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Without You
Unknown Binding
About the author
Del James
14 books39 followersDel James is the author of The Language of Fear, a collection of short horror stories.
Del James, is an American musician, writer, journalist and artist best known for writing the short story that reportedly inspired the "November Rain" video by hard rock band Guns N' Roses. He is a close friend to Axl Rose and is the road manager for Guns N' Roses.
Del James, is an American musician, writer, journalist and artist best known for writing the short story that reportedly inspired the "November Rain" video by hard rock band Guns N' Roses. He is a close friend to Axl Rose and is the road manager for Guns N' Roses.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 16, 2023
The famous short story on which the guys from Guns 'N Roses based the videos for the songs Don't Cry, November Rain and Estranged.
Is it very similar to the story-line in the videos? Well, yeah but only in the broadest sense. The story revolves around 80's rock star guitar player Mayne Mann (yeah, I know, but that's how it was with those 80's glam rock types), who's been slowly self-destructing through drugs and alcohol after his band broke up. He shits money, so he can drink and drug himself to sleep every day, except he's not doing it because he's a depraved rock star. He's got emotions, see?
Turns out his girlfriend caught him cheating on her after his band's last show and she sent him packing, and no matter hoelw much he tried to win her back, she just was having none of it. So he wrote her a song called "Without You" that became his biggest solo hit and he tried to win her back by offering her royalties from it when the song didn't work by itself.
But no. She declined half of the royalties along with his overtures and, finally, after some time, he couldn't take it anymore and went to her place to try and talk to her but found her with the song playing on repeat and having shot herself in the head. So now he blames himself for cheating and for having his greatest hit be about this situation, and for her death, and for not being able to play anymore without thinking about his whole mess.
So he drinks, does drugs, destroys his apartment, destroys his car, throw his money out of the balcony and into the street, destroys most of his guitar collection except his '57 Les Paul Sunburst, lights his place on fire, and finally dies in the resulting inferno while performing "Without You" for her one last time.
Yeah, high literature this ain't.
But it was entertaining enough, especially since I knew of its existence but I'd never read it. So how similar is it to the videos? Well, we have a melodramatic diva hair metal star, a model-looking girlfriend who's done wrong by him, her death, and her death as his man pain. So the main elements are there, it's just the details that are different, so I can see how Axl Rose might have identified with the main character and his trouble dealing with fame, substance abuse, the industry, and all that. The whole business with the dead girlfriend is sort of tangential.
Also, Mayne Mann's band is called Suicide Shift. Yes, really.
Is it very similar to the story-line in the videos? Well, yeah but only in the broadest sense. The story revolves around 80's rock star guitar player Mayne Mann (yeah, I know, but that's how it was with those 80's glam rock types), who's been slowly self-destructing through drugs and alcohol after his band broke up. He shits money, so he can drink and drug himself to sleep every day, except he's not doing it because he's a depraved rock star. He's got emotions, see?
Turns out his girlfriend caught him cheating on her after his band's last show and she sent him packing, and no matter hoelw much he tried to win her back, she just was having none of it. So he wrote her a song called "Without You" that became his biggest solo hit and he tried to win her back by offering her royalties from it when the song didn't work by itself.
But no. She declined half of the royalties along with his overtures and, finally, after some time, he couldn't take it anymore and went to her place to try and talk to her but found her with the song playing on repeat and having shot herself in the head. So now he blames himself for cheating and for having his greatest hit be about this situation, and for her death, and for not being able to play anymore without thinking about his whole mess.
So he drinks, does drugs, destroys his apartment, destroys his car, throw his money out of the balcony and into the street, destroys most of his guitar collection except his '57 Les Paul Sunburst, lights his place on fire, and finally dies in the resulting inferno while performing "Without You" for her one last time.
Yeah, high literature this ain't.
But it was entertaining enough, especially since I knew of its existence but I'd never read it. So how similar is it to the videos? Well, we have a melodramatic diva hair metal star, a model-looking girlfriend who's done wrong by him, her death, and her death as his man pain. So the main elements are there, it's just the details that are different, so I can see how Axl Rose might have identified with the main character and his trouble dealing with fame, substance abuse, the industry, and all that. The whole business with the dead girlfriend is sort of tangential.
Also, Mayne Mann's band is called Suicide Shift. Yes, really.
