The Grand Illusion - Love, Lies, and My Life with Styx takes us from Chuck's Italian Catholic upbringing through a brief time in a seminary, a stint as a high school art teacher, through the founding (with his twin brother, John and Dennis DeYoung) of the band that went on to crank out four consecutive platinum albums and sell more than 54-million records. All of this is set against the backdrop of Chuck's struggles to deal with his homosexuality, and his eventual battle with HIV.

For Styx fans, the book offers a fascinating "insider's view" of the formation and evolution of the band. Panozzo hopes it will serve a larger purpose, too. "On the surface, it's the story about one gay man's struggle to come to terms with himself. But it is really about anyone struggling to come to terms with a troubling aspect of his or her life. If I can make one person question why he's hiding his authentic self -- or living in any kind of denial -- and give him courage to make a change, then I've succeeded."

This is a "tell all" book, but it is about himself that the author "tells all" in a way that gives a new perspective on a band that we just thought we knew everything about.

This is a "must read" for anyone who is a Styx fan, or who can appreciate a true life story of someone who privately battles his personal demons even as he is publicly enjoying professional success.