(Author House)

www.supeline.com

Reading a book takes an investment of time. It happens over days or weeks. One book can have an effect on the one that follows. I read Heaven and Hell by guitarist Don Felder, formerly of The Eagles. Fired by that band of hotheads, his as-told-to is nothing more than a pissed-off rich guy whining in public. It also sports a range of errors which could have been easy to fix with a couple minutes online. Hey, Don: Billy Mundi was not in Little Feat, and the first album by Crosby, Stills & Nash was not titled Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.

In welcome contrast comes Mike "Supe" Granda's book, the antidote to Felder. Not a tome the world was anticipating, Granda's unassuming prose has no literary pretense, and his conversational style makes for a warm and inviting read. Granda was the bassist/vocalist for the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, who enjoyed a mid-‘70s heyday as Eagles-like country/pop rockers.

At nearly five hundred pages long, the author was inspired to undertake the project after his mother died, and in honor of the lessons she taught him: life is short, fragile, and the time to get something done is right now. One needn't be conversant in Daredevil minutia to find parallels to his story of music and friendships. DAVID GREENBERGER