I Can Explain

by Ronnie Radke, Ryan J. Downey

Ronnie Radke's auto-biography about his past family, relationships, addition, crime, and evolving musical career. Brutally honest, poetically written, Ronnie bares all his harsh truths to his fans.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Lunka ♫ ꩜ ☽ ⛧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like music. I love listening to heavy music. And I like musicians who experiment a lot and who mix genres like Ronnie. This is a very brave and honest book. And Ronnie is a very brave and honest person! I like that.
And also I like the way is the book illustrated, what photographs are chosen. It looks so amazing and beautiful!

[Ana M · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the current version of Falling in Reverse, then definitely read this one. Reading this book felt like talking to Ronnie himself.

To be honest, before reading the book I thought he really went to jail for murder (but I was sure it was self-defence). I would have never though it was actually that dumb, but I like how Ronnie tells this story. I think it was not easy to share.

I wish more musicians wrote books. After all, it's all about storytelling, no matter what form it takes.

[myreadingescapism · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty much anything Mr Radke does, I’ll love.

[Ralph Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been a fan of Falling in Reverse since I was in high school, but I only knew and viewed Ronnie as their singer. I never was into the scene drama or news, I only heard others talk or post about him. This lead my curiosity to do simple internet searches, but as we all know those first few search hits can be far from the truth.

Ronnie’s story is not only incredible, but it is inspiring. I won’t go too far into detail, as you should really read this book. It’s never too late and you can rise above any predetermined bs that you may think you have.

The best part about this book, in my option is how you feel like a real and straight up person wrote this when you read it. I felt that he is no more nor less human than I. Great read.

[HannahRHO3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered about Ronnie, about what he did, what people claimed he did, or wondered what was true or false about the Popular Monster, it's all right here, bound in a beautiful hardcover. Being a fan for over a decade, it hits home that Ronnie dedicated his entire life's story to his fans, and it means so much for him to open up like this, talk about everything he's been through, and set the record straight for all the world to read. The passion and perils of every concert, major life event, and even the little interactions he had that made him want to change are typed out in all their brutal honesty and harshness, both for fans to hear, and especially for Ronnie to relive through writing them. It's a very hard thing for anyone to spill their guts out on pages, especially for someone as controversial and universally hated (and loved) as Ronnie, but I see changes in him with every chapter, and he wrote harsh truths about himself and his life, owning up to everything he ACTUALLY did, and putting to rest everything he didn't. I see the thought and responsibility he took with every piece of his life in "I Can Explain." It was an honor, and a surprise, holding the weight of his life in my delicate little hands, turning pages that must've felt like mountains to him with such ease, but I truly understand him now, more than I ever have before. I respect Ronnie's past, ride the waves with him through the present, and look forward to his bright future. I loved this book, even through the watery haze of tears, and I love and respect Ronnie more for coming clean and being truly honest with himself and the world-about EVERYTHING. Love or hate him as a person, artist, creator, or man, by the end of this book, your eyes will open to every struggle he's been through, you will understand the changes he made and the bridges he's burned, and Ronnie Radke will truly stand EXPLAINED.

[jamez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

Ate this book up even while suffering a migraine attack that lasted days. It’s so interesting to read about musicians lives through the different decades. For the 2000’s, lives were shaped by social media. The internet is destructive and his story comes to prove how keyboard warriors and social media can negatively impact you in your personal life and musically. Trying to keep up with your ever changing fanbase and reaching new fans by different platforms is a challenge and one I would never want. Kudos to him for making it and still going strong. I for one will be taking a break from social media after this read.

[The · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
TLDR: The first half of it is an interesting read and worthwhile for any Escape the Fate / Falling In Reverse fan. The rest of it, historically speaking re: the bands, doesn't really give you anything you can't get with a web search. If you want the information, you're better off saving your money and reading my chapter summaries, because the style of the text isn't that useful.

