Adios, Motherfucker Book Summary

In 'Adios, Motherfucker,' Michael Ruffino weaves a daring tale of self-discovery and transformation. Following a protagonist deeply entrenched in chaos, the journey unveils a gripping narrative of liberation from toxic relationships and societal norms. With sharp wit and unapologetic honesty, Ruffino challenges readers to confront their own limits. This compelling read prompts introspection about the power of saying goodbye to what no longer serves us. Will the protagonist find redemption in reclaiming their identity, or will the shadows of the past prevail?

By Michael Ruffino

Published: 2017

""Sometimes you have to say goodbye to what you thought was your life, to finally embrace the one waiting for you beyond the chaos.""

Book Review of Adios, Motherfucker

The riotous and unbridled confessions of a debauched rock and roller and his adventures in excess while touring Middle America on the ’80’s hair-metal nostalgia circuit The Unband emerged from the suburbs of late ’80’s New England and drank, drugged, crashed, and burned their way across the United States until, on the brink of the new century and with the help of their dominatrix manager, a drug-dealing patron bent on revolution, and a willful record executive or two, the band got their Big Break, in a collapsing music industry where boy-band pop ruled and rock music had been declared dead. Equal parts This Is Spinal Tap and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Adios, Motherfucker is the candid and hilarious account of that experience, now updated and expanded from the version published in 2004 as Gentlemanly Repose. In this epic, intoxicated memoir, Unband bassist Michael Ruffino takes readers along on a raucous tear across a surrealistic landscape populated with crack-smoking Girl Scouts, beer-drinking chimps, two-fisted femmes fatales, and murderous headbangers by the horde, while on tour with giants of heavy metal including Ronnie James Dio, Lemmy Kilmister, Def Leppard, Anthrax, and a veritable Who Was Who of reunited ’80’s hair bands. Into that volatile mix, The Unband brought do-it-yourself pyrotechnics, a giant inflatable hand (for making giant inflatable gestures), a high tolerance for substance abuse of all kinds, and an infectious love of rock and roll and everything it stands for. Chronicling everything from the drug-fueled chaos in the underground caverns of California to shotgun-toting barmaids on Hamburg’s Reeperbahn, Adios, Motherfucker is a reader’s all-access pass, a comic odyssey through the netherworld of heavy rock.

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"Sometimes you have to say goodbye to what you thought was your life, to finally embrace the one waiting for you beyond the chaos."

Adios, Motherfucker

By Michael Ruffino