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A Dull Roar: What I Did on My Summer Deracination 2006
A Dull Roar chronicles a tumultuous five-month period in Henry Rollins’ life. During April through September 2006, he reunited with the Rollins Band, prepared for and toured North America with them, wrapped up the second season of the The Henry Rollins Show, filmed Wrong Turn 2, and slaved over his radio show, Harmony in My Head. Although comprised of Rollins’ daily journal entries, the book is far more than a day-to-day account of this brief but hectic period. As he confronts his feelings about reuniting with his former bandmates, Rollins reflects on music, the industry, current affairs, and other topics in his typically outspoken, irreverent, and combative fashion.
272 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2006
16 people are currently reading
320 people want to read
About the author
Henry Rollins
107 books1,729 followersHenry 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
March 21, 2008
This is Henry Rollins best book to date. He is one the best diarists writing today. His writing voice is unique and one you can immediately identify with.
A DULL ROAR is one of those books that turns you on to a dozen and one other books and authors, not to mention films and music, too. Rollins is a modern-day Renaissance Man: writer, publisher, rock singer, actor, radio personality, TV show host, autodidact. Reading this book gives you a backstage, up-close look at what it means to be all those things, all at once. And you get the whole truth, as Henry sees it; Rollins pulls no punches.
So if you're looking for a fast-moving, insightful look into a rather extraordinary life, give A DULL ROAR a try.
A DULL ROAR is, as of this writing, only available through Henry Rollins' website: http://21361.com Click on the '21361 Store' link and then on 'books'.
A DULL ROAR is one of those books that turns you on to a dozen and one other books and authors, not to mention films and music, too. Rollins is a modern-day Renaissance Man: writer, publisher, rock singer, actor, radio personality, TV show host, autodidact. Reading this book gives you a backstage, up-close look at what it means to be all those things, all at once. And you get the whole truth, as Henry sees it; Rollins pulls no punches.
So if you're looking for a fast-moving, insightful look into a rather extraordinary life, give A DULL ROAR a try.
A DULL ROAR is, as of this writing, only available through Henry Rollins' website: http://21361.com Click on the '21361 Store' link and then on 'books'.
July 10, 2022
Hank the Crank. What’s not to love. Intense as always. I wanted to read this one because summer 2006 was one of the most formative in my coming-of-age timeline, and it didn’t disappoint. If ever you want to be brought back to that Bush-era punk rock summer, this is it. Reading Henry’s books are good for your health. I mean he has me lifting weights AND checking out 300 new books from the library.
February 28, 2021
I had no idea that the Rollins Band got back together, I would have loved to have seen it, but seeing here what it did to Henry perhaps it's better he didn't bring them to the UK, a great book and insight into a moment in time
January 27, 2026
Henry Rollins has long worn many faces — punk provocateur, spoken-word performer, travel diarist, cultural gadfly — and A Dull Roar reads like the distilled audio of those public selves turned inward. The book insists on being heard: its sentences are kinetic, its cadence muscular, and its moral energy rarely sits idle. As a work of short prose, it trades the slow accrual of plot for a series of electric observations, confessions, and jolts of indignation that, taken together, make a shape both ragged and oddly deliberate.
At the level of craft, Rollins’s prose is tense and immediate. He favours clipped declaratives and abrupt analogies; metaphors ricochet rather than settle. That terseness is not always austerity — there is a rhetorical generosity to the book’s outbursts, a willingness to linger on embarrassment, doubt, and small mercies. The result is a voice that feels performative and private at once: the voice of a man used to addressing crowds who nevertheless refuses the easy shelter of anonymity. This tension — between exhibitionism and intimacy — becomes the book’s real subject.
Themes recur like drumbeats. There is rage, certainly: a righteous, historically informed anger toward cruelty, hypocrisy, and complacency. But rather than spectacle, Rollins often channels anger into moral inventory-taking. He writes about failure and stubbornness, about the landscapes of solitude (hotel rooms, late-night drives, the backstage liminality of tour life), and about the corrosive and occasionally redemptive effects of memory. Time in these pages is not only chronological but tactile; it has the weight of a slammed motel door and the echo of an audience dissipating. The titular “dull roar” is less a literal sound than a persistent hum of existential unease — the background noise of modern life that the author refuses to ignore.
One of the book’s quieter gifts is its humane curiosity. The authors’s interlocutors — strangers he meets on the road, the shadow-people of his past, the younger self who keeps reappearing in lesser decisions — are treated with a surprising sympathy. This compassion complicates his brashness; it converts bluster into moral inquiry. When he interrogates masculinity, fame, and the ethics of attention, it’s not merely to perform a stance but to examine the scaffolding beneath it. The scenes where tenderness intrudes — in caregiving, in grief, in the awkwardness of apology — are some of the most persuasive moments in the book precisely because they feel precarious and earned.
