See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody

Yes, I'm a Husker Du fan, and yes, Bob comes off like a jerk. Some people are not meant to write their autobiographies I guess because if there's brilliance and wisdom in Bob Mould, he didn't get it on paper. He has no perspective on himself, no insight, and his platitudes of warmth are contradicted by his actions. He proudly recounts how he runs into his ex-boyfriend in a coffee shop and actually turns his back on him--then says, half a page later, "I don't have any animosity toward Kevin. I wish him the best and hope that he is able to find his own inner peace." Sure, fine, whatever, you robot. Maybe your actions won't count if you follow them with greeting card sentiments.

Is it just me, or didn't we once think Bob Mould was smart? It's not in this book. His tone is flat and didactic and he piles on detail like he's transcribing from his day planner (and this is with a co-writer). To be fair, the early music stuff is fascinating--how he was writing songs, trying to get a certain sound, the feeling in the early days of underground music, how bands were creating a network, sleeping on people's floors--but when he gets to the more ordinary parts of his life, he treats them as though they're similarly exotic. Aren't his readers, you know, hipsters? Does anyone need gay culture explained to them anymore? A quote: "There's a very specific time-honored dynamic with some gay men, not necessarily the daddy/son dynamic but more of a bear/cub dynamic." Thanks for clearing that up for us, Bob.

I had this dream while reading this book: I was in my college radio station, looking at old Husker Du albums, and suddenly it occured to me: This is so middle-aged. This is the most middle-aged thing I've ever done. I am not cutting edge, I am not hip, I'm a MILF looking back, here to disappoint a whole new generation with my compromises. That's what this memoir did to me.

Still, I read the whole book. I was sort of fascinated by the portrait of an emotionally stilted person who can break loose and make great art...but he lost me, finally, when he was a jerk to Grant Hart at the end. That weird story about playing a few songs together, the puke on the wall of his dressing room, the pure 7th grade pettiness of Bob's inner dialogue, how he thinks Grant is going to say something psychotic into the mic on "my stage." This while Grant's being all friendly and offering to carry his stuff and Bob is cringing from him--it's just awful. Bob and Grant spent the best years of their lives together doing something exciting and singular, and now he treats him like a leper. I understand why Grant says he's still a prick...because he's still a prick.

I will always love most of Bob's musical output from '83 to '98, but I found that the more of this book I read, the less I liked Mould as a person. Parts were interesting (how certain songs came about, interactions with other bands from the punk era), but too much of the book is spent on Bob's exploration of his orientation and lifestyle. I have no problem with Bob being gay, its just not why I (and most of his fans) have followed him all these years. (Its your art, stupid.) "Workbook" gets two and a half pages while certain amorous encounters get three -- really? But the most troubling aspect of the book is that Bob comes across as a controlling, arrogant and mean-spirited person. His treatment of former bandmates is dismissive, petty and/or mean. As one reviewer commented, his description of the final Husker Du meeting (and ensuing mocking of Grant's mom) was incredibly callous. If Bob is truly as happy as he says he is now, there is no need to be such a small person. Sometimes our heroes don't measure up.

After creating many excellent songs and albums while a member of Husker Du, Sugar, and as a solo artist, Bob Mould comes through with another winner in his 2011 autobiography, "See a Little Light: The Trail or Rage and Melody", co-written with Michael Azerrad (author of the widely praised "Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991"). Bob recounts his own history, both personal and professional, in a mostly chronological, easy-to-read manner. On the personal (non-music) side, Bob explains his struggles with growing up as a gay person in a dysfunctional family in a small, rural town, his three primary, long-term romantic relationships, his quitting cold turkey both drinking and cigarettes about a decade apart, his body image issues, his 7 month foray as a creative consultant with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1999-2000, and his coming of age and full self-acceptance as gay man that gradually increased in the late 1990s and fully bloomed in the mid-2000s. On the musical side, Bob discusses his early interest in music from 45 RPM singles he received as a young child, moving to the Twin Cities for college and (fairly quickly) forming Husker Du with like-minded musicians Grant Hart and Greg Norton, the musical evolution Husker Du went through from their formation in 1979 to their dissolution in January 1988 (with the band's break-up, at least from Bob Mould's point of view, chronicled in a story I had not read or heard about before), the varying personal circumstances between the creation of the two albums released in his first part of his solo career, the mostly positive highs, especially early on, of his time playing in Sugar with David Barbe and Malcolm Travis, and the various aspects of the second part of his solo career, ranging from his go-it-alone approach to his late 1990s albums (the eponymous Hubcap album and "The Last Dog and Pony Show") to his boredom with alternative rock and interest in electronica to ultimately finding a balance between loud guitar rock, singer-songwriter material, and electronic music in his mid-to-late 2000s albums, starting with 2005's "Body of Song". At least to this reader, Bob was able to find a good balance between talking about Bob Mould the musician and Bob Mould the human being, and perhaps the most striking thing about the book is how much Bob has grown as a person and gained self-acceptance, happiness, and comfort with who he is during his life, especially since about 2004. "See a Little Light" is an engrossing read, and I was able to read the entire book within a 24 hour period between the time it came in the mail until the time I finished it.

