Author:Alan Alda
'The message is consistent: it's not what you do in life, but how you do it. Notice everything. Always be open to new ideas, new experiences. Alda is chatty, easygoing and humble ... His words of inspiration would be a perfect gift.'
Publishers Weekly
Acclaimed actor and internationally bestselling author Alan Alda has written a shrewd and funny account of some impossible questions he's asked himself over the years: what do I value? What, exactly, is the good life? (And what does that even mean?)
Here, Alda listens in on things he's heard himself saying at critical points in his life - from the turbulence of the 60s, to his first Broadway show, to the birth of his children, and to the ache of September 11. He notices that 'doorways are where the truth is told', and wonders what one thing - art, activism, family, money, fame - could lead to a 'life of meaning'.
In a book that is candid, wise and as questioning as it is incisive, Alda amuses and moves us with his uniquely witty meditations on questions great and small.
Quirky and tender...beguiling
—— Rose Tremain , Sunday TelegraphA love affair with the piano... A minor classic
—— Times Literary SupplementCaptivating...full of knowledge...suffused with Parisian sensations...he can choose words that make us feel and hear the instruments he plays...when you close it you feel you have been on holiday
—— Sunday TimesCharming...a cool, autumnal breeze of a book...written out of love
—— GuardianA droll antidote to the standard music-biz memoir
—— Robert Sandall , Sunday TimesImagine a love child born of The Office and High Fidelity. With Knocked Up as the slacker godfather. That captures Dan Kennedy's memoir Rock On: An Office Power Ballad, his amazingly funny yet perceptive look at rock music and big corporations in crisis
—— USA Today...pitch-perfect... a brilliant, hysterical and insightful look at what happens when truly creative people try to blend into a Banana Republicized mediocracy. The author makes it clear, in laugh-out-loud fashion, that the lid was shut on the coffin of music business dreams some time ago, we've just delayed the burial
—— New York PostIrreverent and witty . . . hilarious . . . He explores everything - from diets to sweetshops and sex to pets, with all his customary lasciviousness and self-deprecatory humour.
—— Living EdgeSplendidly entertaining, reflecting on everything from eating a loaf to Shintoism and...sex.
—— Bournemouth Daily EchoThere are . . . completely honest admissions about his drinking, and laugh-out-loud accounts of his various fashion errors . . . Enjoy gleefully politically incorrect posturing and plain old-fashioned entertainment.
—— The ResidentClapton reveals all in this unflinching confessional.
—— IndependentA powerfully honest and very moving insight into the life of a rock legend
—— The Herald (Glasgow)Clapton bares his soul. Fascinating. It's an absorbing read, like you've been granted access to a mind finally coming to terms with itself.
—— The Sunday Tribune (Ireland)Difficult to put down
—— Sunday TimesClapton provides an orderly account of life in which all other considerations are secondary to the frequently selfish needs of The Artist'
—— GuardianGold-plated tales of sex, drink, drugs and fame and moments of musical incandescence.
—— Observer Music MonthlyA 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