Product Description

One day, Dave Navarro decided to open the doors of his house in the Hollywood hills to the chaos of the valley below. The only rule was, "You come in the house, you get in the photo booth." The result is a diary, a sociology experiment, a documentary of Hollywood, and an exercise in exhibitionism: strippers, Kurt Loder, Marilyn Manson, pizza delivery boys, Rose McGowan, Keanu Reeves, record executives, Scott Ian, Billy Corgan, hookers, Flea, Billy Zane, drug dealers, Angelyne, Leonardo DiCaprio, the cleaning lady, Leif Garrett, Natalie Imbruglia, and everyone else who came into the house are all caught on film-whether zany, inebriated, naked, hamming it up, looking beautiful, or looking ugly, the photo booth tells no lies. Accompanying the strips are hilarious stories, musings, tell-all anecdotes, and other glimpses into the lifestyle of a one of the most decadent rock stars of our time. His chronicle of a year in Navarro's life is also a gritty portrait of his descent into drug use and self-destructiveness, and his struggle to find meaning. Designed by the mad genius that produced "Manson's", "Motley Crue's", and "Mankind's books", "Don't Try This at Home" is a visual masterpiece, a celebrity expose, and a shocking, hilarious, and irresistible read.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91189 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Dave Navarro racked up four platinum records as the guitarist of Jane's Addiction and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has played on albums by Alanis Morissette, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Porno for Pyros, has appeared several times on the covers of Rolling Stone, Spin, Musician, and Guitar Player. Neil Strauss is the co-writer of three New York Times - bestselling autobiographies: Marilyn Manson's The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, Motley Crue's The Dirt, and Jenna Jameson's How to Make Love Like a Porn Star. He writes for the New York Times and Rolling Stone.

Customer Reviews

Intimate insight into rock star's life..
Teaming up with Neil Strauss was a match made in heaven for Dave Navarro when they wrote Don't Try This At Home. Depicting a year in the life of Navarro, with his already present heroin addiction (now almost taking over his life), his rehabilitation and the epilogue which is his marriage in 2003 to Carmen Electra, this is an intimate insight into this rock star's life. Sometimes it feels as if you shouldn't be reading, but it is so compelling, even though it is "dark" in places.
During the writing of the book, Navarro had a photobooth installed and anyone who came by his Hollywood home had to go in the booth. As a result, those pictures are scattered all over the pages of the book - glamour and debauchery all the way!
I'd recommend this to anyone who's interested in the rock'n' roll lifestyle - especially from a personal viewpoint. If you loved The Dirt and The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, you'll enjoy this.

Ok read but not outstanding.
This book follows a year in the life of Dave Navarro as seen through the eyes of Dave and co-writer Neil Strauss,who spent a large part of the year living at Daves house in the Hollywood Hills.The book was written when Dave was a heroin addict and as a result of his drug addiction I found a large part of the book was just the mad and sad ramblings of a drug addict,who just seemed to stay at home all day shooting up?
The parts written by Strauss however are an interesting read and give a good insight into the dark self-destructive world of Navarro.
Dave had a photo-booth installed in his house while the book was being written,and everyone that entered the house had to have photos taken for the book.All the photos are the best part of the book but it would have been nice to know who the photos are of, as I found myself reading about people who are in the book but not being able to put a face to those people who are being written about because the photos are so random.
Overall this book is worth reading its a bit slow in parts but is still a good read.

Don't try this anywhere
Neil Strauss has written some interesting and insightful books, but this is not one of them. He seems to write from the position of acolyte rather than biographer and Dave Navarro doesn't do much in this narrative to earn that kind of fawning respect. It's pretty disappointing, disjointed and with nothing particularly interesting or exciting to say, so you're better off going for Filth or The Game.