Author:Anna Massey
In 2005, Anna Massey was awarded a CBE for services to drama.
Daughter of the Canadian actor, Raymond Massey (perhaps best-known for his role as Dr Gillespie in the TV series Dr Killdare), and Adrianne Allen (also a very successful stage actress), drama was in her blood. Her brother, Daniel, was a much-acclaimed actor. And even her godfather was one of the great film directors of all time - John Ford.
Anna's first marriage was to Jeremy Brett, famous in his later years for his elegantly febrile performance on television as Sherlock Holmes. They had a son, David, together. But it was not a happy relationship and ended in divorce.
In fact, family life was never easy or straightforward. Raymond fled the roost for the United States when Anna was very little, and married again. Adrianne was the most marvellous hostess who filled the house with an exotic mixture of guests, but, as a child, crucial emotional support was supplied by Nanny, who remained with Anna until her death.
From her stage debut in The Reluctant Debutante to her performance in Michael Powell's notorious film, Peeping Tom, on through TV successes like The Pallisers and Hotel du Lac to a range of work in radio, Anna Massey has enjoyed the most remarkable career. And a whole host of extraordinary, often highly eccentric characters make their entrances and exits during its course.
On and off set or stage, there are encounters with the theatrical knights, Olivier, Redgrave, Richardson and Gielgud. Noel Coward takes more than one bow. Great friendships are formed with fellow actors like Alan Rickman, Alec McCowen, Dame Judi Dench, and the playwright, David Hare. And there are inevitable difficulties with directors like Otto Preminger. Anna also has to play the part of hostess to the Duke of Edinburgh - in real life.
After all the inevitable vicissitudes and upsets, Anna Massey ends her book with the story of personal happiness, achieved without make-up, lighting or script. Telling Some Tales does not kiss and tell, or tell tales out of school. It is the candid, wry, funny and emotional account of a life intensely lived.
Airy and funny, full of brilliant little aperçus about famous actors and directors, but not weighed down with personal trauma.
—— Daily TelegraphRarely can such enjoyable tales have been told with such affectionate delight .
—— Daily ExpressCharmingly self-deprecating autobiography ... A fleet-of-foot delight, bathed in a refreshing honesty.
—— Sunday TimesHard to put down ... Shows that one cannot act unless one has lived and preferably lived well.
—— ObserverInteresting and amusing ... I recommend it especially to all theatre enthusiasts.
—— Jonathan Cecil , SpectatorA hugely enjoyable read.
—— Hampstead & Highgate ExpressI am sure that I am not alone in finding her extraordinarily sexy, sympathetic and fascinating. She should be made a Dame.
—— Hugh Massingberd , Sunday TelegraphDon't be misled; this is not just another rap book. Can't Stop Won't Stop is a potent political treatise, a glance at the 20th century through the social lens of hip-hop. Inflammatory, illuminating, and anything but myopic, the scope of Chang's work is awe-inspiring.
—— DJ ShadowCan't Stop Won't Stop is an epic rendering of the hip hop generation and all its brilliance, contradictions, aspirations and artistic beauty. In these pages, Jeff Chang chronicles the personalities, events, ideas and movements that shaped hip hop from the days of nameplates and fat laces to its present transnational glory. This book belongs on your shelf next to Criminal Minded, Illmatic and All Eyez On Me.
—— William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D, author of To The Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop AestheticBefore now, much of hip-hop's history has been a cross between personal narrative and music commentary. Can't Stop Won't Stop goes to the next level, documenting hip-hop's cross cultural, political, economic and global intricacies. For too long it's been nearly impossible for hip-hop kids to find themselves on the pages of history. With Can't Stop, Won't Stop, Jeff Chang takes them there.
—— Bakari Kitwana, author of The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American CultureAn exuberant and revelatory history of the inner-city cultural revolution that still rocks the world. Jeff Chang is hip-hop's John Reed.
—— Mike Davis, author of Dead Cities, City of Quartz and Planet of SlumsHis scope is operatic, sprawling, and concerns itself with the people, places, and politics that drove hip-hop from its infancy. . . . It is essentially a people's history . . . perhaps Jeff Chang is hip-hop America's Howard Zinn.
—— Salon.comThe birth of hip-hop out of the ruin of the South Bronx is a story that has been told many times, but never with the cinematic scope and the analytic force that Jeff Chang brings to it. . . . This is one of the most urgent and passionate histories of popular music ever written.
—— The New YorkerWhen Hip-Hop 101 becomes a requirement, Jeff Chang's history of the turmoil that begat this beloved culture will be the go-to textbook.
—— Vibe magazineThe most important new genre of the last quarter century finally has a sweeping historical overview as powerful as the music with "Can't Stop Won't Stop" . . . the best-argued, most thoroughly researched case for hip-hop as a complete and truly American culture.
—— Chicago Sun-TimesYou need to read this - period
—— FactA warm portrait
—— FT MagazineA harrowing and searingly honest book about the unreal rock star life.
—— Daily ExpressClapton lays bare his life story in this witty but also painfully honest autobiography. Compelling and accomplished.
—— Sunday ExpressA painfully honest insider's account of an age all too often portrayed as one long party
—— Daily MailA glorious rock history.
—— New York PostThis book does what many rock historians couldn't: It debunks the legend...puts a lie to the glamour of what it means to be a rock star.
—— Greg Kot, Chicago TribuneStrong stuff. Clapton reveals its author's journey to self-acceptance and manhood. Anyone who cares about the man and his music will want to take the trip with him.
—— Anthony DcCurtis, Rolling StoneClapton is honest...even searing and often witty, with a hard-won survivor's humor...an honorable badge of a book.
—— Stephen King, New York Times Book ReviewRiveting
—— Boston HeraldAn even, unblinking sensibility defines the author's voice.
—— New York TimesAn unsparing self-portrait.
—— USA TodayBoth the youthful excesses and the current calm state are narrated with an engaging tone that nudges Clapton's story ahead of other rock'n'roll memoirs.
—— Publisher’s WeeklyClapton is a confessional, an addiction memoir, and a glorious rock history rolled into one, with a smidgeon of guilt and, ultimately redemption thrown in for good measure.
—— New York PostClapton fills in many gray areas, recounting his highs and lows with a thoughtfulness often lacking rock memoirs.Methodically he whittles away at the larger-than-life rock god until a vulnerable, messed-up mortal emerges...Clapton is an absorbing tale of artistry, decadence and redemption.It's also an important reminder of the guitarist's imprint on rock music, as a sideman, solo artist and bandleader.Not bad for a blues snob from Surrey.
—— Los Angeles TimesClapton: The Autobiography does what many rock historians couldn't: It debunks the legend, de-mythologizes one of the most mythologized electric guitarists ever, puts a lie to the glamour of what is means to be a rock star...It's a cautionary tale that spills over into tragedy several times as love, lives and talents are all wasted.
—— Chicago TribuneLike the bluesmen who inspired him, Clapton has his share of scars...his compelling memoir is... a soulful performance.
—— PeopleCharming and surprisingly candid.
—— Entertainment WeeklyAbsolutely brilliant
—— Daily Express