The book was a better read than I was expecting, but I expected it to make me physically ill so I wasn't going in with the best preconceived notions. The good news is that it's more coherent and less irreverent about Ronald's horrible actions than his tweets. You still shouldn't trust anything this man says about himself, mind you, but at least in the first half, there's actually some attempt at emotional depth and something approximating regret (although he still sort of seems to consider his incarceration the best thing that ever happened to him in terms of his career). It does sound like him, albeit without the swearing every other sentence we see in his Twitch streams and a wider vocabulary. The writing style and very short chapters (many of them are only 3-5 pages long, plus the relatively large font size) makes it a fairly breezy read linguistically speaking, although I split up my session into parts to have time to process what I was absorbing, which I'd recommend to anyone interested in intellectual pursuits with this text to avoid getting bogged down in Ronnie Nonsense.

The internal design of the book is...lackluster. It feels like Falling In Reverse, which isn't necessarily a good thing. The large font size and wide margins, and full printed pages with edgy imagery at every chapter heading, belie how short the book actually is, but these aren't the main problem. The combination of edgy script fonts for headings and serifs for the main text is simply put, bizarre and makes for a jarring experience, especially when paired with the bizarre choice to put quotes from others, no matter how long, in italics versus putting them in a colored box, a different font, or anything else that's more pleasant to read. Reading an entire paragraph in italics is put shortly, deeply annoying.

Graphic design aside, at least in the first half, it's a fascinating read that I'd recommend for any fan of Escape the Fate or Falling In Reverse who wants to know more about their origins and the mind behind the music, at least for the first 10 chapters. It's the best, and really only, source we have on Ronnie's childhood, Escape the Fate's origins, and his (remarkably homoerotic, much more so than I was expecting) deep relationship with Max. The descriptions of the cute shenanigans they got up to and how heartbroken Ronnie was when Max betrayed him by sticking with Escape the Fate actually evoked emotions in me, despite my knowing intellectually speaking that Ronnie lowkey brought it on himself and expecting the band to disband just because he left was wholly unreasonable. It brings a perspective on the Ronnie / Craig feud that's a lot more detailed than the music journalism articles we have, and the testimonies from others in Ronnie's life, including bandmates, Craig, and his father are the best part of the book, in terms of getting an idea of how others looked at him and how it doesn't necessarily align with how he frames himself.

The quality starts dropping off after about Chapter 11. It seems clear that both Ronnie and Ryan J. Downey understood that the Lost Ancient Escape the Fate Lore and the origins of Falling In Reverse were what the fans cared about (this is betrayed by the book's website description [archived due to the Falling In Reverse merch store being down since December]), so stopped really trying after that point. The "chapter" on the Mic Stand Incident is literally 2 complete pages, and while some of the ones after that point are longer, there's very little content that couldn't be found with a web search. Save Ronnie whining about social media and problems in "the scene" that don't actually exist, his explanations for songs and testimonies of album production from Bury The Hatchet onward are basically identical to what we have in other news sources, and with so little detail beyond the fluff that the book doesn't really add anything. By the end of the book, it was a slog despite its short length because there wasn't anything there I didn't already know. The chapters about Ronnie's personal life have a little more detail, but I'm not reviewing or summarizing them out of respect to him as a human being and because I'm focused on the historical perspective of how useful this book is to parties interested in the music.

So, should you buy this book? Well, uh, from December 2023 onward, you can't without going through a reseller. The Falling In Reverse merch store, i.e. the only place this book was accessible, has had everything on it down since mid-December, with no announcement or any signs of it coming back as of February 2024. Even if you could, it's not worth 60 dollars plus shipping (I ended up paying $78.87 for it in total). Your opinion on financially supporting Ronnie aside, there isn't that much useful information in here about the band that you can't get from my summary and reading the articles cited on their Wikipedia page. I'd recommend the information contained therein for music fans as the only detailed source we have on the Escape the Fate era and Ronnie's origins, but can't really say that the style of the text brings anything especially worthwhile. Read the Sparknotes, but unless you're just absolutely enamored with Ronnie and his specific turns of phrase, it's not worth buying or slogging through the nonsense in the book.