January 2, 2023
Did I get answers for the music video? Sure
Was it worth it? No
Was it worth it? No
November 8, 2024
নভেম্বরের শ্রেষ্ঠ গান নভেম্বর রেইনের মিউজিক ভিডিও তৈরি হয়েছিল ডেল জেমসের উইদাউট ইউ ছোটোগল্প থেকে। গানের রকস্টার প্রোটাগনিস্ট হলেও গল্পের রকস্টার অ্যান্টি-প্রোটাগনিস্ট। মূল থিম ছাড়া গল্পটির সাথে মিউজিক ভিডিওটার খুব একটা মিল নেই।
খ্যাতি সবাই সামলাতে পারে না। খ্যাতির ছায়া শিল্পীকে পরিণত করতে পারে দানবে। ভালোবাসার বিষে আপনার সবচেয়ে প্রিয় কাজ হতে পারে সবচেয়ে তিক্ত। সবচেয়ে প্রিয় গানটি হতে পারে দুকানের জাতশত্রু।
টুপটাপ বৃষ্টির ফোঁটায় আবৃত একটা কফিশপ। তুমি-আমি মুখোমুখি। মাঝখানে ডেল জেমসের ছোটোগল্প উইদাউট ইউ। কানে কীসের ঝড়? সে আর বলতে!
খ্যাতি সবাই সামলাতে পারে না। খ্যাতির ছায়া শিল্পীকে পরিণত করতে পারে দানবে। ভালোবাসার বিষে আপনার সবচেয়ে প্রিয় কাজ হতে পারে সবচেয়ে তিক্ত। সবচেয়ে প্রিয় গানটি হতে পারে দুকানের জাতশত্রু।
টুপটাপ বৃষ্টির ফোঁটায় আবৃত একটা কফিশপ। তুমি-আমি মুখোমুখি। মাঝখানে ডেল জেমসের ছোটোগল্প উইদাউট ইউ। কানে কীসের ঝড়? সে আর বলতে!
November 20, 2024
নভেম্বর রেইন গানটা বহু আগে থেকেই আমার ভীষণ প্রিয়। কিন্তু এ গানের ভিডিওটা কখনো খেয়াল করে দেখিনি। কদিন আগে একজনের রিভিউতে দেখলাম এই ছোটগল্প থেকে অনুপ্রাণিত হয়ে মিউজিক ভিডিওটা তৈরী। শুধুমাত্র সেজন্যই পড়া।
গল্প আহামরি কিছুই না। তবু আমার ভালো লেগেছে শুধুমাত্র নভেম্বর রেইনের প্রতি তীব্র আবেগ থেকে।
গল্প আহামরি কিছুই না। তবু আমার ভালো লেগেছে শুধুমাত্র নভেম্বর রেইনের প্রতি তীব্র আবেগ থেকে।
July 2, 2023
This was incredibly sad for a short story that you don't get to time to really attach to the characters. I could definitely read this as a whole book.
March 16, 2025
There's an image in the video for Guns N Roses' 'Estranged' that I think sums up this short story quite perfectly, and not just because the video was ostensibly based on 'Without You'. It's a shot of Axl Rose as he gets into a limousine, and it's... telling, to say the least.
In the scene, Rose wears an oversized t-shirt with the word 'DEEP' emblazoned in electric blue capitals across his chest. He stares pensively into space, iconic red bandanna secure as he tries to convince us he's only acting the part of worn-down rockstar with too much money for his own good. It's not acting, of course - anyone somewhat familiar with the destructive, chaotic beast that was Guns N Roses in the 90s will know just how closely these words ring true for Rose himself as much as they do the character in the video - but it IS a form of pretence, and that's what the image with the t-shirt conveys so perfectly, whether it intends to or not. By so determinedly - and ironically- labelling himself 'deep' in the video, Rose appropriates the term right out of viewers' mouths, establishing it as a signifier of pretence in order to render it inapplicable to this video that, for all its flaws, is undeniably very real. As such, the video is essentially prohibited from being 'deep'. Rose sends up the idea that depth could exist in this video in any form beyond a t-shirt slogan; any depth the video may have been thought to have becomes tokenistic, a facade to be removed at will, leaving no trace, just as a t-shirt does the same.
Basically, the video is not at its essence deep (my underwhelming extended analysis of Axl Rose's fashion choices aside), and Rose's ironic shirt only emphasises the story's shallowness. Sure, it's unusual, and an unsuspecting viewer watching it for the first time might be inclined to assume that their inability to fully comprehend the video's muddled storyline implies it has some greater meaning that as yet escapes them. However, I really believe this isn't the case, and although the video is grandiose, it's hardly meaningful or poignant, and no matter how many dolphins appear or how long Slash spends half-submerged as he solos, it's not 'deep'.
