Paths We Choose: A Memoir

What a Life!!!

I was one of the lucky ones who received an autographed copy and I read it in lightening speed. I am a die-hard fan of this very talented man and it was great to see the inside of his life and personality. Blessed Be Sully!!

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Great reading

I read this book in less than 24hrs. I simply chould not put it down. The book has a good flow and the stories were entertaining as well as educational.

Insight into a life you may never know

Who is Godsmack and how did they come up with that name? The answers lie within the book, The Paths We Choose by Sully Erna that gives the world an insight into one of the most successful bands of the metal scene, Godsmack. This book gives a great deal of information and a sneak peak into the life of Sully Erna, who is the lead singer and also the original creator of the band. It includes all the schools he went to and reasons why he was expelled. There were stories of days when he and his friends would run through the neighborhood terrorizing everyone, and stereotypical stories of drugs done throughout his lifetime. The book also goes into detail of relationships he had, when he was 17 he began to date a girl who just got out of a relationship, Sully did not know this and one day, four guys got out of a car and threatened his life for being with this girl. Another time, when he was younger, he was at a party with some of his friends when another kid pulled a knife on him. One of Sully¿s friends had a sawed-off shotgun in his trunk and so sully pulled it on the kid with the knife. His stories and experiences make up the book with some even more interesting stories piling up and giving a general overview of his life to date. Along with all the stories of his life, there are the stories of the band. The numerous times they would have to cut people from the band and switch people around. In fact, before Godsmack, Sully had always been the drummer in the bands he played for such as Meliah Rage, The Fighting Cocks, and Strip Mind just to name a few. He tells stories of how the band came up with the lyrics to their songs. On a personal level a lot of these songs hit me hard because they had a lot of similarities to my own life. The Paths We Choose throws in some thought to all those who want to start a band and make it. Would you cut your best friends out of the band line-up to be good? If not, then you would fail. If you aren¿t willing to put your music first, even over family and loved ones, then you will never make it either. In reading this book, I have gained a much broader respect for this band. I connect more with the music and I really wish that every single lead singer would write an autobiography. Autobiography¿s let people see that no matter how great you get, even big name people have lives too. Some are even harder than what the common person faces today. Between homelessness, drug addictions, relationships, band practice, and threats it shows you just how much dedication really has to be put into making yourself be successful in this world, no matter what you do in the world. Although this book taught a lot of good lessons and shows them to you firsthand, the grammar was not always correct. Spelling was sometimes a publishing error, such as putting an extra T in front of the word the. In spite of little mistakes like that, the book is very good and I would recommend anyone to read it, especially if you are a Godsmack fan, or if you just think you would like to start a band.

Paths We Choose: A Memoir

The Path's We Choose by Godsmacks lead singer Sully Erna is a great book. The book talks about Sully's life stories about girls, bands, drugs, police chases, the streets of Lawerence Massachusetts and much more. To be honest this is one of the first books I have ever read without skipping pages and enjoyed every word. It was a little bit of a life lesson and a book that I would recommend to people all ages '13 and up'. I am only 13, but this book is one of the best books I will ever read. Sully has a unique style of writting and made it intresting all the time.

We knew you when

At the urging of some of Sully¿s former schoolmates at St. Mary¿s Elementary School in Lawrence, I cruised up to the bookstore to read Sully¿s memoir. I must admit that I could be heard howling laughing throughout the store at Sully¿s recollection of himself as the bad boy. Sully portrays a Sister Maloof. I am not now, nor have I ever been a nun. OOPs, little inaccuracy there. Sully claims I hit him with a ruler. Sorry, didn't happen. Then he claims he threw a desk at me that resulted in his being asked to leave the school. Oh my! No one has ever thrown furniture at me (They may have WANTED to, but nobody did,) and I left St. Mary¿s to teach math in the James F. Leonard School the year before Sully left, when his sister, Maria, graduated from eighth grade. So he may have been asked to leave, but it had nothing to do with me. Now, the Sully I knew was a cute, little, mischievous 9 year-old who figured he could charm us all out of getting his work done. I remember a little guy who bought a ¿diamond bracelet¿ for me for Christmas. Said he paid for it with money he made helping his Dad paint houses on the weekends. (BTW, I still have it, although some of my ¿diamonds¿ came unglued over the years.) I remember a young man who showed up every day in his blue uniform shirt with razor sharp creases ironed in, and his clip-on tie. Several other alums of St. Mary¿s agreed. One kid who was also in school with Sully remembered a kid who loved being an altar boy serving funeral Masses during the week because A) you could get out of classes and B) if you were adorable, like he was, you got tips! Another student recalls, ¿I also remember Sully's older sister combing his hair on class picture day, telling him to stand still so she could fix his hair 'the way Ma likes it.' So much for the bad boy, huh?¿ I remember a Dad who came to school often to see what his boy was up to and a sister whose eyeballs could roll all the way back inside her head when she heard his name called on the P.A. when he had been up to some silliness at lunch or recess. So, alas, Sully, we knew you when, and we aren't buying the 9 year-old bad guy thing.

Paths We Choose: A Memoir

this book is awsome! The emotions are deep and it gives you a great look into sullys past.I recommend this book to any one not just godsmack fans!

A conversation with Sully

This book was amazing from start to finish! If you are a fan of Sully or Godsmack or just a rock music fan in general you need to read this book! It shows how hard some of these people work to entertain us and live their dream! The book was written so well, it's like you are sitting there talking to Sully himself and he is telling you all these stories about his life. It usually takes me awhile to read books but I read this one in less then 3 days. READ THIS BOOK!!!

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