The Royal We
by Roddy Bottum
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Pub Date Nov 04 2025 | Archive Date Oct 31 2025
Akashic Books | Akashic Books, Ltd.
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Description
THE ROYAL WE is a poetic survey of a time set in a magical city that once was and is no more. It is a memoir written by Roddy Bottum, a musician and artist, that documents through prose his coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco, a charged era of bicycle messengers, punk rock, street witches, wheatgrass, and rebellion. The book follows his travels from Los Angeles, growing up gay with no role models, to San Francisco, where he formed Faith No More and went on to tour the world relentlessly, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon.
The book is an elevated wallop of tongue and insight, much more than a tell-all. There are personal tales of historical pinnacles like Kurt and Courtney, Guns N’ Roses, and recaps of gold records and arena rock—but it’s the testimonies of tragedy and addiction and preposterous life-spins that make this work so unique and intriguing. Bottum writes about his dark and harrowing past in a clear-eyed voice that is utterly devoid of self-pity, and his emboldened and confident pronouncements of achievement and unorthodox heroism flow in an unstoppable train that’s both captivating and inspirational.
A remarkable portrayal of a creative individual in emergence, a gay man figuring out how to be a gay man, and a detailed look at the nuance of 1980s pre–tech boom San Francisco, The Royal We will be greatly appreciated by people who loved Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl, Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Hua Hsu’s Stay True, and other memoirs about the artist’s life.
Advance Praise
"Roddy Bottum’s The Royal We doesn’t just offer an important portrait of an era, scene, and sound—it also gives voice to a sensibility all Bottum’s own, along with offering a startling cri de coeur about loss and death. It’s a pounding example of what it sounds like to be ‘alive not dead,’ and we are the luckier for it." -Maggie Nelson, author of The Argonauts
"A very honest and extremely well-articulated story of coming of age, parallel and within the evolution of the alternative music world. Roddy Bottum comes into his sexuality in a homophobic music scene, creating a stunning landscape of alienation and drug use that he manages to lift himself out of. There’s an exuberance to the telling of his adventure that guides the reader along through the darkest of moments." -Kim Gordon, author of Girl in a Band
"This memoir of a rarefied world made me realize I was so lucky to live through it on the fringes—San Francisco in the eighties during the glory days of punk rock, written as if Salinger was there, queer, and started a band. A band I was actually in, but they rarely admitted! Roddy has been an incredible influence on my life, love, friendship, and language. A brilliant and gorgeous book—just like Roddy Bottum." -Courtney Love, musician
"The Gen X Cancerian daddy king of California rock has delivered to us an oral history of a time when queer boys who rocked still played hard and RULED the underground. Emotionally charged, but never reckless (okay, maybe a BIT reckless), this book flows with an emotional IQ that only Roddy Bottum could give us. All the grit and grime aside, this is a story based in wisdom, recounting, and, above all, beauty." -Brontez Purnell, author of 100 Boyfriends
"Thump, thump, thump went my heart as the words popped and the pages turned and I fell more and more in love with Roddy Bottum. Written with the right amount of flourish and punk abandon—what a treat." -Chloë Sevigny, actress
"An alt-rock sideman recalls navigating queerness, heroin, and a now-vanished San Francisco bohemia . . . Bottum’s candor is refreshing, and the book serves as a vibrant snapshot of a time when San Francisco was better known as a creative haven than a tech-bro bunkhouse. A melancholy tribute to punky, grassroots community-building." -Kirkus Reviews
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781636142692 |
| PRICE | $27.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 272 |
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 6 members
Featured Reviews
John S, Librarian
A moving and blisteringly honest look behind the curtain
of not just being part of such an important movement
in American music this story also tells coming of age
in the Camelot like San Francisco of that time.
A time and place that were never quite seen again.
J M, Reviewer
Roddy Bottum’s "The Royal We" is a gripping, beautifully crafted memoir that blends vulnerability, artistry, and grit. Bottum traces his journey from closeted adolescence to creative awakening with unflinching honesty, revealing the chaos and beauty of queer life in 1980s and 1990s Los Angeles and San Francisco. His personal reflections on addiction, community, and identity are searing yet deeply compassionate, capturing both the darkness he survived and the resilience that carried him forward. What makes the book unforgettable is Bottum’s distinct voice (his writer's voice is just as special as his singing voice) -- it is lyrical, raw, and unexpectedly tender.
This is a powerful, haunting portrait of becoming, healing, and claiming one’s truth. Will definitely be recommending it to all my Gen X friends.
Ashley W, Librarian
Thank you Net Galley for the chance to read this moving and soul bearing story. The rise and fall of friends, the touring, the couch surfing all lends spellbinding allure to a world we’d all love to be a part of. Poetic in its prose, open in its faults and captivating in its ability to expose the humanity in the world around.
Reviewer 317847
Excellent and harrowing memoir from someone i admired for over thirty years. A must buy due to how it peers into his early career and hidden addictions.
Reviewer 1201421
Roddy Bottum's recollections of a lost world (or worlds, I guess—the city, the scene, a time when selling out was scoffed at and going on tour could make you money) are charming, personal, and extremely witty. His prose avoids the dangerous part of telling old stories: becoming overly wistful. When talking about famous friends he's kind, not sensationalizing, and while there are plenty of events that count as fascinating or juicy, this never feels dishy, which I like. It made me want to hang out with him, which is not something I always feel after reading a memoir by someone who made enduring music or art. Also, this is a really important queer story. Lighting a candle and wishing for a CRICKETS or Imperial Teen record that's produced by Naomi Campbell in the 2020s. .
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