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26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
So many gaps, so little time left..., July 16, 2001
Firstly, unlike most of the other "reviewers" of this title, this will be a review of the book "Dream On" NOT my personal feelings about Cyrinda Foxe-Tyler and/or ex-husband Steven. Now that you are forewarned, read on:"Dream On: Livin On the Edge" has many problems & weaknesses. Almost every one of these is due to Ms. Foxe-Tyler's choice of co-authors. Danny Fields has been a close friend of hers for nearly 30 years, & is known to be one of the nicest guys in the music biz. Unfortunately, these traits work against the books' success. It is the job of the co-author to ask the hard questions, do background research, make the books' subject dig into areas of their life that they would rather forget. As Ms. Foxe-Tyler's confidante, it is obvious that Danny Fields not only failed to do these things, he also dropped the ball in other areas. There are many times in this book where the reader gets the feeling that certain people or events are so familiar to the authors' that they skip right over them, assuming our familiarity to be equal to theirs. When Cyrinda Foxe-Tyler makes an assertion or states an opinion as a fact, Mr. Fields never once questions her or seeks another opinion. While she is entitled to have her say, her word is not gospel on every single subject, & as co-author, Danny Fields is not doing his job by accepting it as such. Some examples of these problems include: while discussing her childhood, we learn Ms. Foxe-Tyler is the 3rd child of a woman who married 4 times, all to enlisted military men, had her 1st child at 16, moved often to various military bases around the world & is a religious fanatic who abused her. Yet later on we are told that Cyrinda felt she was an "aristocrat" as compared to the "proletariat" members of Aerosmith. I'm not sure how an upbringing as an army brat by a much-married abusive mother qualifies her as an "aristocrat" but Danny Fields never questions the statement. We are told that she feels Steven Tyler's lyrics are "sensitive and romantic and intuitive". It is certainly a stretch to describe lyrics such as "you can't catch me/cause the rabbit done died" as "sensitive and romantic"! I for one cannot recall a single "sensitive and romantic" song by Aerosmith during their heyday. Speaking of Aerosmith's heyday, this is probably the largest problem with "Dream On"; Cyrinda didn't become involved with the group until they were recording "Draw the Line" which is actually the start of their decline. Nowhere in the book do we learn anything about the dynamics of how Aerosmith formed & their early days. This gap is especially annoying because of her frequent descriptions of animosity between Joe Perry & Steven Tyler. If these 2 men hated each other so, how did the band first gel? When did the anger begin & what were the causes? How did the other 3 band members deal with it? The reader never finds out, so many anecdotes in the book seem missing a good part of their story. Also missing is Steven Tyler's early years. Ms. Foxe-Tyler often calls him a "sick man" who is "consumed by his dark places". She also has nothing good to say about his family. Yet the reader is left wondering how & when Tyler became so sick & disturbed; what forces in his family created the torture she describes? It isn't just in the Aerosmith department that Fields & Foxe-Tyler leave the reader hanging. Cyrinda lived with David Johansen of the New York Dolls for a longer period of time than she did with Tyler. She was also married to Johansen. Does the reader learn anything about this period of her life? Not in "Dream On"; read "Please Kill Me" by Legs McNeil if you want to hear her anecdotes of her Dolls' days. There is a photo in the book of Cyrinda with Keith Moon of the Who; is he mentioned in the text? Nope. Why the photo then, yet none of her with David Bowie with whom she lived for nearly a year? The most glaring omission of all concerns Foxe-Tyler's alleged drug addiction. She mentions that the 1st 4 years of daughter Mia's life she was addicted to heroin. Yet just a few pages previously we are told she never touched drugs even when those around her were offering. So when did the abuse start? What led to it? How bad did it get? What made her realise she was an addict? These & many many more questions are never raised much less answered. I purchased this book because it has been reported that Cyrinda Foxe-Tyler is dying from a brain tumor. Because of this, "Dream On" is a worthwhile book, as it may end up being her only defense after she is gone. It is unfortunate that due to using a friend as a co-author she has left so much unsaid.
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31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Trashy tell-all book with questionable content, November 30, 1998
By A Customer
"Dream On" is the perfect example of a trashy tell-all memoir written out of pure greed. Cyrinda Foxe-Tyler portrays herself as a victim, but she's not fooling anyone. She even says in the book that she wrote it for the money.This book's only purpose is to trash her ex-husband, Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith, who is admittedly no angel, but Cyrinda obviously downplays her own shortcomings and her own bad behavior. (For example, she cruelly left her first husband, David Johansen, for Steven. But the way she tells it, she had to do what she had to do because her marriage to David was a bad joke anyway.) Cyrinda's harrowing description of her abusive childhood only garners a little sympathy. "Dream On" is entertaining for some of its interesting revelations. Such as: Before she met Steven Tyler, Cyrinda had an affair with David Bowie, got pregnant by him --and had an abortion--and once had a threesome with Bowie and his wife at the time, Angie. Cyrinda was also secretly infatuated/in love with Joe Perry, Steven Tyler's bandmate in Aerosmith...She says in the book that she and Joe passionately kissed just minutes before she married Steven. The fact that she chooses to tell that particular story says more about her than it does about Joe Perry. A good example of Cyrinda's attitude in this book is that she complains that Steven was a lousy husband because after their daughter, Mia, was born, he wouldn't let her hire a nanny. Cyrinda says she's a "high maintenance" woman, but it's clear if you read between the lines that she was a lazy, greedy wife from hell. I'd recommend reading this book only if you're interested in seeing how low an ex-wife can go. It contains occasional sex stories about Steven (the opening chapter is the most detailed story), and not enough musical context. Don't expect any insight into Steven Tyler as a musical creator. Even if Steven Tyler was a lousy husband and deadbeat dad, this book is in poor taste because of the emotional damage it's probably done to Mia. After reading this book and Cyrinda's almost-never-ending, pathetic complaints about how Steven Tyler left her "poor" after the divorce, the only words that come to mind are: "Well then shut up and get a job, Cyrinda!"
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Steven Tyler fan who feels sorry for Cyrinda, April 8, 2002
I'm a huge Aerosmith fan who has to read anything and everything on Steven Tyler. So of course I had to read this book, despite the negative reviews. I thought the book was just "ok". What annoyed me most was the fact I know Cyrinda Foxe has lead an interesting life (before she even met Steven!), yet she chose to mostly ignore all that. I would've LOVED to hear MORE about her time with David Bowie and David Johansen (NY Dolls), Andy Warhol, Max's Kansas City, ect. If Cyrinda had to do it all over again, I'm sure she'd focus more on those things! I can handle reading less than positive stuff about Steven, everyone knows he was a major drug addict in those days. But Cyrinda should have gotten into discussing her own faults, not just Steven's. She says Steven didn't give her enough money, she couldn't even buy diapers for Mia. Yet Steven did give her support money, it just makes me wonder HOW Cy chose to spend it. She admits she was addicted to heroin for the first years of Mia's life. Maybe THAT'S why she couldn't buy diapers for Mia, despite Steven giving support? At least she and Steven have made ammends now since discovering she has a brain tumor. I recommend reading "Rebel Heart" by Bebe Buell, Steven's ex and the mother of Liv Tyler. She saw Steven at some of his worst moments and comes off as sad she couldn't be with him because of his addictions. Bebe never trashes him though.
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