Customer Reviews

The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being a long time Cro-Mags Fan and lucky enough to see them in the old days I had to read this book!
John Joseph's life took me on a crazy emotional ride! At first I felt horrible for him for all the terror he went through as a abandoned child living in foster homes with his brothers. People like the Valentis should be locked up for life, for the crimes they commited.
After that part of his life and when he is getting into his teens, I started feeling horrible for everybody else who had to deal with John, because as a result of his troubled childhood, he became a pest for anyone who had to deal with him and he constantly blows all chances that were given to him. Instead violence, drugs and scamming people became his way of life. Or better his way of survival in the hellish place New York must have been in the 70's and early 80's. You get a pretty good picture of the place. But actually living through all these crazy things, surpasses my worst nightmare.

Amazon is right letting us know that this book is unapologetic and raw and that we should consider ourselves warned. Johns writing style is straight out and full of slang and the fact that he almost never makes a statement that certain things were just a step too far is disturbing to me too, as another reviewer mentioned. Where he (other reviewer) takes the example of John and his brother, scamming their Indian landlord out of months worth of rent, there are plenty more earlier in the book. There is the story where he watches one of his lowlife hangouts smashes a broken bottle through this girls face without any reaction from him.
On another occasion he knock's out his younger brother to get in his mothers house. Frank their younger brother was trying to live with their mom at the time and had strict instructions to not let John and his older brother into the house, because they knew how out of control they were, but they tricked him to open the door anyway. By telling him that they had to use the toilet and this: "Frank we love you, we would never do anything to get you in trouble. We promise.", after Frank opens the door John knocks him out and they eat and steal everything in sight. As a result Frank is sent to another Foster home. At the end of this story he writes "which made E (his older brother) and me laugh"). That's it, without any comment he just moves on to the next story. Now of course you have to see, they were homeless, dirty, hungry, angry teenagers who felt all the terror and abuse they endured in their life, was their moms fault for giving them away. But I couldn't help but think, come on man, it's your brother!
Now this book is full of gnarly, gnarly stories, but a few stood out to me as especially cold hearted. And throughout the whole book you get the feeling that he is very proud of his fighting and scamming skills. I can understand that he is proud to have survived all those years living on the streets, but as you get older, shouldn't you realize that a lot of the stuff was very stupid, not cool or very wrong. Almost nothing of such realization in this book. He does throw in positive comments how thing could be made better for the unfortunate.
He ripped off so many people in his life, that it almost came as a surprise to me that on the other hand he complains quite a bit about the fact that he never received a single penny for all he did with the Cro-Mags and got completely ripped off by their manager and later even by his own bandmates. I do feel bad for him, but talk about karma.

Most of the book has a high tempo and is an exciting read, I only got bored after pages of pages of describing all the scamming techniques during his time as krsna devotee. It just became too repetitive. I agree with most other reviewers that the Cro-Mags part of the book is not even the most interesting in the whole book, but in my opinion the Cro-Mags part of the book is also way too short. After all it's the reason why he became a person of interest around the world. I would have liked more. I understand that he didn't want to fuel the whole ridicoulous beef between his old bandmates, but more insight in the band and the New York Hardcore scene in those days would have been great.

But don't get me wrong, I do think it is amazing that John Joseph overcame all these hardships and drug addictions, reveals his life in this book and finds closure with his mom and other issues and that he became such a positive member of society and does so many good things these days and still kicks ass with his Cro-Mags Jam at his age.

I picked up this book because I've been a Cro-Mags fan for a while and always found them somewhat fascinating, the exteremely influential New York hardcore band associated just as much with violence and agression as with Hare Krishna philosophies. Admittedly, when I got the book and saw how big it was, I found myself a little intimidated; John Joseph could definitely sing and write lyrics, but I had no idea if he could write an interesting four-hundred-plus page book.

What I found was that John could definitely write, and pretty damn well. The book starts out with a fast pace, which continues straight through to the end, and really just gets better and better as the story unravels. John writes about his childhood, homeless living on the streets, his time in the Navy, time with the Hare Krishnas, and naturally, the Cro-Mags. I would agree with the review above that the Cro-Mags section of the story isn't even the most interesting of the many stories in this book.

Between anecdotes, John talks about his spirituality and beliefs regarding religion, the after-life, and life philosophies. These sections blend very easily with the episodic moments in the book and with the longer stories. His outlook and message are very positive, and I would recommend this book to just about anybody, not just hardcore or Cro-Mags fans.

I just finished this up today and was wiped out. I approached this as a " interesting read " being a Cro-Mags fan and also a Vaisnava. What I walked away with was so much more, This book is raw and rough to read at times. It is an inspiring look at an amazing soul and I am thankful it was written.

John is a great story teller and really takes you along for a great ride. Every chapter is interesting and this book is very hard to put down. He tells it like it is and pulls no punches. I recommend this book to anyone that likes to read.

This is an amazing book because its heartbreaking, bizarre, brutal and hilarious stories are told with a remarkable openess and wit. John Joseph lets you into his life and it's a dizzying ride that knocks you back with a body punch. What a book!

This book was like a reality check. What ever your story, you can get what ever you want in life. John opens up to abuse as a child to manhood and a few "woops" on the way. He always finds a way to rise to the top of his game in life. Cro-Mag fan's will love the inside dirt and new ones to the "Cro's" or to John Joseph will find a wonderful story of the trials and tribulations that made J.J. who he is today.

You will never be same after getting to know John Joseph's life story. It blows my mind that someone who saw so much poverty, violence and suffering ended up being such a productive and compassionate member of society. Joseph describes the old New York City of the 70s and 80s so vividly and hilariously, I felt like I'd seen it myself. This guy is more than just a talented musician, his writing is killer.

Living in Alphabet City in the early 1980s, I remember the energy and brutality of a Cro-Mags' concert. I continue to go to shows as I grow older, but every band I see pales in comparison. However, reading this book brought back all the emotion and excitement of a 1980s hardcore show. To say I was hanging on Joseph's every word doesn't do the book justice - I was glued to every page.

Yeah, the man is a musician, but don't let that fool you. John Joseph is an incredible storyteller with the unique ability to take you along for the ride. For those of you who grew up in NYC in the 1980s, Joseph's incredibly detailed stories will bring you back twenty years. And for anyone else, this book is like a summer abroad in Manhattan before it became Disney World.

Still, the most amazing part of the book is John's life. For a person with such a tough image, it's admirable that he gives you such exclusive access to a life full of highs, lows, and everything in between. Yeah, this book isn't likely to get into Oprah's Book Club, but it's the kind of story that everyone can relate to in one way or another. An absolute must-read.

I've seen the Cro-Mags twice in concert and they were truly amazing. I can appreciate John's passion and enthusiasm for NYC. I myself was born in Hell's Kitchen during the time John was rolling around the LES and Queens and can attest to the fact that NYC was indeed a WARZONE. I don't want to spoil the book for you so I won't tell you the disturbing tradegy that befell a couple of Cro-Mag fans. I do feel John is largely responsible for what happened to them. I don't think he really cares as he glosses over the incident to get to what he truly finds important, himself. I lost ALL respect for my NYC brother as well as the rest of the CM's.

this is a really great book and is very addicting once you start reading it you wont stop John Joseph is a really good writer and im looking forward to buy more books from him.