Formally, A Dull Roar is in conversation with the tradition of the essay as personal performance. It borrows the rhythm of a spoken-word set — peaks and troughs, repeated refrains, abrupt returns — and transposes that energy to the page. This hybrid of orality and composition is often exhilarating, though it can also be uneven: certain pieces resolve with crystal clarity, while others break off mid-thought as if the performer were already scanning the room for the next cue. That unevenness can be affecting; it is honest to the impulses that produce the work. At the same time, readers who prefer sustained narrative or systematic argument may find the episodic architecture frustrating.
The book’s larger cultural project is worth noting. Rollins resists cynicism as an aesthetic posture; he treats moral engagement as a craft. In an era when outrage is often performative, his insistence on prolonged engagement — sometimes messy, often unglamorous — reads like an argument for ethical stamina. Whether examining small-town cruelty or personal lapses, he seems to ask: what do we owe one another when our attention is the only real currency?
If the book has a limit, it is occasionally its tendency to valourize endurance without fully interrogating the structures that make endurance necessary. The author’s moral rigour is admirable, but some essays risk framing personal resilience as a sufficient response to systemic problems. Still, this is a minor quarrel in a book whose strongest moments are both lucid and piercing.
In short, A Dull Roar is not a comfort read, nor does it aim to be. It’s an insistently honest collection that channels performance energy into reflective force. Readers drawn to confessional essays, to prose that wants to be spoken aloud as much as read, will find much to admire. Those seeking tidy conclusions will have to be satisfied with provocation and the lingering sense that the real work — of listening, of changing — begins after the last line.
At the level of craft, Rollins’s prose is tense and immediate. He favours clipped declaratives and abrupt analogies; metaphors ricochet rather than settle. That terseness is not always austerity — there is a rhetorical generosity to the book’s outbursts, a willingness to linger on embarrassment, doubt, and small mercies. The result is a voice that feels performative and private at once: the voice of a man used to addressing crowds who nevertheless refuses the easy shelter of anonymity. This tension — between exhibitionism and intimacy — becomes the book’s real subject.
Themes recur like drumbeats. There is rage, certainly: a righteous, historically informed anger toward cruelty, hypocrisy, and complacency. But rather than spectacle, Rollins often channels anger into moral inventory-taking. He writes about failure and stubbornness, about the landscapes of solitude (hotel rooms, late-night drives, the backstage liminality of tour life), and about the corrosive and occasionally redemptive effects of memory. Time in these pages is not only chronological but tactile; it has the weight of a slammed motel door and the echo of an audience dissipating. The titular “dull roar” is less a literal sound than a persistent hum of existential unease — the background noise of modern life that the author refuses to ignore.
One of the book’s quieter gifts is its humane curiosity. The authors’s interlocutors — strangers he meets on the road, the shadow-people of his past, the younger self who keeps reappearing in lesser decisions — are treated with a surprising sympathy. This compassion complicates his brashness; it converts bluster into moral inquiry. When he interrogates masculinity, fame, and the ethics of attention, it’s not merely to perform a stance but to examine the scaffolding beneath it. The scenes where tenderness intrudes — in caregiving, in grief, in the awkwardness of apology — are some of the most persuasive moments in the book precisely because they feel precarious and earned.
Formally, A Dull Roar is in conversation with the tradition of the essay as personal performance. It borrows the rhythm of a spoken-word set — peaks and troughs, repeated refrains, abrupt returns — and transposes that energy to the page. This hybrid of orality and composition is often exhilarating, though it can also be uneven: certain pieces resolve with crystal clarity, while others break off mid-thought as if the performer were already scanning the room for the next cue. That unevenness can be affecting; it is honest to the impulses that produce the work. At the same time, readers who prefer sustained narrative or systematic argument may find the episodic architecture frustrating.
The book’s larger cultural project is worth noting. Rollins resists cynicism as an aesthetic posture; he treats moral engagement as a craft. In an era when outrage is often performative, his insistence on prolonged engagement — sometimes messy, often unglamorous — reads like an argument for ethical stamina. Whether examining small-town cruelty or personal lapses, he seems to ask: what do we owe one another when our attention is the only real currency?
If the book has a limit, it is occasionally its tendency to valourize endurance without fully interrogating the structures that make endurance necessary. The author’s moral rigour is admirable, but some essays risk framing personal resilience as a sufficient response to systemic problems. Still, this is a minor quarrel in a book whose strongest moments are both lucid and piercing.