And this, at last, brings me to my point. In not being deep, the video imitates Del James' story perfectly, because 'Without You', too, is utterly depthless. It's a convoluted, cliche-ridden, meandering, almost unreadable piece of tripe that falls short of all it aspires to, and ultimately achieves nothing as a story. As it happens, I ALSO wasn't even able to identify its influence on the 'Estranged' video, meaning the half hour I spent reading 'Without You' (possibly plus the two-odd hours I spent writing this review?) was a complete bust, and it'd be shameful for me to let this review continue on any further than it already has (although mercifully, it must be said, more than half of it was really just about Guns N Roses, so I suppose it can't be all that bad).
In the scene, Rose wears an oversized t-shirt with the word 'DEEP' emblazoned in electric blue capitals across his chest. He stares pensively into space, iconic red bandanna secure as he tries to convince us he's only acting the part of worn-down rockstar with too much money for his own good. It's not acting, of course - anyone somewhat familiar with the destructive, chaotic beast that was Guns N Roses in the 90s will know just how closely these words ring true for Rose himself as much as they do the character in the video - but it IS a form of pretence, and that's what the image with the t-shirt conveys so perfectly, whether it intends to or not. By so determinedly - and ironically- labelling himself 'deep' in the video, Rose appropriates the term right out of viewers' mouths, establishing it as a signifier of pretence in order to render it inapplicable to this video that, for all its flaws, is undeniably very real. As such, the video is essentially prohibited from being 'deep'. Rose sends up the idea that depth could exist in this video in any form beyond a t-shirt slogan; any depth the video may have been thought to have becomes tokenistic, a facade to be removed at will, leaving no trace, just as a t-shirt does the same.
Basically, the video is not at its essence deep (my underwhelming extended analysis of Axl Rose's fashion choices aside), and Rose's ironic shirt only emphasises the story's shallowness. Sure, it's unusual, and an unsuspecting viewer watching it for the first time might be inclined to assume that their inability to fully comprehend the video's muddled storyline implies it has some greater meaning that as yet escapes them. However, I really believe this isn't the case, and although the video is grandiose, it's hardly meaningful or poignant, and no matter how many dolphins appear or how long Slash spends half-submerged as he solos, it's not 'deep'.
And this, at last, brings me to my point. In not being deep, the video imitates Del James' story perfectly, because 'Without You', too, is utterly depthless. It's a convoluted, cliche-ridden, meandering, almost unreadable piece of tripe that falls short of all it aspires to, and ultimately achieves nothing as a story. As it happens, I ALSO wasn't even able to identify its influence on the 'Estranged' video, meaning the half hour I spent reading 'Without You' (possibly plus the two-odd hours I spent writing this review?) was a complete bust, and it'd be shameful for me to let this review continue on any further than it already has (although mercifully, it must be said, more than half of it was really just about Guns N Roses, so I suppose it can't be all that bad).
January 22, 2023
I imagined Mayne as Axl. Such a tragic love-life story. It was his fault.
November 18, 2025
Español
Si soy honesta, tenía la edad de hoy cuando descubrí que existía en los Guns 'n' Roses una trilogía llamada "La trilogía de las ilusiones" (por el título del álbum) y que conforman un triptico basado en ésta historia. En orden, se debe ver "Don't cry", "November Rain" y "Estranged" para que termine de hacer sentido. Y, dos de esas tres son mis favoritas, así que henos aquí. Claramente se entiende también por qué le gustó a Axl, si está (no muy libremente) basada en él y su entonces esposa. Como cuento, funciona bastante, aunque no siento que lo hubiera hecho tan bien si no fuera por el transfondo de la banda. Pero, a niveles generales, cumple en dar imágenes potentes que describen el dolor y la agonía de la pérdida como el tema central de todo el cuento. Un hallazgo.
English
If I'm honest, I was today's years old when I discovered that Guns N' Roses had a trilogy called "The Illusion Trilogy" (named after the album title), which forms a triptych based on this story. In order, you have to watch "Don't Cry," "November Rain," and "Estranged" for it to fully make sense. And, two of those three are my favorites, so here we are. It's also clear why Axl liked it, since it's (not too loosely) based on him and his then-wife. As a story, it works quite well, although I don't feel it would have been as effective without the band's history. But, on a general level, it succeeds in providing powerful imagery that depicts the pain and agony of loss as the central theme of the entire story. A real find.
Si soy honesta, tenía la edad de hoy cuando descubrí que existía en los Guns 'n' Roses una trilogía llamada "La trilogía de las ilusiones" (por el título del álbum) y que conforman un triptico basado en ésta historia. En orden, se debe ver "Don't cry", "November Rain" y "Estranged" para que termine de hacer sentido. Y, dos de esas tres son mis favoritas, así que henos aquí. Claramente se entiende también por qué le gustó a Axl, si está (no muy libremente) basada en él y su entonces esposa. Como cuento, funciona bastante, aunque no siento que lo hubiera hecho tan bien si no fuera por el transfondo de la banda. Pero, a niveles generales, cumple en dar imágenes potentes que describen el dolor y la agonía de la pérdida como el tema central de todo el cuento. Un hallazgo.
