I Am Ozzy Paperback – Illustrated, January 3, 2011

Great book. Very Ozzy, funny, honest, shocking (but not). My first Rock concert was Black Sabbath I was 13, tickets were like $3.00. We piled into the back of our friend’s pick-up truck and headed to the concert. Loved the show The Osbourne’s. Already missing Ozzy.

Great book so far! I received the book on the 21st of July and found out about his passing the next day... so sad, I was looking forward to more of Ozzy after reading his book.

Great read on an Icon.

I Am Ozzy is a quick and fun read. Ozzy goes for a conversational and light tone as he tells his hilarious road stories, but like some recent rock and roll autobiographies that I've recently read (Slash & The Heroin Diaries), Ozzy devotes an over-proportionate amount of time going over and over his alcohol and drug abuse. I was afraid that the book might turn into a dissertation about what happens when you become an addict, then hypocritically preach to the reader about staying off drugs. And sure, Ozzy spent a lot of time recounting his drug and alcohol induced escapades, but he NEVER preached. On the contrary, he couldn't care less what the reader did with his stories of mayhem while being wasted out of his mind.The first two-thirds of the book are the most fun and contain the most amounts of laugh out loud moments. And I mean laugh out loud; I'd be sitting on a plane with my Kindle and suddenly break out laughing like a madman. You'd have thought I was Ozzy based on some of the looks that I got.Ozzy starts by talking us through his life leading up to Black Sabbath; you might think this to move a bit slowly, but it doesn't because of how interesting it was to hear about the development of one of the world's most renowned rock & roll bands. Plus, if you're an Ozzy fan like me, the anticipation of already knowing what it's all leading up to keeps the pages turning at a quick pace. The book is a treat once Ozzy gets into the story of Black Sabbath and the crazy and comical stories that occurred during this period. Ozzy spends a deserved portion of the book on the pre-Black Sabbath and Black Sabbath era.Ozzy finishes off the first two-thirds of the book with the demise of Sabbath and the start of his solo career over the first two records (Blizzard of Ozz & Diary of a Madman). The combination of this being only a 3 year period and Ozzy's limited ability to remember much due to his alcohol and drug abuse make this part of the book relatively and sadly too short. Nevertheless, it is a part of the book that is filled with classic, comical and of course one of the most tragic moments.The last third of the book is primarily devoted to Ozzy's rise to worldwide star-status through MTV's The Osbournes, his continuing accounts of drug abuse and alcoholism, and his eventual road to a cleaner way of life. Unlike the first two-thirds of the book, little time or mention is made of the making of his subsequent records and how he recruited the personnel for his new band(s). I would have liked to have seen more on his road escapades with Zakk Wylde versus the amount of time he took to talk about the day to day filming of The Osbournes.Anyway, I Am Ozzy is a good, funny read and I'd recommend it to Ozzy fans and casual readers alike. Here's a funny story that's not included in Ozzy's book: In early 2010 while Ozzy was appearing on The Howard Stern Show to promote the book, Howard recounted a section early on in the book about how the members of Black Sabbath would send women up to Ozzy's hotel room while the band was out on the road. Howard said, "Man, that must have been cool to have all those women." Ozzy said in his mumbled way, "No, that never happened. No one sent me women." Howard said, "But Ozzy it's right here in your book. Have you read your own book?" Ozzy said quite simply, "No." Laughter erupts in the studio. The guy really is crazy.

Ozzy is hilarious and touching..you'll cry over a childhood story then about choke laughing at the next sentence. He's insightful, about his own life as well as other people. If you love Ozzy and are a fan of music, you'll enjoy this book. I wish I had bought it before he passed, but I think I'm glad I didn't because his passing would be that much more crushing, and Im devastated enough as it is.

If you love or even like Ozzy or even just want to know more about his interesting whirlwind of a life this book is for you!

Forget all the negative reviews,take it from a fan of Ozzy/Sabbath,Randy Rhodes,Zakk Wylde & metal in general. If you are a fan of any of those things & have a sense of humor then this is a book for you ! In this book you will learn about Ozzy,where he was born,where & how he grew up(which was a hard life) and insight as to how Ozzy got into the path of Geezer & Bill,he went too school with Tony and they met back up years later. Insight & info about their formation and details about the band throughout the span of 8 Sabbath albums(all detailed) & why he got released from Sabbath. Then how he got a kick in the butt from Sharon to get himself going back into making music. Also how he came to know Sharon & how they got together,it gives you details about the formation of the solo band,meeting Randy Rhodes and him joining,as well as details about his tragic death. It tells you about his first wife Thelma & their children,tells about all the booze and debauchery in the daily life of Ozzy. Then there is info about lawsuits with band members,meeting Zakk and his time in jail. Playing on the road with 3 children on the bus on tour,marrying Sharon. Info about the Osbournes show,how Ozzy eventually kicked the drugs & smoking and drinking. Tells you about his tragic accident with the quad bike,plus stories about the Alamo,the infamous bat & dove biting stories as well as many others that eill have you laughing constantly. The pranks he'd pull on Bill & Tony as well as the story about,well the chapter entitled "Killing the Vicar" is hilarious. It is like your hearing Ozzy tell you the story personally,throughout the book i swear i could hear Ozzy's voice in my head telling me these insane,sometimes tragic,sometimes low & alot of good times. Experiences with the white powder,rohypnol,hashish,pot,cough syrup,amphetamines,booze,etc. The book has some interludes with alot of unseen photos as well as some really insightful stuff i never knew about Ozzy or Sabbath(like how Bloody Sabbath was recorded in a haunted mansion,while he scared the hell outta Bill) as well as memories on the road with Motley Crue,the idea of Ozzfest,Zakk Wylde. The issues with the teen suicide,the issues with PETA threats,the circumstances leading up to the mistake in choking his beloved wife Sharon. Several times he thanks her for keeping him happy,alive and going. Trust me there is so much more in this book,i could not put it down i read it in under 2 days. Trust me any fan of Ozzy or Sabbath wants & needs this book,it is an instant classic. Must own this hilarious book.

Despite the terrible aspect of substance abuse and excess, this was entertaining to the point I couldn’t stop reading. My wife always knew I was reading this because I was laughing out loud. The best is I could always read this hearing a British accent. I learned a lot of words and innuendos. It was like Ozzy wrote every word. And you can tell everything was from his heart.