Paul Stanley's aim in Backstage Pass is to detail his life lessons without implication that you should do the same as he. Rather, you have your own path to success, and his insights may help you along the way.
In Backstage Pass, Mr. Stanley does not offer any golden lessons to a successful life that anyone who is in their mid-20s and up doesn't already know.
For instance, "I made the conscious decision that the best way to lead is by example," Mr. Stanley writes when he is opining on parenting. Lead by example? Now that is a shocking revelation. One that I certainly had never heard before.
One more diddy on parenting from Mr. Stanley: "Children are born with a blank slate and we parents are the ones to do the initial writing on it." The stupidest parent in the world knows this. Yet, he thinks it's revelatory and should be in his book.
Backstage Pass seems to be an amalgamation of his time in therapy mixed with stories about KISS that almost all KISS fans have heard before. Just short of halfway through the book he pens, "I'm not saying anything new." Why did he wait so long to admit that?
Relevant points are brought to the fore on occasion, such as the power struggle in his first marriage to actress Pamela Bowen and how such matters can be handled.
A bit of humor hits the pages as well. Mr. Stanley's side of the family is Jewish. His second wife, attorney Erin Sutton, is Catholic.
They honor both religions. His synopsis of the Jewish holidays is spot on, "They tried to kill us, they didn't, let's eat." 🙂 His family prays every night before they go to bed.
For me, no matter how grounded a 1%er is, they live in a world so far removed from the regular nine-fiver that they can't relate to the beauty and strife of the average person's life.
No knock on the 1% class or Mr. Stanley. I am quite sure I'd be afflicted in the same manner if I ever strike it rich.
Look, I get that people who are uber-rich wind up in bubbles where they are never, or hardly ever, told they are wrong. Mr. Stanley, I am sure, is no exception. Which is the reason why he thinks he is bestowing wisdom when he mostly delivers retreaded cliches.
On the whole, I am not a fan of Backstage Pass, but that does not take away from how much I love Mr. Stanley.
If you are inclined to read a book of Paul's, go with Face the Music: A Life Exposed. That is his autobiography in which he drops some great tidbits about his life and KISS.
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~30~
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