Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16054 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-09
• Released on: 2007-10-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Mail on Sunday
Clapton relates what happened with painful honesty. In other rock stars, such plump contentment might seem hypocritical, even vulgar. But with Eric Clapton, you feel that a little comfort is the least he deserves.

Observer
This is an essential read

Daily Telegraph
It's a raw and remarkable piece of self-exposure

Customer Reviews

God writes...
'Clapton is God' may have read the grafitti, but the tone of Eric Clapton's first autobiography is shy, matter-of-fact, flat. This may disappoint some but to me it made it all the more real...this is, after all, just how we expect Eric to communicate: his music is sublime, but his personality understated, introverted, filled for much of his life with the fear yet the encouragement of rejection that contributed to his alcoholism and heroin addiction.

Nothing is left out. He is unsparing about himself, his honesty, even understated, shining through on every page. His life, after all, has been very full and included plenty of demons. His account of his feelings following the accidental death of his son is almost too painful to read. His passion for helping other addicts, however, is warm and heartfelt.

Also evident is his generosity to other musicians he admires. Comparing him to Hedrix is now a standard pub conversation and he has nothing but praise for him. He compliments musician after musician. For him it really does seem to be 'all about the music'. The other stuff is there too: the affair with George Harrison's wife; the fact that his parents hid his illigitimacy from him; the entertaining anecdotes such as the difficulty of having a slash on the White House lawn. But, despite the fact that he rarely does much more than name song titles and musicians, it is the music that shines through: you want to run to those CDs and listen to them all over again.

Clapton is a remarkable guitarist and this is a remarkable account of a life filled with real sadness and happiness. Thank God there are still a few older people writing autobiographies these days!

Well...
An impoverished youth, addiction and stardom. Eric's book gives us an insight into just how intimate the circle was/is in the UK; friends with the Beatles, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend etc etc. Impressive stuff! However I was left with the impression that Eric has become a bit of a pompous arse.

"I liked the area so I bought the whole peninsular"
"I loved the yacht, so I bought it"

I know you'll hate my review, but if Clapton was God, there is little evidence now.

A really special book!
I bought this book on Saturday and finished on Sunday. It is written from the heart and gives a rare insight into the struggles Clapton had with his own demons and the force for good that he became in opening the Crossroads treatment centre. I can't do the book justice, so just go and read it.