In short, A Dull Roar is not a comfort read, nor does it aim to be. It’s an insistently honest collection that channels performance energy into reflective force. Readers drawn to confessional essays, to prose that wants to be spoken aloud as much as read, will find much to admire. Those seeking tidy conclusions will have to be satisfied with provocation and the lingering sense that the real work — of listening, of changing — begins after the last line.
September 8, 2020
30+ year Rollins fan over here and decided to check this one out after he mentioned it in one of his podcasts. The stuff about the Rollins Band tour was the main attraction here but I forgot how rough some of his old journal books can be—a lot of the same old “2300 hours, I am alone, in the darkness, I don’t need a wife or kids, only the work” etc. When Hank talks about the music and what’s he up to, it is endlessly fascinating. Glad he’s dropped these types of books in favor of his Fanatic series, which I couldn’t possibly recommend more.
June 13, 2023
One of the more focused books of Rollins. This one just takes us through the summer of 2006. Includes filming a season of his IFC show, a movie called Wrong Turn 2, and the short lived reunion of the original Rollins Band. A Rollins memoir is always good inspiration. Makes you want to get off your ass and attack life.
February 13, 2019
I took a long break from reading Hank and I remember why......the journals are interesting enough but he can be as little too....Rollinsy?
November 9, 2015
01-APR-2006 and the Rollins band are reforming to support X on an American tour. They last played in Japan in 1997. A Dull Roar is a journal by Rollins leading up to the tour going through press and practice plus he is doing 'The Henry Rollins Show' for IFC and interviews the likes of Eddie Izzard, Jeff Bridges, Paul Thomas Anderson and Bill Maher. He has a radio show 'Harmony in my Head'. He is filming for 'Wrong Turn 2' up in Canada. He has spoken word shows in London. He is writing this book and he is working out. You get the idea. He is busy but lets be honest here he is being busy in a good way unlike me stuck in an office for 10 hours-a-day.
He talks about having to keep himself busy to stop thinking about himself and falling into depression.
When I started the book I was wondering why I was reading it. It was odd but it grows on you. Rollins can be quite inspiring and I have found lots from this to take-away. In 2006 he is the age that I am now which is interesting for me. I actually thought he would have read more books and he may well do but that does not come across in the journal. I guess letting the reader know that you read again for another 2 hours is not all that exciting. Maybe he should post reviews up on Goodreads. I would certainly read them.
He talks about having to keep himself busy to stop thinking about himself and falling into depression.
When I started the book I was wondering why I was reading it. It was odd but it grows on you. Rollins can be quite inspiring and I have found lots from this to take-away. In 2006 he is the age that I am now which is interesting for me. I actually thought he would have read more books and he may well do but that does not come across in the journal. I guess letting the reader know that you read again for another 2 hours is not all that exciting. Maybe he should post reviews up on Goodreads. I would certainly read them.
February 7, 2017
Tailed off a bit near the end when the fatigue of tour hit Henry, but I think that was partially me not wanting it to end.
I always feel like I'm sharing his life reading these journals, its a massive source of inspiration. Loved it and want more!
I always feel like I'm sharing his life reading these journals, its a massive source of inspiration. Loved it and want more!
April 20, 2010
This was kind of a mixed bag for me. One thing about it that kind of takes away from it as far as I'm concerned is that he was planning on publishing this diary before he wrote it so I feel like he is more self-conscious about his writing than he might be otherwise. He even mentions editing the earlier entries of the diary towards the end of the book. He's a prolific workaholic with a ton of interesting projects and ideas, but this isn't one I'll return to again like some of the others. That being said, he was rather honest at times about how some people he was working with were irritating him and it takes guts to publish that.
October 13, 2009
I've been reading and listening to Henry for about 16 years now, and I have to say this is the first 'Diary' style volume that I thought should have been edited a little. He repeats himself a few times, especially about the 'not wanting to be tied down because of the work' ethic that he has. Which is fine. But having read his books, listened to his Radio show, watched and listened to inumberable spoken word shows, I kind of worked that one out. But that's just me being picky. there's no bad Hank books. It's good to read about the Wrong Turn 2 period and it also explains why there was no uk leg of the Rollins Band reunion tour. So definitely worth a read.
