“Beautiful Mess,” by Diamond Rio, with Tom Roland

 

I recently had the chance to read and review Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio.  They’re a country music group, and while I don’t consider myself a huge fan, I do like their music.  Their songs “Meet in the Middle” and “Beautiful Mess” are classics in my book, as they seem to relate really well to my relationship with my husband.

A writer myself, I struggle sometimes with reviewing books…and this book is an example of why that is.  This book was well-written, yes, but I have to be honest:  It bored me to death.  My poor husband had to hear me grumble every night about having to read this before going to bed, and I literally broke out in the “Hallelujah Chorus” last night when I read the last page.  Please don’t get me wrong.  It’s not badly written at all, but the content was just not interesting to me.  In my opinion, you would have to be an incredibly huge fan of the group to enjoy the infinite details the book provides on their lives.  Seriously – the book tells you what street the band members grew up on, what schools they attended, their best friends, college majors…..on and on and on.  There are lots of childhood pictures in the book, too, which would have been torture if they weren’t funny.  (Seriously….who thought up the idea of the mullet hairstyle?)

It is only during the last chapter or so that the book finally comes around and begins to relate to the summary on the back of the book.  At that point, it began to be interesting and more like what I had expected it to be from the beginning….but then it was over….and I celebrated.

I hate to sound so negative, but I don’t believe in lying just to help someone sell a book.  If you’re a big fan of Diamond Rio, you’ll probably enjoy the book; if you’re not, though, don’t bother.  Get a CD instead.

If you’re interested in getting it, the book is available from Thomas Nelson Publishers and any book retailer.