Book Review: Lita Ford – Living Like a Runaway

I’ll be honest, I don’t usually do book reviews because, well, I’m not really a book reviewer. I mean, the book would have to either be really shitty and worth talking about (ie. Tony Iommi’s book) or they would have to be absolutely stellar (ie. Louder Than Hell: An Oral History of Heavy Metal). After reading Lita Ford’s book “Living Like a Runaway: A Memoir“, it didn’t take long for it to be added to the list of some of the best autobiographies I’ve read.

I’ve been a Lita Ford fan since the release of her 1984 album Dancin’ On the Edge and even back then I could see that Lita Ford was so much more than a smokin’ hot blonde who could wear leather better than anything on this God given planet. She was a monster guitar player, she could sing her ass off, and even my young self could hear her fire and her determination to prove herself in a male dominated world. By the time the Lita album was released, I was a full on fan and I followed her all the way up to her Dangerous Curves albums which is where I lost touch with her material. Over the years I would always revisit her catalog and enjoy her material but her life story was something I never really thought too much about.

As a young teen reading rock magazines, I was familiar with her marriage to W.A.S.P guitarist Chris Holmes and the fact that she played in the Runaways but I didn’t know much else about her. When I heard she was putting out Living Like a Runaway: A Memoir, I just knew that this was a book I had to read. I’m sure you all have read those books that you just can’t put down and this is one of those books. It takes me forever and a fucking day to read even some of the best written autobiographies but this book was read in no more than 5 days. I literally couldn’t put it down. From the influential moment she saw Black Sabbath to her rise from the ashes of a torturous marriage to former Nitro singer Jim Gillette (who she won’t even address by name) and all things in between, as corny as it may sound, Living Like a Runaway: A Memoir is a story of struggle, determination, and survival. Lita did not hold back at all when it came to talking about her abusive relationship with Tony Iommi (who apparently suffered from cocaine dick) or even her sexual conquests which I honestly had to give her a high five for. Hey, if David Lee Roth can do it, why can’t Lita do it?

Living Like a Runaway: A Memoir is an absolutely amazing story of someone who has lived through it all, almost artistically and creatively buried herself only to return and do so in top form. Living Like a Runaway: A Memoir is empowering, hilarious, and uplifting all at once. Even if you were just a casual fan of Lita Ford, this book is well worth the listen and I can almost guarantee that you will finish this book a fan. For fans like myself, it only made me appreciate, love, and respect her more than ever and reminded me just how great her material was. After reading Living Like a Runaway: A Memoir, I hear all of her songs with a different set of ears and I see the stories with a whole new vision.

About The Author

Don

I have been running this blog since 2009. AKA as the Great Southern Brainfart, Southeast of Heaven is my baby now and forever. I’ve had my ups and downs with bands over the years but they are all great experiences and memories. My Swedish friend Charlie said once, “Don is known for being one of the meanest bastards in American rock journalism.” It’s nice to be loved.

I also once took a shit in Anthrax’s dressing room toilet and didn’t flush.

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