English
If I'm honest, I was today's years old when I discovered that Guns N' Roses had a trilogy called "The Illusion Trilogy" (named after the album title), which forms a triptych based on this story. In order, you have to watch "Don't Cry," "November Rain," and "Estranged" for it to fully make sense. And, two of those three are my favorites, so here we are. It's also clear why Axl liked it, since it's (not too loosely) based on him and his then-wife. As a story, it works quite well, although I don't feel it would have been as effective without the band's history. But, on a general level, it succeeds in providing powerful imagery that depicts the pain and agony of loss as the central theme of the entire story. A real find.
April 11, 2026
Lo leí un poco por curiosidad y un poco porque soy fan de Guns N' Roses, y la verdad… valió la pena.
No es un cuento “bonito”. Más bien es medio sucio, incómodo por momentos y bastante honesto en una forma que no siempre cae simpática. Pero justo ahí está lo bueno. Se siente muy real, como si estuvieras leyendo algo que alguien escribió a las 3 de la mañana después de tomar un considerable número de malas decisiones (una detrás de la otra).
Se nota clarísimo de dónde salió la inspiración para la trilogía de videos de la banda, esa cosa medio exagerada, dramática, de amor que se rompe y te deja hecho bolsa. Acá está la versión sin glamour: más cruda, más directa y con menos filtro.
La forma en que está escrito no es nada del otro mundo, y eso no lo digo como crítica feroz, sino como algo que hasta suma. Es sencillo, medio caótico por momentos, pero encaja con lo que quiere contar. No te va a volar la cabeza a nivel literario, pero tampoco lo necesita.
No es perfecto, pero tiene actitud, tiene emoción y, sobre todo, tiene esa sensación de “esto dolió de verdad”, que no siempre se logra. Si te gusta Guns N' Roses, casi que es lectura obligatoria para entender mejor ese universo medio tóxico y apasionado que construyeron.
Le doy 4 de 5 porque me gustó, me incomodó lo justo y no se hizo el inteligente. A veces eso alcanza.
No es un cuento “bonito”. Más bien es medio sucio, incómodo por momentos y bastante honesto en una forma que no siempre cae simpática. Pero justo ahí está lo bueno. Se siente muy real, como si estuvieras leyendo algo que alguien escribió a las 3 de la mañana después de tomar un considerable número de malas decisiones (una detrás de la otra).
Se nota clarísimo de dónde salió la inspiración para la trilogía de videos de la banda, esa cosa medio exagerada, dramática, de amor que se rompe y te deja hecho bolsa. Acá está la versión sin glamour: más cruda, más directa y con menos filtro.
La forma en que está escrito no es nada del otro mundo, y eso no lo digo como crítica feroz, sino como algo que hasta suma. Es sencillo, medio caótico por momentos, pero encaja con lo que quiere contar. No te va a volar la cabeza a nivel literario, pero tampoco lo necesita.
No es perfecto, pero tiene actitud, tiene emoción y, sobre todo, tiene esa sensación de “esto dolió de verdad”, que no siempre se logra. Si te gusta Guns N' Roses, casi que es lectura obligatoria para entender mejor ese universo medio tóxico y apasionado que construyeron.
Le doy 4 de 5 porque me gustó, me incomodó lo justo y no se hizo el inteligente. A veces eso alcanza.
January 12, 2026
Este foi o livro q inspirou clip do Guns and Roses!
Teve algumas cenas q tem,no clip de November Rain, como antes de dormir ele precisa tomar comprimidos para dormir e antidepressivos.
No clipe nao explica como q a garota morre, mas no livro ela se suicida com um revolver.
Uma cena de Dont Cry Axl entra na sala com uma arma, e no livro o personagem da tiros na parede por causa do vizinho.
Teve algumas cenas q tem,no clip de November Rain, como antes de dormir ele precisa tomar comprimidos para dormir e antidepressivos.
No clipe nao explica como q a garota morre, mas no livro ela se suicida com um revolver.
Uma cena de Dont Cry Axl entra na sala com uma arma, e no livro o personagem da tiros na parede por causa do vizinho.
Read
January 25, 2023I'm with Gabriela on this one.
September 18, 2024
Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars
If I ever had to describe how I imagine rockstars to be, this would be it.
If I ever had to describe how I imagine rockstars to be, this would be it.
November 8, 2024
4/10, decent bok
Inspiration till November Rain av Guns and roses så därför läste jag den tog typ lite över en timma.
Inspiration till November Rain av Guns and roses så därför läste jag den tog typ lite över en timma.
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