Sweet Child of Mine: How I Lost My Son to Guns N' Roses

by Deanna Adler, Lawrence J Spagnola

Guns N' Roses was quickly heralded as the greatest rock n roll band on the planet. During the late 80's and 90's the hedonistic rock gods Axl, Slash, Izzy, Steven and Duff scored sold out stadium concerts on the way to multi-platinum success. Appetite for Destruction still stands as the biggest selling debut album in rock history. During it all, original drummer Steven Adler stole hearts and headlines with his insane antics. But Steven was soon crippled by a tragic heroin addiction that led to him to being kicked out of the band he helped found. At the center of this maelstrom stood Steven's mother, Deanna Adler, the GNR-proclaimed -first fan- of the group. Deanna was there at the beginning in 1983, when school chums Steven and Slash were building their street cred on the Sunset Strip. Deanna witnessed it all but has never told her incredible story, until now. In honest, direct prose, Deanna gives an unflinching account of her son Steven's drug fueled ascent to becoming the co-founder of Guns N' Roses, and his subsequent fall to drugs and alcohol. In one of the most brutally raw, revealing books written on substance abuse, Deanna delivers a powerful, inspirational message of hope to anyone dealing with opioid addiction. Excerpt from Sweet Child of Mine : My darkest fears exploded when I found Steven in the center of the bathroom floor, naked, his body bent at an impossible angle. He was soaked in a pool of blood and mucus. His face was smashed beyond recognition, his mouth and chin looked completely caved in. I reached for my son and almost slipped on some pebbles strewn across the tile. Then I realized they were Steven's teeth. I dropped to my knees, crying hysterically. I heard a groan, then... -ma.-

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir

274 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2012

Reviews

[Andi Wernke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. I've always thought Steven was a great guy who had incredible talent. This story from his mom's perspective is fascinating. Keep in mind, she IS his mother, so certain retellings of some GNR stories are skewed in Steven's favor. But it's a gritty, honest look at being the mother of an addict and doing everything you can to save him from that disease.

[Ingalill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The quote I will use everytime I talk about this book. The puddingproof that (certain) mother's should not write about their kids.
- Steven was the most handsome of the group and don't accuse me of saying that just because I'm his mom. He truly was the pick of the crop -. s149.

Føler at 2 stjerner er generøst!

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book sucked. Steven's mother seemed more upset about not being wanted around. She seemed to be overbearing, pushy and whiny. I hope the book helped with her own struggles of dealing with his success. I can see where some of the things she was doing added to his problems.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, Deanna Adler, mother of original GNR drummer, Steven Adler, is really, really long-suffering when it comes to him. Really, just read the book, she'll tell you...over and over and over. The grief and stress of having a loved one so deeply addicted to serious drugs is not an issue to roll your eyes at. In fact, I believe the only issue more serious that a parent might have to deal with is the death of their child. That being said, there was really a feeling of martyrdom throughout the book that kind of felt exhausting. I guess if the continuous, rabid drug use would have been the issue exhausting me, it would have made sense, but that's not how it felt. It felt like Deanna had, well, for lack of a better description, settled into a long martyrdom that sapped energy from her that could've been spent better in other ways. But, at the end of the day, I still gave it four stars because it's her memoir, her experience, and she needed to share it the way she felt best and that's exactly what she did.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book written by a more unlikable, self-serving person in my life.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

i felt pretty torn about this book. on one hand, deanna's story of her son was pretty moving and provided an accurate description of addiction. however, she endlessly whined and portrayed herself as a savior to her son, even though her actions frequently contradicted this.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would be interesting to anyone who loves someone who struggles with addiction or untreated mental illness.

[Sarah Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for GNR fans.

Fascinating insights by his mother during his highs and lows before and after Guns n Roses.

[Michael McKagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo, per il mio stile è un po triste ma è fantastico

[Angela Cleveland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Took a while to get into, but helps understand the relationship between a parent and child with drug addition.

[Neilyn Morales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelentes libro

[Caya · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 (Based on writing and editing.)

[Monarch Publishing · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had such a fun time putting this book together and are so excited with what Larry and Deanna created. An incredible, powerful story. Well done guys!