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Roddy Bottum Author Visit with Rob Harvilla
The Royal We Book Release Event
Sunday, November 22
3:00pm - 4:30pm
Bexley Public Library
Bexley Library AuditoriumFaith No More co-founder, Roddy Bottum visits BPL to celebrate the release of The Royal We, his memoir that tells his story of coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco.
Roddy Bottum, co-founder of the iconic band Faith No More, visits the Bexley Public Library to celebrate the release of his debut book, The Royal We – a memoir that tells his story of coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco. Roddy will be in conversation with Rob Harvilla, music critic for The Ringer, podcast host, and author of the book 60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s.
This event is presented in partnership with The Book Loft.
About the Author:
Roddy Bottum is a musician, writer, creator, and actor based in New York City. He started the band Faith No More in San Francisco in the early 1980s and toured the world, selling millions of records. In 1992, he came out of the closet and blew open the spectrum of what being gay in the world of rock music meant. That same year he also formed the critically acclaimed band Imperial Teen, cited as the original pioneers of alternative queer rock. Bottum moved to New York City in 2010 and has performed and created records with Crickets, Nastie Band, and Man on Man, a band with his partner, Joey Holman. He is developing his Sasquatch opera project into a musical in New York City, where he continues to live.
About the Moderator:
Rob Harvilla is the host of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s and a senior staff writer at The Ringer. He’s been a professional rock critic for 20-plus years with stops at the Village Voice, SPIN, Deadspin, and various other alt-weeklies that generally no longer exist. (Not his fault.) He lives with his family in Columbus, Ohio, by choice.
About the Book:
THE ROYAL WE is a poetic survey of a time set in a magical city that once was and is no more. It is a memoir written by Roddy Bottum, a musician and artist, that documents his coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco, a charged era of bicycle messengers, punk rock, street witches, wheatgrass, and rebellion. The book follows his travels from Los Angeles, growing up gay with no role models, to San Francisco, where he formed Faith No More and went on to tour the world relentlessly, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon.
The book is an elevated wallop of tongue and insight, much more than a tell-all. There are personal encounters with public figures like Kurt and Courtney and Guns N’ Roses, and recaps of gold records and arena rock—but it’s the testimonies of tragedy and addiction and preposterous life-spins that make this work so unique and intriguing. Bottum writes about his dark and harrowing past in a clear-eyed voice that is utterly devoid of self-pity, and his emboldened and confident pronouncements of achievement and unorthodox heroism flow in an unstoppable train that’s both captivating and inspirational.
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Books Reading and Storytelling | Book Sale | Art Music and Culture |
Bexley Public Library
Bexley Public Library was founded in 1924 and first housed in Bexley High School, now Montrose Elementary School. The present building opened in 1929 and was designed by architects O.C. Miller and R.R. Reeves who drew upon French and Italian architecture from the 17th century for the design.
The library is located at 2411 East Main Street, at the intersection of East Main Street and Cassady Avenue. Parking is available in our parking lot on Euclaire Avenue and in front of the library on Main Street. Main Street is a No Parking Tow Zone from 4:00-6:00 p.m. weekdays.