The Royal We

A Memoir

De: Roddy Bottum

Narrado por: Roddy Bottum

A founder of the iconic band Faith No More shares his coming-of-age and out-of-the-closet story in pre-tech boom San Francisco

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 through prose 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 tales of historical pinnacles like Kurt and Courtney, 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.

A remarkable portrayal of a creative individual in emergence, a gay man figuring out how to be a gay man, and a detailed look at the nuance of 1980s pre-tech boom San Francisco, The Royal We will be greatly appreciated by people who loved Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl, Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Hua Hsu’s Stay True, and other memoirs about the artist’s life.

©2025 Roddy Bottum (P)2025 Blackstone Publishing

Beautiful

This is less a rock autobiography than a poetic novel where the main character sometimes dabbles in band stuff.

Great listen!

Loved hearing Roddys story in his own words, read by him. Very relatable moments throughout.
I appreciate the vulnerable honesty with some tongue in cheek sprinkled throughout.
Not your typical autobiography and I recommend it for those who are a fan of his music or those just wanting to get to know him more.
Well done, sir. Splendid work.

Poetic and Fascinating

Such a lovely cadence and narration by the author. Fascinating memoir, awesome history of one of my favorite bands, and the stories of characters surrounding the author growing up.

Not the typical music memoir (in a good way)

Why I read/listened to it: I love memoir. I love to read about the place i grew up in written by those the same age who lived there at the same time. I only knew a few of Faith No More's songs (and liked them) so it seemed like a good fit. What a pleasant surprise this was. well-written, poetic, told more as a series of vignettes than a linear story. Interesting perspective as a gay man living in SF yet not out. Trigger warning for some really graphic sex in one of the chapters. I usually skip sex scenes but did actually listen to some of this chapter because the writing was really compelling and was about more than just the sex. So if that's your reason for not reading this book, just scrub forward, This is one of the better "music" memoirs I've read (4 stars from me is like 5 from anyone else) from the writing, structure, story, personal perspective.

A great listen

Great audiobook . I hated to have to pause it . I love how the story is not told in a linear way . It was honest and real . Love it !