[Anna Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it. Have loved Falling in Reverse for years and finally saw them live two nights ago. Ronnie Radke may be controversial but he is a very talented man who changed the music scene and was never afraid to conform to one genre. His music is amazing and story is very inspirational. It was was hard to find this book, I only managed to source a copy deep online in a photocopied format so some of the pages were slightly hard to read but still managed to finish it in less than 12 hours. I do wonder why it has been taken offline or anywhere for purchasing!

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ronnie Radke has always been one of my favorite people in the music scene since I came across him in Escape The Fate in 2006 when I was 10. I loved this book and reading some of the why behind him being how he is. Learning more about him as a person, etcetc. Great read honestly. Glad I bought this book right when I found out about it!

[Kristen Delaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading ‘I Can Explain’ by Ronnie Radke. The book was amazing and explained a lot of things the fans have been questioning over the years. What really broke me was Chapter 15 (Ronnie talks about loosing his brother). After loosing my brother this past July it made me cry while reading it. I have been avoiding listening “Brother” for that reason. Hearing Ronnie’s hurt and pain in that song is so pure and heartbreaking. I understand it now but I wish I didn’t. Falling In Reverse has been and will always be my favorite band. I feel lucky that I have been to at least three of there concerts and had the opportunity to met them two times as well.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe if you’re a fan of Ronnie Radke / Falling in Reverse, you should buy this book. It’s raw, authentic and takes a deep dive into Ronnie’s past ( the shooting , escape the fate , etc ). The book was even able to capture the exact way Ronnie’s speaks. My favorite thing about this book is how they were able to gather different band members and include talking points from each of their perspective. I love this book so much! It’s a must have.

[Kelly Arnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Say what you want about Ronnie Radke. I’ve heard the stories about him, and his reputation, and I def have had my own opinions about him in the past. But this book is emotional and raw and feels honest. My only complaint is that I wish some of the chapters were a little longer or had a bit more details. But overall it is a very good read about someone who has such a polarizing personality but has grown, matured and learned from his mistakes.

[Mikayla Gaudet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book from start to finish in a long afternoon. I was locked into Ronnie’s story and felt like it was written in his tone, candor and personality perfectly. I’d love to see his story get brought a movie or series similar to American Satan/Paradise City. I hope him continued success and truly believe he is one of today’s biggest rock/genre bending legends.

[Christina Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will always be a Ronnie supporter. I’m sad that I couldn’t buy the book in print but I was lucky to have a boyfriend that found the archive. I love how real and honest Ronnie is, he really cares about his career and his fans

[spencer Brodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book cuz ronnie radke

found out a bunch of cool stuff bout him

[Olaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring story that every rock music fan should read.

[Christen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently discovered the band Falling in Reverse and their frontman Ronnie Radke, and the talent blew me away. It's refreshing to see musicians who are on a whole different level than many modern bands. As a new fan, I had to research online to learn more about Ronnie's lore, and most of what I found was a lot of rumors and negativity out there, I appreciate this book for its honesty, vulnerability, and not sugarcoating the past. I highly recommend it to any fans who enjoy reading autobiographies that feel genuine and not manufactured to fit a certain narrative.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of Falling in Reverse and even more if you believe everything you've ever read or heard about Ronnie Radke, this book is a must-read.

[🖤 livingdeadgill 🖤 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronnie Radke answers the burning questions that Falling in Reverse fans have been asking since the beginning and gives us a behind the scenes look into his career.

[Alisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lol

[Julia]

przeczytałam to bo mama mi dała karę na telefon i teraz oddam duszę szatanowi

[dnuh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t 5⭐️ because of my like for Falling In Reverse, I 5⭐️ for any autobiographical piece that requires you to put yourself out there in such detail.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a huge Falling in Reverse fan. There were few surprises in the book. It’s a gorgeous coffee table book (oddly, no dust jacket) There are few photos mostly abstracts
It covers the early days of ETF and FIR. The truth about Max, the shooting, prison, Ryan’s leaving, and the heartbreaking demise of Derek Jones. Ryan Downey pulls it all together and wraps it up in a pretty package. Good for him, a Warped Tour Stephen Davis for this century.

[Tammy Mathers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuine and heartfelt, a must read 📚