A Mad Dash

by Henry Rollins

A Mad Dash picks up where 2007’s A Preferred Blur left off. A seemingly endless stream of words, one after another, details his travels all over the world, over one hundred performances and the shooting of five documentaries. The book goes right to the end, only stopping at the last page.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

374 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Henry Rollins (born Henry Lawrence Garfield; often referred to simply as Rollins) is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, author, actor and publisher.

After joining the short-lived Washington, D.C. band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the Californian hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1981 until 1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins soon established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups until 2003 and during 2006.

Since Black Flag, Rollins has embarked on projects covering a variety of media. He has hosted numerous radio shows, such as The Henry Rollins Show and Harmony In My Head, and television shows, such as MTV's 120 Minutes and Jackass, along with roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for human rights in the United States, promoting gay rights in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.

Reviews

[Kurt Ames-Sallant]

Where does this guy get off publishing half-witted journal entries and diet notes? Brutally pedantic

[Derek]

I will admit, I'm sort of intrigued by the pathology of Henry Rollins' writing; trying to reconcile the genuine-seeming humor and openness he displays onstage with the bitterness and despair apparent in his writing is endlessly fascinating to me. I think that may be one of the reasons I keep reading his journal-style writings: Because it gives me something to think about, how someone can feel so bleakly one way and yet come across as being optimistic and humorous in a completely different setting.

The biggest problem I had with this book was the editing. I don't know if it was not edited properly or if it was taken straight from Rollins' journals with the errors intact, but some of the grammar errors in the book caught me a bit off-guard - both because typographical errors tend to do so in general, and because his other books have been well edited, in a nearly-pathological manner in fitting with his writing style.

In any case, I remain intrigued by these memoirs, and I already have his most recent book (A Grim Detail), which I will get around to reading hopefully soon. I would recommend these books, but only if you enjoy them in the same manner that I do. If you're bothered by simple sentence structure and some repetitiveness (most notably about how he knows he has depression but refuses to do anything but press on through it), they may not be for you, but I enjoy them.

[Eduardo]

As much as I like Rollins and strive to see him live whenever he comes to town, reading his books has become more and more redundant. He revisits the same themes in his personal life ad nauseum but, since it is a journal, it is to be expected I guess.

There are still the expected bits of wisdom and inspiration that I have found in his previous books and I read this one as has been my tradition with Rollins books, with highlighter in hand.

His adventures to foreign lands are always entertaining, insightful, and inspiring. I hope to see the world through similar eyes any time I travel abroad.

All in all, this book was exactly what I expected, which, if you've read all his other books, was a bit formulaic but worthwhile if you like the formula.

[Zoli]

I've been following Mr. Rollins' travels and other diary entries for so many years now, and to this day I find it fascinatig what motivation and energy this man has, while at the same time his anger and frustration about most of the world seem to have grown over the years. At some points this book is depressing as it deals with his depressions, and with a new topic: his near death. I don't know what this is about, if Rollins has been emptied out and his energy fading, or whatever, but I sincerely hope those were only temporary thoughts that will prove wrong eventually.
As with many of his previous books, this one has given me many things to think over, and it's given me some very interesting travel ideas...

[Jeff Littrell]

Written in journal/ diary form as are most of Henry's books these days. "Get In The Van" was a good early "road book" of Henry's days with Black Flag. I wish he would return to writing more poetry, as well. This was alright, but I'm in no hurry to read more books in this vein from him.

[Danielle Harmon]

A great book!!! I have the limited edition, autographed copy...but regardless of the print, it is a great read! It was exactly the book that I needed to start out my year...

[Patrick]

I love reading Henry Rollins' writings. There's something about his intensity that makes me say "Compared to this guy, I'm so lazy!"

[Keith]

The last of three travel journals - all very interesting and good. This one was for the year 2008 and detailed his journeys to Burma and Cambodia. love the guy.

[Patrick]

Journal picks up where "A Preferred Blur" ends. Come along with Henry as he journeys to tourist-friendly hot-spots like Vietnam and Cambodia.