"My Effin' Life" by Geddy Lee

I was never an especially huge fan of the band Rush. I never saw them in concert, never owned one of their albums. My musical tastes ran/run more to straight-up rock & roll and the New Wave sounds of my youth than prog-rock.  

But I didn't DISlike them either. Growing up Canadian in the 1970s and 80s, it was impossible to ignore them. Their music was all over the airwaves, and lead singer Geddy Lee's distinctive nasal, high-pitched yelp of a voice was immediately identifiable. ("How did the band decide that HE should be the lead singer?? Did he have the best voice??"  dh has often laughed.)  

So many of their songs are instantly recognizable to me (even if I don't always know the exact title!). I remember one of their early hits, "In the Mood,"  being played at my junior high sock hops, and I did like that song, as well as "Closer to the Heart."  "Tom Sawyer" is, of course, a drumming tour de force by the late, great Neil Peart (who tragically lost both his young adult daughter in a car accident in 1997, and then his wife/her mother to cancer, less than a year later, right around the same time I was dealing with the loss of my own daughter).

One of my very favourite Rush songs is "Lakeside Park," which Peart wrote about a lakeside park in his hometown of St. Catharines. I especially love the song's wistful second half (which kicks in around the 2:25 mark) -- the lyrics always remind me of trips to the beach (in my case, Delta Beach, Lake Manitoba) with my high school friends:  

Everyone would gather on the 24th of May*

Sitting in the sand to watch the fireworks display

Dancing fires on the beach, singing songs together

Though it's just a memory, some memories last forever

*"24th of May" = the traditional date for our Victoria Day holiday, which apparently is only celebrated in Canada. These days, it's celebrated on the third Monday of May, to give us all a long weekend.  

As I said, I never owned a Rush album -- but I DID have the album containing Geddy Lee's highest-charting song ever (with or without Rush) -- "Take Off" from the iconic 1981 Canadian comedy album "Great White North" by Bob & Doug McKenzie (aka  Rick Moranis -- Lee's elementary school classmate! -- and Dave Thomas, from SCTV. ("Ten bucks is ten bucks," lol.)(You had to be there...!)

(Lee also went to junior high school with future NHL hockey player Steve Shutt who, he says, "saved my kosher bacon" from bullies  -- and introduced him to a guy named Aleksandar Živojinović -- better known these days as Alex Lifeson. Another friend from high school:  Oscar Peterson Jr., son of the famous pianist, who served as best man at Lee's wedding.)

So -- long story short -- I've developed a certain affection for these guys over the years -- and when I heard that Lee was writing a memoir, I was interested in reading it. Titled "My Effin' Life" (lol), it was written with the help of Daniel Richler (journalist and stepson of famous Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler) and released last fall. 

Lee, now a 70-year-old grandfather (!), was born Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, named for HIS grandfather, who died in the Holocaust. His Anglicized name was Gary, but his mother's Yiddish accent made it sound like "Geddy" -- a friend overheard her, and the nickname stuck.  

Both of Lee's parents were Polish Jews and Holocaust survivors, who met in Auschwitz (!), reunited after the war, married (in what had been the officers' mess hall at Bergen-Belsen) and came to Canada in 1948.  There's a long chapter detailing their harrowing wartime experiences, as well as the trip that Lee, his mother Mary (Manya) and his siblings took, years later, to Auschwitz and other places in Poland connected to their family. He calls himself a proud cultural Jew, although an atheist in terms of religious beliefs.  

The sudden death of his father Morris (Moishe) in 1965, when Lee was just 12, was a turning point in his life. His mother went to work to keep the family business afloat (a variety store in Newmarket, north of Toronto), leaving Lee at loose ends as he entered his teen years. Music became his refuge. He grew his hair long, dropped out of high school, started Rush with a couple of school friends, including Alex Lifeson, and hooked up with a non-Jewish girlfriend, Nancy Young (whose brother Lindy was in an early incarnation of the band, and who later became a fashion designer and Yorkville boutique owner).  They've been married since 1976 (albeit the relationship has not been without its ups and downs, which Lee details in the book).   

I expected to like this book. I wound up absolutely loving it.  I'm not sure how much of the writing is actually Lee and how much Richler, but oh, the stories!!  And they're accompanied by a generous selection of priceless photos (both candid and professional) and images. Lee has a wonderfully wry voice and self-deprecating (very Canadian!) sense of humour, and I literally found myself laughing out loud -- frequently. I read much of the book with a smile on my face. 

Which is not to say it was all laughs. The Holocaust chapter, the multiple tragedies that befell Neil Peart, the deaths of one dear friend/family member after another, especially in later years -- and, finally, the end of the band itself -- were difficult to read about. There's a sense of grief and loss that pervades those last few chapters -- but also the reflection, perspective and gratitude that comes with time.

I have a couple of small quibbles/caveats. First, the footnotes in my Kobo e-copy were marked by asterisks -- you clicked on the asterisk (touched it on the e-reader screen) and the footnote would pop up. But you had to hit the asterisk with your finger EXACTLY right. (And there were a LOT of asterisks -- 137!! -- and they were all worth reading, once you could get them to open up...!) 

Second, Rush apparently has developed a personal language of expressions, terminology and nicknames, used by Lee throughout the book. For example, Lee, Lifeson and Peart call each other Dirk, Lerxst and Pratt (??!). There are other nicknames for others in their circle, and it was hard to remember sometimes who was who (and what their real names were!).

And while I loved all the photos that were included, I wish the images had been larger.

Also -- I'm not sure what American readers will make of all the Canadian/Toronto references (musicians and band names such as Murray McLauchlan, Downchild Blues Band and Max Webster, as well as geographic and cultural references -- e.g., CanCon rules, or Rochdale College, anyone??). Personally (even though I never set foot in Toronto until 1983), I lapped them up.  As a Canadian, it's (still!) not often we get to see ourselves reflected in a popular culture that's so heavily dominated by the U.S.! 

But as I said, small quibbles.  Overall, this is an effin' great read.  :)  

4.5 stars, enthusiastically rounded up to 5. (Current average rating of 4.64 stars on Goodreads, based on 560 reviews to date.)  

This was Book #7 read to date in 2024 (and Book #1 finished in March), bringing me to 16% of my 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 1 book behind schedule to meet my goal. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2024 tagged as "2024 books."