Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21687 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-03
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
'Alex James is a witty, engaging guide to the mad goings-on behind the scenes of Britpop. Blur's bassist famously estimates that he blew around GBP1m on champagne and cocaine during the Nineties. Here's how.' INDEPENDENT 'Bright, passionate ... James writes with wit and flair' TIME OUT *'The definitive guide to Britpop ... this effervescent memoir emerges as the most fascinating, as well as hilarious, document to date of those times' OBSERVER 'Guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye - in a good way ' ELLE 'A mischievous romp through Nineties excess from the eye of that peaceful decade's most inventive pop band' EVENING STANDARD 'For anyone seeking confirmation that being a pop star is the best job going, dive in' Q 'A dreamy, witty spin on his life as a supremely debauched rock star ... James's inquisitive nature makes him eminently and continuously likeable' GUARDIAN 'James is more than happy to reveal the nitty-gritty in a surprisingly honest and almost humble way ... you get a really good sense of what it was like being him, of finally being in the right place at the right time and hell-bent on having a blast' DAILY MIRROR

TIME OUT
'Bright, passionate . . . James writes with wit and flair'

Q
'For anyone seeking confirmation that being a pop star is the best
job going, dive in'

Customer Reviews

Such a shame!!
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...

Fantastically entertaining
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...

Very blurred
Although Alex James claim to fame is that he was the bass player for one of the nineties biggest selling bands, Blur feature little in this very disappointing autobiography.

Instead, Mr James prefers to write more about the hedonistic results of being part of a highly successful band. So what could have been an enlightening insight into the Britpop scene turns out to be a succession of superficial stories about women, drugs and booze. Unforunately even these stories are not that interesting as he chooses not to reveal anything that is too shocking, which renders the anecdotes both pointless and boring.

If this is the Rock & Roll lifestyle I think I'll pass on that audition for X Factor.