Crazy from the Heat [Hardcover]

David Lee Roth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997

The tales from the larger-than-life spectacle that was the glory days of Van Halen are the stuff of rock and roll legend. In this unapologetic, Technicolor, high-fiber blast, David Lee Roth comes across with seemingly unlimited energy and graphic clarity. of photos.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... it is only in this aw-what-the-freak frame of mind that you should attempt Roth's autobiography, Crazy from the Heat. Don't come to this table expecting polite discourse, ... just sit back and suck down outlandish anecdotes from a semi-charmed life.... The 800-pound guerrilla style of the narrative (the F-word appears twice in the first paragraph) spares no detail from his straight-outta-Hollywood beginnings: He saw his first psychiatrist for being "superactive" when he was 6 years old; had read the Koran and Lenny Bruce's How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by the time he was 13; and had oral sex in 10th grade (while watching Buddy Hackett on The Tonight Show!). -- Entertainment Weekly

Product Details

• Hardcover: 359 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Books; 1st edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786863390
• ISBN-13: 978-0786863396
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Renaissance man. David Lee Roth., October 13, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Crazy from the Heat (Hardcover)

This book is a gem. He is a man (referring to David Lee Roth) that has traveled the world, knows many hobbies and has dated many beautiful women. This book might sound like fluff but it truly is not. He knows more than today's youth, as well as thousands of adults who wished they were this experienced. You find out (in the book) that he speaks Spanish, and takes you into his inner world he experienced as child, teen, and adult while playing in the legendary Rock Band "Van Halen." He doesn't trash anyone on here but you laugh and learn at the way he says things. As for his hobbies, these are some of them: Climbing Mount Everest, rock climbing, traveling to third world countries, has read many books, and has Kayaked Manhattan island which he did in 9 and half hours. This book is recommended to Hollywood stars as well as to us commoners who only dream of such a life. This guy is amazing. He also has his own site in case you decide to google. Yes, fine piece of work, includes hilarious pictures in color and in black and white. Sometimes you wonder how he would do if he went to College in these days (in 2005). Why do i say this? He is so knowledgeable; he absorbs everything, he is basically a walking sponge. The higher message to this book is always about learning everything in life, to travel, to read many books, as well as having tons of hobbies so you can make your life very rich......I recommend this book because this Rock star: David Lee Roth, gives you knowledge that is priceless.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best read while tanning on a beach somewhere., September 29, 2003

By 

High Duke (Zagreb, CROATIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crazy from the Heat (Hardcover)

What can I say? Within ten pages of reading this book I cursed myself for wasting my life. DLR has sailed the Amazon, climbed the Himalayas, slept with hordes of women, rode his bike on every continent, mastered several forms of martial arts and rocked tens of thousands of people at a time...he's lived more lives than most of us can dream. What is also great is that he reveals himself to be a highly intelligent individual with a positive zest for life that is ultimately more uplifting than ANY self-help book on the market. Whenever I'm down, I pull this book out and start to randomly read from any point and reconfirm my love of life. Even when the guy's facts are wrong, his amusing ramblings never once become boring. You can't fault a guy for having a personal philosophy and sticking to it. His self-confidence almost crosses into arrogance, but it's evident that the guy is willing to play the fool...and only because it's more fun! He was once asked in an interview why such an obviously intelligent guy has to sink to the lowest common denominator and he answered "Hey, I can go on and pontificate about Voltaire, but why bore anyone? They can go and do that on their own. I'm here to entertain. Life's a party that we've all been invited to and I'm your host." At least he doesn't suffer from delusions of grandeur. The best sections of the book, however, are when Roth talks about what drives him...his liberal Jewish upbringing, his early epiphany after having to wear braces on his legs in early childhood that he was an outsider, his need to explore and read everything he can get his hands on, the ups and downs with the boys in Van Halen. Supposedly this book was whittled down from a 1200 page manuscript...I would die to get my hands on that! An all-out, vigourously entertaining and uproaringly funny read! Keep this in your bathroom for your houseguests. They'll sit in there for an hour. Guaranteed.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspirational and epic story that all should read!, May 25, 2005

By 

00 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crazy from the Heat (Hardcover)

As a Van Halen fan, and also a big fan of David Lee Roth, I was excited that he came out with an autobiography. This is actually, honestly, one of the best I've ever read, and that is not so much because you learn about the persons life, but you learn about their mindset and philosophies. Many people have brushed Dave off as a "space case" or "just another burned out rock star". This is not what we have here. What we have here is an individual who loves life, and lives it to the fullest. A person who treats others as he would want to be treated, and a man who's yearning for adventure has never stopped through the years.

I enjoyed reading about the Van Halen reunion mishap during the MTV music awards in 1996. The way they used Dave and treated him was absolutely horrible and I'll never have any respect for the Van Halen brothers after reading, and even watching some on TV, what really went down that night at the awards ceremony.

This book makes you want to LOVE LIFE! Dave goes about his business with an old fashioned hard work ethic but always makes sure that there is plenty of fun filled in! His adventures as professional mountain climber in some of the grandest places on earth are truly a "trip" and make you have a new-found appreciation for him. His friendships and relationships are heavy throughout the book, as well as tragedies that have come into his life, and how he handled them.

It also has many of Dave's funny one liners in a section of the book..one of my favorite is "money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a big yacht so you can drift up next to it and offer it a drink". Hehe..no wonder Dave was never short of girlfriends!

Whenver your feeling like the world has got you down, or are yearning for a little adventure, or perhaps just wanting to know about the inside business of the music world (Dave talks about how useful the internet is now...where before he had to search far and wide for things like paintings used for album covers like 1984 and Fair Warning) or just yearning for an adventurous yarn about a martial arts expert who's also a rock climber and also a rock star...read this, and then you'll know why so many people are crazy about the life and times of David Lee Roth!