Mike Rutherford’s The Living Years: The First Genesis Memoir provides a well-crafted, perceptive, and entertaining look at his life and career. His writing is clear, concise; he comes across as self-effacing and relentlessly good-natured. Rutherford’s account of Genesis’s early years and the succession of personnel changes give good insight into the personalities of his band mates, his relationship with each, and the internal dynamics of the band. He poignantly bookends the story with the sudden death of his father, a celebrated naval officer, with whom he had a sometimes contentious relationship. Throughout the book, Rutherford effectively illuminates his father’s career and personality with excerpts from his dad’s own unpublished memoir. Rutherford recounts that the two were never very close, deeply regretting that he had not endeavored to bridge the gap during dad’s living years. ( )

This is one book that has so much more meaning to it than just the autobiography of a famous musician or of covering the history of a famous band. Yes it does do that but it also reaches down into the depths of the human heart to play the chords there while reminding so many of us that priorities usually change throughout our years but there are priorities that should never change.

First of all I do want to just throw out what I didn't like since it is so little. Due to I got an ARC mine apparently wasn't even close to the final format so even though there is a page stating there are two sections while having pictures included this one didn't. Honestly I think that would have provided a even more in-depth to the story of the band while giving it a firm foundation as the background to the emotional story.

The book itself isn't a clear A-to-B history of Genesis as they have been around too long so it would have been too hard to come up with an actual history that just fits in 236 pages. What it does do, though, is offer insights into the band from their earliest years as they struggle to stick together, to make music that touches the world and how they changed to fit domestic life or tragedies. It also skims over how times have changed in this confusing world although it is funny to see how the "times" were given more detail in the beginning of the years while towards the '80s then later there was just a mention of the date or a basic what happened with very light touch on the details of that decade.

But what makes this book special is there will be so many that can relate to it on an emotional level. My own father passed away in 2013 while he was of the old school generation that never talked emotions while having too much expectations of his firstborn although unlike Mike's father he was never truly supportive. There came a timeframe where we clashed more than anything else while after August 2005 I never saw him again. Meanwhile our conversations on the phone were so wilted that it was better not to ever have them. And yet there are times - days when I wish things had been different.

Mike takes the opportunities to show how supportive his father was of him and how he lived in his shadow. It was that dark and rigid shadow of his father that made him think they were nothing alike but when he found the words of his father he found they had so much more in common while it was the shadow of Genesis that was also rigidly unchanging in keeping him away from his own loved ones, blinded against their own needs.

And in the shadow of age and wisdom it proves that we copy those that we find most influential whether it be for good or bad. And that their ghosts just linger outside while the best times and the best memories are sometimes never made thus we end up regretting the loss of not just the person but why things couldn't have been different in all of our lives.

Now I need to find a happy and upbeat book to drive away Harry Chapin's song "Cat's In the Cradle", which is stuck in my head:

I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me - Harry Chapin "Cat's In the Cradle" ( )