One final thought: in this reviewer's opinion, this book is a better and much easier to read book than Andrew Earles' Husker Du biography that was published in late 2010. Not only does this book cover a broader scope in the musical (not to mention personal) life of one Husker Du's members, rather than (mostly) covering just the 1979-1987 Husker Du period, and not only is it written from a first-person point of view rather than a third-person point of view, but it is also edited much better, avoiding the frequent repeating of stories and information that plagued Mr. Earles' book.

If you have any interest in Bob Mould as a musician, or even in Bob Mould as a "non-stereotypical" gay man (with this reviewer speaking as a heterosexual male), this book is well worth picking up.

This is a solid book. Well written, interesting and informative. But it is spoiled by the following: As a huge fan of Husker Du I was happy to see this book coming out, since there is so little information out there about this legendary band. But, I must say that I was very dissapointed with the treatment that Bob gives to his former Husker bandmates. It's written from the perspective that only he was Husker Du, and the other two members were mere annoyances. That's a major distortion of history. Husker Du was an amazing band because of all three members, each crucial in their own ways, with two of the members (Mould and Hart) being equals in songwriting and as vocalists. Bassist Greg Norton comes across in this book as a non-person. For someone who laid down some great bass lines and held all of the beautiful noise together in this three piece band, I found it a little disturbing that Mould says absolutely nothing positive about his contributions throughout the book. Instead he chooses to ridicule him on numerous occasions. Very petty! And when he grudgingly gives Hart a tiny bit of credit throughout the book, he immediately follows it up with something extremely negative or critical, or of the nature of "I did better than him."
I have never met any of the three members of Husker Du and know nothing about them personally. However, after reading this book I find myself liking Bob Mould a lot less as a person. I mean, come on-is there nothing positive that he can say about Grant Hart and Greg Norton, who together with him made three of the most amazing albums ever put out in less than a 2 year span (Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig)? Those three albums are all "10's". It took all three of them to make these albums so good. How about a little appreciation of the band, and not just of his own contributions to it? Husker Du would have been a shell of a band without Grant Hart, just as it would have been without Bob Mould.
It will be interesting to see if Grant's perspective is covered in the upcoming film, "Every Everything".

Bob Mould. I respect the man - saw him recently for the first time since a Hüsker Dü show back in '87 and he practically blew the roof off, playing material from Silver Age all the way back to In a Free Land. He's definitely still got chops. As musician, songwriter and performer, he's one of the best - as a human being, this bio seems to confirm my prior impressions of basically a decent, but self-centered, emotionally-stunted, avoidant, small, petty, occasionally cruel and somewhat shallow individual who seems generally to lack interest in the world outside of music, sex, business and himself.

After reading his description of the circumstances surrounding the breakup of the Hüskers and his ending contact with Grant Hart, I can understand why it happened and why they will likely never reunite. On the other hand, Mould seems to be unnecessarily malicious and dismissive of Greg Norton, an integral and energetic part of the band as well as a solid player and probably the only one of the three Hüskers you might actually want to hang out with.

The book is good reading regarding Mould's early life - the scenes, influences, band line-up formations, creative/writing processes, his composition techniques, etc. And while the stories behind particular songs, on-the-road tales of tours, group dynamics and personalities are engaging stuff, the further one gets into the book the more it becomes primarily about Bob's sexuality, his "crushes", hook-ups, turbulent interpersonal relationships, coming-out, and general "gayness". Whatever. Compensatory narcissism, indeed. He is prone to over-eroticization of the dynamics of interaction amongst males whether speaking of bandmates, associates, acquaintances, strangers and/or friends. It becomes tedious after a while, and the last 20% or so of the book is actually rather dreary - as another reviewer has noted, it loses its focus - this is around the same point that it begins to read like the diary entries of a sexually-obsessed sixteen-year-old. And an entire chapter on his short time in the moronic world of "professional wrestling" with nary a critical word about the incredible inanity of the whole idiotic spectacle? Please.

