Book Review: ‘A Banquet of Consequences: True Life Adventures of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and the Feds’ by Jake Rohrer

First of all, only a small part of this book, A Banquet of Consequences: True Life Adventures of Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and the Feds, is about Creedence Clearwater Revival.  The band and Rohrer’s association with them cover about 60 pages of the 280 in the book, making the blurb from recording engineer Russ Gary which states that “No one has told the Creedence story as eloquently” rather misleading. While Rohrer was indeed a part of their management team and later John Fogerty’s personal assistant when he went solo, that was not the only interesting career he chose to pursue. His second, dope dealing and smuggling career and its consequences takes up much more of the book.  That is where the Feds and ultimately prison come in.

Once you realize what you are actually reading about, this is a fascinating book about Rohrer’s life in the drug trade and in prison. It is not one of those inspirational books about finding religion in jail, and it’s not one of those hard-hitting first-hand reports of the horrors of the prison experience.

No, Rohrer actually found his time in medium and then minimum security prison quite enjoyable. In fact, he rather enjoyed his time in the drug trade, too. He was not the leader of some gang cartel; he was just a guy who sold cocaine and, while he does not do it now and he does not endorse it, he’s not very apologetic about  it either. In fact, he treats it very much as though it was any other satisfying job that just happened to lead to trouble with the FBI and prison time.

The book is actually very interesting and often amusing. Rohrer has an easy, engaging style and seems to be a very likeable guy. He introduces the reader to a variety of colorful and interesting characters both in and out of prison, and those characters do include John Fogerty and the rest of Creedence Clearwater Revival (who had nothing to do with the drug trade.)

Whether traveling around with CCR and hanging out with rock stars, sailing the seas like a modern-day pirate, playing prison baseball, or selling cars for a living, Rohrer certainly seems to have always known how to make the best of a situation.

Pick up the book for a somewhat enlightening and entertaining memoir that just happens to include some interesting information about a famous band along the  way, and you will probably enjoy your reading experience.