Doesn’t matter whether you like or even know about Ozzy Osbourne – you owe yourself to read this! It is the best, funniest book I have read since Three Men On A Boat and it definitely deserves all the praise!
Reading this book helped me to pull through a rough patch. Hopefully it doesn’t make me biased too much to review it.
Few years back, when I was fresh from plane here in the UK, I was living with my high school friend and some of his pals in shared house. I had no job, no money and loads of free time, while waiting for an answer from recruiting agencies or companies I have sent my CV to review. To keep myself sane from boredom and fear of “what will be tomorrow”, I resorted back to reading books.
As usual I was walking around the library, looking for something to strike my eye. On that special day, I somehow wondered into music section – which I usually avoid. Never thought anything interesting could be found there. And yet, the first thing I have seen was this big, bright hard covered book with my man – Ozzy Osbourne pointing at me! Immediately I knew I had to borrow it. I didn’t read any biographies before, as I thought of them to be dull and forgettable. Little did I know…
Life story of Ozzy Osbourne
I Am Ozzy summarizes whole life of Mr Osbourne since childhood up to early 2000’s. In his own words he recollects earliest memories of his childhood, tough time in school as a dyslexic kid, his short life of comedic crime, regular day-jobs and of course – his first shots at becoming a singer.
In this emotional roller-coaster you will live through all his ups and downs. Through his eyes you will experience everything he lived through – and believe me – it is a handful! Drug abuse, promiscuity, financial struggles, touring, marriage and family life vs his career… even behind the scenes details about reality show The Osbournes! (Fun fact – did you know it was the very first reality show ever made?)
The Joker and The Writer
As you dive into this unconventional life story of a man who – let’s face it – should have been dead for at least past 50 years, you will find that Ozzy has a talent to tell stories in very entertaining, tears of laughter inducing ways. He can make even the tiniest thing into the funniest anecdote you ever heard. Not that he needs to add much fluff to his stories, as his natural ability to cause outbursts of laughter just by being Ozzy Osbourne, are cause for ruptured stitches.
If you are asking what role Chris Ayres plays in all this – it is simple. He is there just to collect what Ozzy is saying and transfer it to written form, as Ozzy’s dyslexia would render his writings useless. Seemed to me that he was not interfering with the text whatsoever, except the prelude and the anecdotal ending of the book, which is fine. Still, we should not forget about Mr Ayres as he did an outstanding job keeping the book feeling real.
Plenty of times, I got immersed in the book and I realised I am reading it in Ozzy’s voice! It really felt like I was having beer with Ozzy, telling me his life story. For that, I think Mr Ayres deserves a lots of credit.
Ozzy’s story is a proof of “mind over matter”
Until the time of writing this review, I did not realise it (although it was plain as day). Maybe it is because back then I did not read a lot of self-development books. Despite this being a funny narration of Ozzy Osbourne’s life, if you are reading it carefully, you can see why he became successful in life. And it fits perfectly with all the books telling you how to become better and successful in life!
Pure will, determination and a clear vision! Since childhood he wanted to escape. Escape family’s poverty, escape being bullied in school, escape his soul-destroying regular day jobs and to pursue his career in singing. And he consistently was looking for ways of how to succeed, until he found them. While Ozzy makes it all sounds like a fairy-tale or just pure struck of luck – we know better.
Throughout the book you can read countless misfortunes and let downs that were following his early life, as well as other family and legal issues he faced later, but somehow he endured. When everything was failing, he did not look back. He kept going on, doing what he wanted to do and seeing no other way out other than success. Vision that was most of the time blurred by drugs and alcohol abuse, but he never really gave up. And when he did, something happened that changed the course of actions drastically. Again – you can call it luck or divine intervention, but I am crediting his overall stance on life, positivity and pursuit of happiness.
He doesn’t say anything close to what I wrote in the previous section, but you can read it in between the lines. Ozzy is another great example how determination and faith in yourself can manifest into success and good things in life. And if it wasn’t for the book about self-development I am reading right now (and will be reviewing soon), I would miss this fact by a long shot. The similarities of Ozzy’s life and rules of success through auto-suggestion are just too plain to see.
Verdict: Five out of five headless bats
No matter what, you owe yourself to read this book. It will have you laughing out loud, it will question your view on life and most of all – it will bring joy and good mood to your life. Doesn’t matter whether you care for Ozzy or not, this book is brilliant read and a proof that anybody can be successful if they put their mind to it. Actually this book is so good, I had to buy a copy for my mom as a Christmas present two years ago. If that doesn’t tell you it’s good…
EPHEMERIS INQUISITIO 