, “30,000 BAY AREA FANS CAN’T BE WRONG.” Even when his income was at stake, he had the nerve to twist the knife even further. 

And well, this is what Lee had to say: “I was raised never to speak ill of the dead. So: Cheers, Bill. And f*ck you very much.” In case you couldn’t tell, Graham is dead already, literally. Harsh? Yes. But, I like dark humor.

On a more lighthearted note, here’s a great section where Lee talks about the birth of his son, Jules:

“I watched as the doctors did their thing, and at two in the morning on July 22, 1980, Julian Michel Weinrib came into our lives. I was choked up just looking at him, but when I asked Nancy if she wanted to hold the baby, she said, ‘Hell, no. I’ve got the rest of my life for that. You hold him, I need a smoke!’”

Lee was open and honest about his struggles with Nancy. Not that I can relate, but being married to a musician is rough. He’d be away for months either touring or working in the studio, while Nancy would be home by herself. In fact, Lee was away for 20 months during their first two years of marriage. At that point, he and Nancy lived together as man and wife for less than two months. They had to see a marriage counselor twice (maybe more than that) to repair the damages. Unfortunately, Lee wasn’t the only one who suffered the consequences of being a musician, as Lifeson and Neil Peart had their share of family troubles, too. 

It worked out that I wasn’t a Rush fan and knew nothing about these guys because throughout the book, I saw them as human beings, instead of the greatest rockstars that walked the earth. It made me sympathize with Peart and understand why he retired so early. On August 11, 1997, Peart’s first child, Selena, who was only 19 years old, died in a car accident on Highway 401, near Brighton, Ontario. He and his wife, Jackie, were devastated. Then, 10 months later, Jackie died from cancer, but Peart believed that she died of a broken heart. Thankfully, he remarried and had another child, but no wonder why he strongly emphasized his need to spend more time with his family afterwards. 

Obviously being an autobiography, Lee talked about his childhood, but unlike most typical childhood stories, his background is fascinating because his parents met during the Holocaust. In fact, Lee’s maternal grandfather, Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, was murdered during the Holocaust. Lee goes into great detail about the working and living conditions his parents went through, the horror of watching their loved ones die, and how their relationship gave them hope and kept them alive. I try to avoid history and politics on this blog to avoid conflicts, but Adolf Hitler really was a jerk!

Back to the lighthearted stuff, though. I have to bring up Lifeson’s legendary “blah blah blah” speech for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2013 because it’s outrageous, unique, brilliant, and I can’t believe he got away with it! I thought the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame people were too “professional” and “boring” to let something like that take place. Apparently, Lifeson had a speech planned, but he didn’t want the induction ceremony to drag on forever by repeating what his bandmates said in their speeches. Therefore, he decided to do the “blah blah blah” thing and the crowd loved every minute of it! 

Not going to lie, Lifeson’s speech made me admire him even more because I previously thought he was just a quiet guy that tried to avoid confrontations. But, when he gave that speech, he told the whole world how he really felt about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and props to him for that! He has a lot more balls than I thought he did!

“You are yet to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Is there any chance your next album will be called, That’s Bullsh*t?” Stephen Colbert and Lifeson think alike, I guess.

The bottom line is, Geddy Lee’s My Effin’ Life had me laughing out loud, smiling from ear to ear, and crying on the inside (because I hardly cry unless it’s for something important, like when Gabriella leaves Troy in High School Musical 2). The entire book is an emotional roller coaster ride, even the sarcastic moments. Rush fan or not, it’s really just an entertaining memoir about a Jewish guy who’s experienced the ups and downs of being a musician. For obvious reasons, I’ll give Geddy Lee’s My Effin’ Life a rating of 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.

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Lana