Product Description

' ''Poet, young and busy, seeks cheap spacious rooms somewhere. Excellent references available . . .'' so reads a self-penned ad, a very early entry from Pete Doherty's journals. From the early books a fascinating and very entertaining picture emerges of the young poet, broke in London, serving popcorn at the Prince Charles Cinema, ruminating on Britpop, listening to Scott Walker, but dreaming of creating a band infused with 'the spirit of Albion'. The later books reflect Pete's rise to fame, his changing world and are full of artwork, photographs, notes and thoughts. It is intimate, honest stuff, very readable and very funny in places; pretty dark in others. All in all it's the work of a serious artist, a complete antidote to most things written about Doherty. These twenty-odd books -- edited and condensed into one volume -- are filled with poems, drawings, personal reflections, lyrics and collages, and form an intimate insight into the one of the music world's most talented and controversial figures.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11728 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-21
• Released on: 2007-06-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

OBSERVER
'The prose is strikingly raw... the cumulative effect is curiously touching.'

Review
'The prose is strikingly raw... the cumulative effect is curiously touching.' (OBSERVER )

'This book is like everything else Pete Doherty has ever done - at times brilliant, at others annoying, but never less than interesting.' (SOUTHERN DAILY ECHO )

'These diary entries, childhood reminiscenes and prose from 1999 onwards prove that under the drug hoover's brow there's a unique brain.' (Q MAGAZINE )

'witty and sensitive' (SUNDAY TRIBUNE )

'there are moments of joy, humourand, of course, real darkness' (IRISH EXAMINER )

'At times a curiously affecting work, it chronicles Doherty's transitionfrom aspiring poet and flowering teenage talent to a man increasingly fighting to shine through a chemicaly induced haze... Doherty can write beautifully' (Steve Cummins IRISH DAILY MAIL ON SUNDAY )

Q MAGAZINE
'These diary entries, childhood reminiscenes and prose from 1999 onwards prove that under the drug hoover's brow there's a unique brain.'

Customer Reviews

Worst Book Ever: The Collected Writings of An Idiot
I haven't even read this which is possibly unfair but then again I don't need to because this is utter rubbish. If you disagree please let me know why.

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Okay, this is a review of the book. It's not a judgement pro or adverse about its author's career or lifestyle.

"The Books of Albion: The Collected Writings of Peter Doherty" isn't much use because it's written in illegible longhand.

As a voracious consumer of rock (auto)biography I have to say I was looking forward to this one. Clearly the publishers cared about the exercise, and have produced what looks from the outside like a good quality volume.

But if you're thinking about buying this book, I'd advise you to take a look at it in a bookstore or at a friend's house before you spend your money.

They've kind of overdone the scrapbook format, too many pages with legends like "THE LUNATIC [...]INGE" splattered across them in gold ink from a knackered pen.

Too many pages with no context or chronology (there's a guide at the back, but hey, this is The Books Of Albion, not Nabakov's 'Pale Fire')

Law of diminishing returns kicks in about halfway down the first page. I'd wager that if they re-issue this in paperback with the Stepney Hieroglyphics rendered in Courier Font, some better reviews will ensue.

As it stands, this edition will only be of real interest to graphologists.

A response to Jenny Clarke 'begstealborrow'
Sorry! Anyone referring to Pete Doherty as his greatest hero is incredibly deluded. I sit here in absolute incredulity as I read your bizarre justification of this piece of 'literature', and his general worth as a person. Golly, and how elitist you are, claiming that this book is for only his 'hardcore fans' - maybe I should go ahead and shoot up so I can really understand this moron's unrelenting vacuity. Oh and the philistine I am, reading the Times but still unable to understand this genius's work. Maybe I should go ahead and read whatever highbrow tosh you're flipping through this very moment, no doubt something you don't understand but just wish you could get. That's what I dislike most about people like you Jenny, your pretentiousness and justification of this dunderhead and the way you search for the modern Byron in this 'genious.'

Right, my slightly rambling response (alliteration Jenny, tell your equally stupid friends!) is almost over, but fortunately I have but one more thing to say... (look Jenny, ellipsis! Another literary device!) Please, please, please stop posting on this website, you have successfully proven your academic worth by advocating this idiot. Fortunately Jenny, you act as a great symbol for all Doherty-lovers and I address you all equally, as indistinguishable indie twats. Find a real hero!

Please pull this book from the shelves. Encouraging people to read is a noble cause but it would be better that people don't read if this is the material available, with all of it's lexical incompetence and syntactical stupidity.