Such a shame!!
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I'd been looking forward to reading this for a while, I'm a big fan of Blur, and always thought AJ was a good guy - having read this I came away hating him! His writing style is hard work to get through, as well as slightly pretentious and bordering on the twee.
He gives very little insight into the workings of Blur and what it was like to be part of the biggest band of the 90's and instead tends to tell contrived anecdotes about his 'mis-adventures', which are actually quite boring.
Its a shame because you could have got a really good behind the scenes tale, but instead it missed the mark. Sorry...
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Fantastically entertaining
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I too am surprised by some of the negative reviews - this is my book of the year so far, fantastically entertaining and incredibly well written. Maybe it helps that I was never a huge Blur fan - I just love the way it portrays Alex James' rise to fame and the nature of celebrity. Funny, honest and an absolute joy to read. And I now have a bit of a crush on Alex...
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Highly entertaining
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I am surprised that so many people seem to be down on this book because it isn't a definitive story about Blur the band. As I see it, why would it be? This is a book that is about Alex James. As it is written by Alex James this makes it the definitive book about Alex James, and it's really rather good.
He is amusing, self-deprecating in many ways, honest and funny. He writes well and is full of enthusiasm, which spills out of the book at every page. It is the story of one man's life, loves and enthusiasms being filtered through the experience of being in one of the world's most successful bands.
I loved it and just hope he writes a lot more. A book about farming, a book about cheese, I don't care really. Just more of a very talented writer soon please. Thankyou.
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If you want a detailed account of Blur, get 3862 Days
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As this is the autobiography of Alex James. Which he makes very clear. If you want an insiders memories of the band, Albarn or Coxons autobio is the one to wait for (probably Albarns if you want stuff about Think Tank).
There is very little focus on the band in the 2nd half of the book, whereas about half of the first involves aspects of the band. There isn't really a need for him to detail the band, there are 2 books already that do that, The Last Party (or Britpop, depending on which edition you get) and 3862 Days. The latter does go into far more detail as it's purely about the band, although it was published in 1999, so it does need an updated re-issue.
This is the book about HIS life, not the bands, and for what it is, it's very good. From the lifestyle he seems to have lead, he really must have written this down before hand, as events would be hard to remember after his nights.
Overall, a very funny book that shows the downsides of rock and roll hedonism, and how you can turn your life around. As he said, "It's horrid being in a rut, no matter how nice the rut looks from the outside."
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Amazing band not an amazing autobiography
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I read this book thinking it would bring back memories of the time and give me an insight into the amazing band that was Blur, although as it developed it was clearly only going to be about the strange small world around Alex James. He was a very selfish man going through an unusual experience and, in my view, took a very arrogant view of the whole period in his life.
There are some very interesting sound bites - "if you know why someone likes you then they are not a friend but a fan" and "when you get what you want you lose what you had" - which give a hint of future promise if he continues to write.
Overall the book was a bit disjointed and it felt like he was trying too hard.
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