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I was thrilled when “Not Dead & Not for Sale: A Memoir” came out in 2011—and then majorly disappointed. A huge fan of Scott Weiland, I held his book in my hands at a Barnes & Noble and thought it looked too short, way too miniscule to fit all the hefty tales that typical bigtime rock ‘n’ rollers expand on with bravado for four hundred pages. Additionally, seeing all the trite graphics and well-known lyrics by Weiland splattered throughout the pages felt like wasted space and was a turnoff. I put the book back on the shelf and forgot all about it.

Following Weiland’s sad recent death, I had no choice but to revisit his book again. I bought it on my Kindle without hesitation, and it turns out my preconceived notions about the book were both right and wrong. Among his other artistic talents, Weiland was also a solid writer with a knack for the dramatic. His tale was especially riveting in the beginning, where I really enjoyed reading about his home life as a child and his interest in extracurricular activities such as sports and the church choir.

The singer was also a deep thinker who was very aware of his himself and his surroundings. From his boyhood home in Ohio to sunny California, it was back and forth for Weiland cross country during his eventful childhood: two very different dads, two lives, and two ways of viewing the world. Interestingly, it's been revealed recently that Weiland in fatherhood emulated some of the same childrearing habits as his real dad, but that's probably a future story to be told elsewhere. As the book progresses, Weiland relates stories about his past women and other teenage pursuits. When he gets music in his blood and starts pursuing it with abandon, you’ll feel like you’re right there with him in the California sunshine, the clubs, on the stages, and in the dark areas where forbidden fruit beckoned.

The chapters are extremely short, which at first worked for me; they seemed to complement Weiland’s frenetic and fast lifestyle, and the material was interesting, not glossed over. But as I read on the feeling was inescapable that Weiland could have expanded much more on his brief narratives, his circumstances, his surroundings, his music, and his bandmates. The guys in Stone Temple Pilots seemed like either brothers or traitors in Weiland’s eyes, depending on the current state of his habits. Dean Deleo in particular, though close to Weiland in the beginning, seemed to lose patience quickly with his bandmate.

In one of the latter chapters titled “Parisian Nightmare,” Weiland writes about a truly harrowing experience in which he was alone in Paris and persuaded by several men to go to a party. It turns out these guys were bad eggs, and Weiland realized he had to flee from them or risk something fatal. As it was, he was injured from the experience. Just imagine ... because of his wandering ways Weiland could have lost his life to a bunch of hoodlums in Paris. He relates a few other stories in which he’s buying drugs in shady areas and attacked. When I think about events like these it makes me sad for Scott Weiland. In some ways he had a very charmed life, and he seemed to be a charming guy, but “Not Dead & Not for Sale” also reveals many of the disparaging times of his existence, which was both poetic and profane. Probably the way he liked it.

No lack of substance here (literally). True, some readers, reviewers and fans might be disappointed by the terse, tenuous and to-the-point chapters of Scott Weiland's autobiography. However, I found his memoir insightful and edifying. I think he was wise to say just enough and the rest can be gleaned from his lyrics and his vast contribution to music, which is most important.

This bio is fast paced, like the author's tempestuous lifestyle, and supports the fact that some of our most gifted artists are often our most troubled (see also my review on Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder). It is sometimes a mixed-blessing, curse or nature of the beast. Like the poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said: "If my devils are to leave me, I am afraid my angels will take flight as well.”

Akin to Jim Morrison's biography "No One Here Gets Out Alive" (NOHGOA), "Not Dead And Not For Sale" (NDANFS) follows a similar trajectory and classic Three Act Tragedy as we watch The Bow Drawn, The Arrow Flies, The Arrow Falls.

Scott Wieland was a self-professed chameleon. He was immensely talented, intelligent, instinctive and most of all deeply sensitive. You can see his influence and "stamp" in all projects ranging from STP, Velvet Revolver and The Wildabouts. He was also a colossal loss, and his lifestyle serves as a cautionary tale.

In the final analysis Rock and Roll, at its best, is a circus show of a business, as dangerous as it entertaining. Scott Wieland took it to the brink as he once wrote in "You Got No Right:"

"I've took it farther on the outside
I've took it nearly to the brink
And if you've seen me on the outside
You would have barely seen me breathe..."

Addiction is one hell of a demon to slay, and it took a lot of guts to share personal issues of abuse and personal struggles and his bipolar disorder. It is a constant source of frustration, disappointment and devastation to those close to the addict, especially true friends and band mates. He got up close and personal with the hard stuff. Jim Morrison, as it was often reported, steered clear of heroin and that substance might have eventually killed him in Paris, albeit accidental or speculative.

Unlike NOHGOA, there is no mystery with Scott Weiland's death and how the Arrow Falls, the hero and author of this tragedy dies on a December 3, 2015, to the world's shock and sadness. He outlived Mr. MoJo Risin' by 21 years (July 3, 1971).

Unfortunately, the dragon or demon known as addiction won in the end with Scott Weiland. He leaves us with great insight and three decades of music to enjoy, resonating and/or relating without having to experience the pain ourselves.

As Jim Morrison once wrote: "There Will Never Be Another One Like You..."

That applies to both Morrison and Weiland.