Book Review: 33 Days Touring in a Van. Sleeping On Floors. Chasing A Dream

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”

— T.E. Lawrence.




Book review:                            33 DAYS Touring In A Van.
                           Sleeping on Floors.Chasing A Dream.


                                         Author Bill See

We all have dreams. Some of us pursue them, relentlessly, and often to the detriment of anyone or anything that gets in our way.


Some of us say, “It’s all too hard” and then spend the rest of our damned lives wondering...” What if?” This is about four amazing human beings that chased their dream. Without causing damage to anyone else on the journey…at least not with intent.


In 1987, four young men shared a common dream. They hungered for that bright shining star in their sky, and they had the guts to go in search of it. They didn’t understand on the day they left L.A just how deeply committed they would need to be to the music and each other. The 33 days of their journey altered their lives forever.


Bill See the author kept a journal of those 33 days that changed the lives of he and his friends. I am so glad that he did, for had he not; I may have never had the delight of taking that trip with him, here and now in 2011. For such is the quality of this Author’s work that you can’t be anywhere else, you are there, in the van, on the road, meeting sleazebags, saints, and sinners in all the wrong places at all the right times.


Meet the band members of Divine Weeks: Bill See: The author of this book and the singer with the band it all begins with Bill; he was 22 years old and hungered after a dream. Not to be super famous, not to live a life of "sex drugs and rock’n roll", that’s not what this was about. He believed that it would be for the good of all and not merely about the dreams of one. His dysfunctional early life had him searching for a pristine moment of clarity, a moment when all the pain and the insecurity would merge and become a musical voice, a musical voice of honesty, a musical voice of integrity. The music and the making of it, the memory, the chance to do it and get it right! How many of us wish we had the balls to go for it and make it happen? I smell the back of the van after days on the road, no windows, no air, all fodder for memories he recounts that will make you laugh out loud just before your eyes fill with tears and you catch yourself nodding in agreement and understanding.

Bill See is a fine author; he brings the pages alive and makes you belong for the duration of the journey... you share it from the inside.


Meet Raj: The lead guitarist. A young man raised in the belief that family and tradition were all there was. Raised to believe that seeking an individual dream was somehow betraying what and who you were. Of the four band members, Raj’s and Bill's stories touched me deeply; they struggled with the yearning to make it as a part of this thing, this music, and this band. They fought against everything they had been taught to believe; to just once…just once; step outside the family and their demands and go for the dream. The moments of reflection into their individual personas show just how very close the band members became. They were brothers, unasked, and unrelentingly... brothers all.


Meet George: The Bass Player. Larger than life and twice as funny…ultimately belonging to the band allowed him to move beyond his preplanned and preordained life.


Meet Dave: The drummer Dave is a street smart survivor, with a huge heart and the gift of the gab. He has the ability to keep the guys centred when this road trip hits the dark edges.


Meet Ian: The Road Manager...The only non band member on the tour…The doer of all things miraculous, Ian’s steady hand, and calm demeanor helped keep the dream on track.


I read this book way ahead of schedule. Naively thinking I could pick it up and put it down over a period of time. Wrong! I began reading and the sunrise startled me into finding I had read all of it throughout the night and had lost myself in its pages.


Do yourselves a favor folks, if you only read one non-fiction book this year make it this one. I am left with a knowing smile on my face and the realization that I have just shared in something quite wonderful.

A couple of quotes from the book.

"This book is for everyone who’s stood at their crossroads with a dream screaming inside wondering whether to choose the road that goes off the map or fold up their tent and head back home. "

“It’s not about the having and getting, it’s about the being and becoming...we’re artists, wounded birds…descending, ascending…always chasing the muse."