November 7, 2010
A Dull Roar was an interesting insight to the way Henry Rollins thinks and deals with celebrity. An avid reader, he had some pretty good suggestions for my to-read list. The first part of the book was really good, but I didn't rate this higher because the last third, which describes the tour that the whole book was building to was rather flat. To paraphrase: I came to town, I exercised, I did a show, I read a book. The band is getting on my nerves. But, maybe that was the point: tour life is pretty dull, especially when you're not one to socialize much.
October 7, 2008
Diary of a few months in '06 as Hank muses on life while working on the second season of his tv show on IFC, his radio show, acting in the movie "Wrong Turn 2," and the Rollins Band reunion tour. As usual, plenty of insights on the hard truths of existence mixed with passages that make you really think he needs to lighten up just a little, or at least take a five-minute break. Also, isn't keeping a running list of what you eat/exercise every day a sign of anorexia?
November 21, 2009
A Dull Roar is a look into Henry Rollins journal from April to September 2006. It pretty much just covers his day to day thoughts as he prepares for and goes on tour.
This book is only worthwhile is you are a fan of Henry Rollins, however it is not as clever as his spoken word performances. If you will take anything away from this book is a little motivation to get off your ass because Rollins is a workhorse.
This book is only worthwhile is you are a fan of Henry Rollins, however it is not as clever as his spoken word performances. If you will take anything away from this book is a little motivation to get off your ass because Rollins is a workhorse.
January 22, 2016
Absorbing
A typically unflinching look into the daily life of Henry Rollins, America's premier grinder, in 2006. Includes the Rollins Band reunion tour. Rollins is a man who defines himself by his intense and unceasing work ethic, and here, as is typical in his journals, he describes in full his total commitment to work. It is not necessarily pretty, but it is always interesting, like the man himself.
A typically unflinching look into the daily life of Henry Rollins, America's premier grinder, in 2006. Includes the Rollins Band reunion tour. Rollins is a man who defines himself by his intense and unceasing work ethic, and here, as is typical in his journals, he describes in full his total commitment to work. It is not necessarily pretty, but it is always interesting, like the man himself.
March 7, 2016
So far, my least favorite book by Rollins, but still better than many other books I read. Unlike much of his other work, this book felt forced, and he repeated many of the same things over and over: I like being alone, zingers at the President, etc. Get in the Van and Broken Summers were more effective and powerful tour diaries. I have a lot of respect for Rollins, and this book does detail his dedication to his craft. Not many people could keep up such a schedule!
January 25, 2012
Well done. A bit more difficult to get through than most books I've read lately, partially because it doesn't use a traditional narrative that's easy to anticipate. But it's an interesting look at Henry Rollins's life, and (to a degree) how touring works - how it starts, how it proceeds, how it wears on people, etc.
November 11, 2014
The misanthropic part of Rollins is in full flower, and it's undeniably entertaining, if a bit repetitive. His dedication is admirable, and his inability to enjoy almost anything is at times hilarious. Bonus points for a daily recounting of his workout regime and diet. Top-notch voyeurism into a strange life.
March 18, 2011
Not my favorite Rollins book by far but I enjoyed it. I can see there is more political stuff in this book. I just don't dig it. I really wish Rollins would write a fiction book again. I like reading the journal stuff but I thought his fiction was outstanding.
March 2, 2011
I was used to Rollins' writing from having read over 5 of his previous books, so I tore right through this. He has tempered his aggression with a lot more wisdom since the days of "Now Watch Him Die" and "Black Coffee Blues". But I liked "Blues" more than this one due to its witty style.
December 13, 2011
I don't think there's middle ground with Rollins. You either like him, in which case you'll like this diary, or you don't, in which case you won't. I don't agree with everything he has to say, but he always challenges me to think.
November 24, 2025
I can't say what it is that I find so compelling about HR's journals, but I always enjoy them. I don't imagine they'd be particularly interesting to anyone who isn't already a fan as they can be kind of repetitive. Hence, only 3 stars.
April 6, 2008
I'll be bitter until my dying day about not getting to see the tour that he writes about in this book, but at least the stories are here. As always, a fascinating look into Hank's brain.
February 7, 2009
Henry Rollins tells us what he did on his summer vacation.
January 8, 2010
Not one of Henry's best. A bit repetitive, but it is pretty much a raw uncut diary. I expected a bit more humor with the insight. The obsession with Bush gets tiresome at times.
November 19, 2010
Wish this book would have had more of his politcal opinion and views on life. Just touch on those in passing. It did give a good list of books to read.
February 6, 2011
Not bad - seems awfully hard to be Henry.
July 13, 2011
great document of four months leading up to a tour of the Rollins Band, along with Henry's filming of "Wrong Turn 2."
March 21, 2008
Best Rollins Band line-up EVER.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews