The Royal We: A Memoir

Faith No More keyboardist Bottum recalls coming-of-age as a gay punk rocker in San Francisco in his punchy debut. Finding his hometown of Los Angeles “lifeless as a raisin,” a 19-year-old Bottum relocated to San Francisco in 1982. There, he nurtured his passion for punk music with like-minded artists and formed the ’80s alternative metal group Faith No More. Bottum’s account toggles between wild-eyed memories of his adolescent antics, including drinking, smoking, and stealing the family car for joyrides, and graver adult dalliances with hard drugs alongside prefame Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain. (The three nearly attended rehab together before Love and Cobain bowed out at the last minute.) Meanwhile, Bottum reflects on his formative sexual experiences with older men (a therapist categorizes them as molestation, but Bottum insists “it was real and consensual”), provides gossipy backstage anecdotes about touring with Metallica and Guns N’ Roses, and sweetly lionizes his sisters, whose support he credits with lifting him from rock bottom on multiple occasions. Far from a milquetoast music bio—one of the most memorable scenes features Bottum and his friends vomiting pea soup—this lively self-portrait has spirit to spare. It’s a riot. Agent: David Dunton, Harvey Klinger Literary. (Nov.)