Mould is a giant in music, and much of his work is majestic in an aesthetic sense that is probably yet to be fully appreciated. Some of his greatness surely comes from the anguish and turmoil that have characterized his life and that he has communicated in this book - he's "gone through some stuff" and obviously carries emotional burdens that readers and fans can empathize with and recognize as a source of creativity, as well as flaws. As for the man himself, I'll just take the music please, and consider that I now know more about him than I ever wanted to.

i really expected more of this to be about music. it seems to be about a guy is basically emotionally immature. the passages about his hangups about being gay are all this book is basically about: his struggles to come to grips. this is despite everyone knowing (and not caring at all) forever.
too bad he cant come to grips with the shockingly ungrateful comments about both early bandmates, whose sweat work made his later life possible.
lets be real here, no-one woulda ever given a damn about sugar or bob solo without the du. this arrogance he has carried is not borne out by the quality of the husker du compositions. in fact, most writers feel grants stuff is slightly better-certainly they work better in more musical contexts.
the book highlights bob's inability to confront people with his feelings and a totally self created ability to stock away rage in its place. wow. sounds like my 5 year old.
from the discos to whatever next adventure he's into. its hard to believe someone coulda rocked that hard and written the songs he has. i dont really care about the love-life, his personal crises. it seems never-ending insecurity. what a buncha drama. never knew he was such an emotional waif. his thought process is on display and i really find it to be disappointing. when a person over the age of 40 is consumed with whether someone likes him because they "think he's hot"..really?? i wanted to know about the origin of the tunes, thoughts..there are some but few insights compared to the focus on relationships....its a little out there and a bit stunted. im happy for him if he is happy but unfortunately, this book portrays someone volatile and unsettled. i saw the tmi review. i dont agree there at all. its nice he can be truthful with events, etc. its the perspective that disturbs me. not made for the long haul for sure.

the other book this author did is really a classic.

theres really no justification offered for the horrific treatment of norton and hart. his characterization of the last meeting at grants house (and picking out grants mom as a reason) shows how far from a human being he was at that point. this is about wheres hes come since then. in many ways, not very far at all.

i like the guy a lot less by reading this, although Rehoboth is a cool place to hang no matter what youire getting into. im a regular.

I hate to write this...I was really hoping for more insight into the music. Before all else, I must state that I downloaded the audiobook version on ITunes simply because Mould narrated and I thought his vocal inflections might make his story even more personal and interesting. It did not, I'm most sorry to say. Though articulate and well-paced, Mould seemed as if he really did not want to read it; like it was a job he signed-up for a while ago when the idea sounded good...and now, doesn't quite have his heart in it but will go through it anyway out of obligation. And so he sighs and sighs and sounds bored.
Knowing that the following might get me into trouble, I really must insist that I have an open mind (I've had the same gay roommate for over 15 years now ie.)and mean no offense with this statement...There was a point at which I could no longer listen to details of his love-life because it became the focus and I didn't want to hear about it anymore. This being said, it had nothing to do with being gay...if the stories were straight they would be equally tiresome. So be forewarned...if you want to read about the music and the history and Mould is one of your favorite icons of the past and now...take heed. If the book the book had the subtitle, "A Gay Man's Voyage From Coming of Age in A Provincial NY Town, Discovering Music, Starting One of the Best Bands Ever, Detailing Every Possible Sexual Thought and Act, Falling in Love with Professional Wrestling and Getting Thrown Out of Exclusively Male, Clothing Optional Resorts" I might have avoided it and smiled as I chose something different. Still the same guy to me. But if that's your thing, enjoy.

If you really like Husker Du, Sugar, the solo work and want to maintain respect for him, don't read this book. The early years are interesting, but he tells more than he shows, and how often do you want to be told how great Bob Mould is? Plus, the sexual exploration was TMI for me. I wish him the best, but this was a waste of time for me.

Oddly, I sort of agree with most of what y'all are writing in these reviews (be it a 5* or 2* review). I don't really know how to score the book, but I do know I didn't put it down until I was done. I do recommend it for any major Husker Du/Sugar/Bob Mould fan.

Chances are Husker Du/Sugar/Bob Mould has been a big part of your musical life off and on over the years. For me, it started as a 22 year old, when I discovered Zen Arcade in 1985 and then quickly was blown away by New Day Rising a few months later. Over the years I grew to love and understand those albums (and many of the other HD/Sugar/Mould albums) even more. I'll still discover some track on Flip Your Wig or Warehouse and be like, "damn, I didn't realize that "Lip In the Air" is so awesome! And that's what makes Husker Du/Bob's career so interesting; the musical depth, and the way the music continually unfolds and reveals itself to you.

I loved the recent book, "Husker Du: The Story of the Noise Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock", so I was thrilled to have a chance to read more about Bob's life.

