Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums

Travis Barker's tattooed arms and frenetic drumming style are familiar to millions of kids who came of age at the turn of the millennium watching MTV. Blink-182, with their defiant pop-punk anthems and music videos featuring the band running naked down the street, never seemed to take themselves too seriously; but for a misfit from California, success brought a whole new world. Life as a rock star changed everything for Travis Barker, a kid who loved his life as a trash man in Laguna Beach, but followed his drumming talent and never looked back. Throughout the making of several successful albums with Blink-182, Barker made a name for himself as a virtuoso, superstar punk drummer by bringing his talents to various collaborations and side projects. Even as Barker broke out as a highly respected musician, the dark side of fame took its toll: his marriage, chronicled for an MTV reality show, fell apart, and throughout constant touring he concealed a drug addiction. But the true reckoning came when he was in a near fatal plane crash, necessitating a long, painful recovery, with his best friend and favorite collaborator DJ AM - who died tragically soon after. Years after Blink-182's youth anthem 'What's My Age Again?' propelled him to fame, and following a high-profile, life-altering tragedy, Barker's memoir will put an exclamation point on the first chapter of a well-lived life, inspiring readers to break out the equivalent of their own drum sticks and set to work on finding meaning in their own lives. Ruminating on rock stardom, fatherhood, mortality, loss, and redemption, Barker shares stories from decades of hard-earned perspective, cultivating a pop culture atmosphere with which Gen Y and those on the fringes will immediately identify. It will be the perfect summer read for fans of searingly honest music memoirs like Anthony Kiedis's SCAR TISSUE.