Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy

October 3, 2011
This highly entertaining and often enlightening (really!) collection of the best q&as from Osbourne’s (I Am Ozzy) popular weekly advice column in the Sunday Times (and sometimes in Rolling Stone) is based on Ozzy’s notoriously excessive lifestyle as lead singer of metal legend Black Sabbath—the book’s disclaimer reads: “Dr. Ozzy’s memory of events between 1968 and the present are not entirely reliable.” But Ozzy writes like the charming, avuncular Muppet-style goofball he displayed in his 2002–2005 reality show The Osbournes. Half of the book features wacky medical questions (“I crushed my finger between two heavy steel pipes: now it’s swollen and black. Do you think it’s broken?”) and equally wacky answers (“This question isn’t as stupid as it sounds, ’cos I once broke my tibia—my shinbone—and I didn’t realize it... because I was off my nut and fell down a flight of stairs”). But the book’s other half—obviously showcasing the knowledge of co-writer Ayres—gives sound and sensitive advice, especially to questions in the areas of drug abuse and mental health. (Q: “I can’t control my anger.” A: “There’s got to be an underlying cause—something in your past, or maybe even just anxiety. Anger is a symptom.”) Who knew that Ozzy really meant it way back in 1971 when he wrote in “Children of the Grave” that people must “Show the world that love is still the life you must embrace.”

May 15, 2011

Would you take advice from this man? Maybe not, but what a hoot to read this book, drawn from Osbourne's columns in Rolling Stone and the London Sunday Times.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
Experiencing a void in your advice intake since Dear Abbie and Ann Landers were replaced by younger busybodies? Consider this collection of advice and bromides from raconteur supreme Ozzy Osbourne. He's unlikely to prescribe flogging with a wet noodle, as one of his notable predecessors did, but he has his black nail-polished finger on the pulse of modern domestic conundrums when he prescribes proactive strategies to resolve touchy situations, like a masturbating teenage son who lacks the common decency to use a tissue to corral the pearls he casts, or a 13-year-old daughter merrily sexting her boyfriend and not, apparently, covering her trail very well. As Ozzy and the book's repeated editorial warnings and disclaimers warn, he is not a qualified medical professionalseriously, caution is advised. Still, Dr. Osbourne's advice is more down-to-earth than what more traditional sources offer. If someone invented nicotine today, it would be in the same class as heroin, he states, adding that he speaks as a veteran user of both tobacco and heroin.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

Starred review from January 2, 2012
A legendary rock star turned advice columnist, Osbourne offers his unique take on life’s everyday problems and predicaments in this hilarious collection of his best pieces from the pages of the Sunday Times and Rolling Stone. Although it’s slightly disappointing that Osborne himself doesn’t read this audio edition, Frank Skinner—who also narrated the author’s memoir, I Am Ozzy—does a commendable job without resorting to a stuttering, marble-mouthed impression of the famously incomprehensible rocker. Skinner also deftly voices the many advice-seekers’ often inane letters, which Osbourne is only too happy to answer in his own special way. Laugh-out-load funny and surprisingly informative, this audio is a must for fans. A Grand Central hardcover.