The Royal We: A Memoir, Roddy Bottum
$27.95
Roddy Bottum of Faith No More tells his electrifying, queer coming-of-age story in 1980s San Francisco—an era of punk, rebellion, addiction, and resilience—written with raw honesty and lyrical force.
Description
The Royal We: A Memoir
by Roddy Bottum (Hardcover – November 4, 2025)
A raw, lyrical, and unforgettable memoir from Roddy Bottum, the founding member of Faith No More, chronicling his journey from closeted teen to queer icon amid the chaos of 1980s San Francisco’s punk scene.
The Royal We is a fever dream of youth, music, and rebellion—an intimate portrait of the queer underground before Silicon Valley swallowed the city whole. Bottum captures an era of bicycle messengers, basement shows, street witches, wheatgrass shots, and wild freedom, when San Francisco was a haven for artists and outsiders. From his Los Angeles childhood and early grappling with identity, to co-founding Faith No More and navigating heroin addiction and the AIDS crisis, Bottum’s story is both deeply personal and culturally electric.
What makes this memoir remarkable is its voice: candid, poetic, and free of self-pity. Bottum’s reflections on addiction, fame, grief, and love are threaded with humor and a punk defiance that celebrates survival itself. With cameos from Kurt and Courtney, Guns N’ Roses, and other icons of the era, The Royal We is not a tell-all—it’s a testament: to art, queerness, and the resilience that turns ruin into revelation.
Acclaimed by readers and peers alike, with praise from Maggie Nelson, Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, Brontez Purnell, and Chloë Sevigny, The Royal We stands as one of the most authentic and exhilarating rock memoirs of its generation.
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