On the Road with Janis Joplin

John Byrne Cooke is an excellent writer; the first few chapters are written in glorious, floating prose that sweeps you along. I did find, as the book progressed, that some of the detail around each gig and travel to and fro as a little more than I hoped for. However, it's extremely interesting to get the road manager who was with Janis Joplin during her move from local San Francisco club act to international phenomena. Mr. Cooke, who is Alastair Cooke's son, intersperses the memoir with wonderful quotes that give you more insight into Janis, her bands, the culture, and the musical process. It was hard to read the end of the book because such a stellar voice lost herself, but it's well-done. This is probably more of a 3.5 star book, to be honest.