Now,what I'm about to write isn't so much criticism, but to help shape a fan's expectations before they embark on what largely is a great read for a big Bob Mould fan.

Ok, lets start with how I wasn't particularly looking forward to reading about the gay culture and WWF, not because I'm homophobic but because that's when the music seemed to go downhill, thus would the whole story become less interesting? The story did get a little less interesting, but its still part of the story. Moreover, his last couple albums are his best albums in years, so the path to his recent deliverance is very interesting. Also, I now know more about gay culture than I ever did! I'd definately be a Bear if I was gay!

There are many unsatisfying moments. Why so easily break up Sugar? I wanted to understand better why Sugar just didn't go on hiatus? He seems to still like those guys, why not put a Sugar album every few years and do the solo and DJ stuff. But - this is really important - what we want as fans isn't the real story.

Then of course, there's the Husker Du stuff. As Husker Du fans the true story is unsatisfying. But its not like he can rewrite it. Still, you're left thinking why break up a band he'd worked so hard to build? Why not take more responsibility for his role in the break up? Then there's the short shrift he gives to Grant and Greg. I wanted to hear about the thrill of being in Husker Du, and how amazing he thought it was to have another songwriter in the band who was clearly his equal. I mean what are the chances? Although Bob spends time talking about some of the songs and albums, it doesn't feel like enough. Nor enough discussion about why the music resonated with the fans, and no discussion about how the creative and competitive dynamic between him and Grant fueled the greatness of Husker Du.

You never get a paragraph like "It became to clear to me around the time of "Metal Circus", that Grant Hart was my equal as a songwriter, and if I was going to keep up and stay a step ahead, I was going to have reach deep down and push myself as an artist. I like to believe I did the same for Grant. Grant had that special gift for melody that was truly special. Still, at the end of the day, it was the blend of his songs with mine, his voice and my voice, and the over all synergy we'd created that made Husker Du special! 1+1 sometimes does = 3!"

BUT, here's the thing. Its Bob's life and its his book. Its his life and his perception of his life that I wanted to read about, and am glad I did. It may not completely sync up with what I hoped to read, but it definitely enlightened me to his view of himself and his music. Including "my perception" that he still is in some sort of self denial with regard to the importance of Grant Hart in his life.

We may want him and Grant to get along and respect each other, but the reality is, they don't!
Oddly, when Bob writes about his reasons for this, I was surprisingly - considering its his book and we're only hearing his side -- left feeling like "is that all Bob?" Near the end of the book he writes how he's unnecessarily destroyed and broken too many friendships. He's become more wise, and frankly seems like a pretty decent chap! But he doesn't mention Grant in all this.

The story would have ended much better with his realization that Grant Hart will be forever connected to his musical legacy and life. To have come to terms with that, to let bygones be bygones, and a good old "bear hug" for Grant and Greg, would have been a much more satisfying ending. And not just for the fans, but I think for Bob too.

While reading the book I listened to all the albums and truly enjoyed my weekend with Bob. After reading the book, you'll definitely feel a little different about him, know him a LOT better than you ever did before, maybe not like him as much as you'd hoped you would, but possibly appreciate the music even more. And at the end of the day, that's what's most important.

If you're reading this Bob! Thanks for all the great songs!

As a massive Husker Du fan, and secondly as a fan of his solo work, I was excited as soon as I heard Bob Mould was releasing a book. Thankfully it doesn't disappoint.
It is very detailed in detailing how Husker Du were formed, how they toured, how albums were written and consistenly provides context to give both a broad and nuanced view of the journey at the same time.
It is no surprise that it is very personal, very honest and very open just like pretty much all of Bob's work. His journey through homosexuality is actually quite captivating even if my interest in this book is purely musical. The daily trials and tribulations which the heterosexual community doesn't see is very startling.

The only negative for me personally is the one sided views (yes, I realise it's from the perspective of one man) of both Grant Hart & Greg Norton - Bob Mould is not Husker Du; the sum is greater than it's parts no matter how much I or anyone view Bob. Apart from a few specific examples, little appreciation is given for Grant's contributions. Little or no credit is given to Greg Norton, which I find absolutely startling as a bass guitarist myself. No, he wasn't writing many songs, but his attention to melody and bringing balance and direction to the sonic fireworks around him cannot be overstated.
The chapter on his time with the WWE or WWF (whatever it is) was dead boring to this Australian who prefers real sport.

But apart from those small negatives it is one hell of a book. And one which would have taken guts, confidence and courage to write.
I would reccommend to any fan of Bob's work, no matter which part of his journey they prefer.