Ozzy's book provides few surprises, some insight

I just finished reading Ozzy Osbourne's book "I am Ozzy". In a nutshell it's an entertaining read. Especially from the perspective of a 60 year old British addict. To say Ozzy has lived a charmed life is an understatement. There really isn't any rational reason why a dyslexic and ADD diagnosed guy from a industrial town in England that ingested so much drugs and booze in 40 years could become so famous, rich,and still be alive. He should have been a victim of the early 80's list of casualties honestly.

Ozzy can't type nor write very well so he enlisted the aid of Chris Ayres to basically take dictation on everything Ozzy could remember or remembers being told. And that's how the book reads. It's like sitting across an old man that regales you with tales of "Back in my day" stories. The words are laid out like an overlong 12 year old's essay just with naughty words.

And the British slang is in full force. You might have to look at urban dictionary U.K. to get some of the references. Apparently pissed means drunk instead of being angry. Fag means cigarettes obviously. And fuck off is casually used to just mean leave.

It is a pretty in depth story from Ozzy's perspective but there are a few omissions of note. Jake E. Lee is barely referenced other then to say he was a new guitarist and then that he had left. Even Zakk Wylde is barely mentioned other then a couple of stories. Also the feud between Sharon Osbourne and Iron Maiden is not mentioned in here.

Ozzy stripped bare is pretty unremarkable. My impression is of a unintelligent,lovable, ordinary man put in extraordinary situations and ingesting tons of substances to cope with those situations. And survived.Getting mad at Ozzy for anything as I did in one of my earlier columns is useless because whatever situation it is it's usually out of his control. From the Black Sabbath days to now it's always been someone else handling the affairs because Ozzy has never had the capacity to handle anything on his own.

I'll leave this by saying that I recommend picking up the book. It's a must for any hard rock and metal fan. What ever preconceived notion you have had about Ozzy (or Sharon for that matter)may or not be changed by this book.It's definitely an entertaining read and I'll be extremely surprised if it's not made into a feature film down the road.