Nineteen eighty-four was a momentous year for me, it was the year I discovered Iron Maiden and its lead singer Bruce Dickinson, respectively my all-time favorite band and singer. I had seen Bruce Dickinson in interviews, and thought him a charming, open, very witty and well- educated man, that he also was a talented fencer and flew airplanes, and that's about it. It's quite a lot, you say? In Mr. Dickinson's case, it's only the beginning. WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO? relates the English singer's school days, and joining a band, which were not particularly eventful, as far as rock stars go. He somewhat happened to be at the right place, at the right time on a few occasions, such as when he joined his first major band, Samson, and then the mighty Iron Maiden. I felt it was at that point that the book got really interesting. Mr. Dickinson is known for his unique voice and delivery that revolutionized heavy metal music, one of the most amusing anecdotes is how he got the moniker of "human air-raid siren".

WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO? is unlike any biography I have ever read, but in a way, how it should be. There is no gossip, no name-dropping, and the author goes even as far as not mentioning his marriages, divorces, and children, by choice, only a couple of nameless girlfriends in passing. This is not a book about sex and drugs and rock and roll: drugs play an infinitesimal part in the author's life, who barely touched them, and he did not surround himself with drug users either. The sex? Does it really matter, beyond the titillation factor? While I had thought at some point: "Wasn't there a wife?" It really occurred to me only while reading the Afterword, and I did not mind one bit if the aspects that are usually predominant in biographies. This book really is a biography in its pure meaning, that is the author telling the reader about himself, and his life up to the time of writing.

Bruce Dickinson's is not your average rock star. Obviously, he has been a very successful artist for decades, but what makes this book so very different is that music constitutes only a part of what makes Bruce Dickinson who he is: a true Renaissance man. He learned to fence early in life, it was a passion, and he reached world-class caliber, and that is a captivating part of the book. Then he got serious about flying, his dedication is remarkable, and I will let the readers judge for themselves. There are extraordinary moments in WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO?, such as when the author was in Sarajevo in 1994, which is hair-raising; he was also in New York on 9/11, and although I always knew that Mr. Dickinson was a compassionate human being, those chapters are very touching. Bruce Dickinson has always been very straightforward, and the chapter when he speaks about his getting cancer is incredible; no thriller could ever match this. WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO? is a riveting story of a man's story: there are very few things that Mr. Dickinson has not done, he excels at almost everything when he sets his mind to it, and he has done an astounding amount of things. When the author talks about music, it is almost a transcendental experience: how he felt when he heard the music that really moved him, and particularly his approach to singing and perfecting his vocal technique; oddly enough, those moments were absolutely riveting.

Bruce Dickinson has always come off as a genial man, and his biography confirms it; I felt like I was having a pint or a cuppa with a long-time friend, who had fabulous stories to tell, and I hope he will grace us with more. Mr. Dickinson is, as expected, clever and sharp; well- spoken, and very private. Iron Maiden fans will gobble this up, but a reader doesn't even have to know Bruce Dickinson, or even like rock music for that matter, because WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO? is indeed a book about an astonishing singer and showman, but most of all it is an inspiring book about a man who chose never to compromise and lives to its fullest by giving it everything he's got. WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO? If Bruce Dickinson doesn't know, he'll find out.