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A review by hernamewaslily
A Likely Lad by Pete Doherty
2.0
Pete Doherty is perhaps best remembered as the drug-addled frontman of seminal British indie-rock band, The Libertines. He later went on to front the Babyshambles and Pete Doherty and the Puta Madres. Today, he lives in the quiet French village of Etretat. Long live rock’n’roll.
Much of what is known about Doherty comes from sensational headlines grabbed from tabloid newspaper and bombastic interviews where the singer spieled exaggerated stories about his rockstar lifestyle or just blatantly told lies. In his book, ‘A Likely Lad,’ Doherty, with the help of writer, journalist and biographer Simon Spence, seeks to, ahem, set the record straight and tell the true story of one of British music’s most controversial stars.
Unfortunately, the mythology of Doherty is much more interesting than the reality. The issue is not that the book is lacking in salacious stories – there are plenty – it’s just that Doherty doesn’t seem to have much to say about them. Perhaps this is the result of the fact that, despite being a gifted lyricist and poet, Doherty did not write the book himself. Rather, he relayed his life story to Spence who then formed the narrative that makes up the few hundred or so pages of ‘A Likely Lad.’ As such, the book struggles to figure out what it is: Is it an interview? An oral history? A memoir? The latter is perhaps the most apt, but it lacks the reflective quality I look for in a memoir; much of the book feels like standard biographical information that one could find on Wikipedia. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that for much of Pete’s adult life, and thus for much of the book, he was in active addiction, so the repetitiveness and mundaneness mirrors this reality. His lack of reflection then is perhaps understandable given that he likely doesn’t remember a whole lot of what happened.
Towards the end of the book, Pete seems to open up more and takes on a much more optimistic tone with the musician finally seeming to grapple his life, meet a woman he loves, and commit himself to sobriety (sort of). I just wish more of the book had this sort of energy.
Maybe a bigger fan of Doherty’s music would find this more interesting than I did. I didn’t hate the book; I just didn’t find it as interesting as I would have liked.
Much of what is known about Doherty comes from sensational headlines grabbed from tabloid newspaper and bombastic interviews where the singer spieled exaggerated stories about his rockstar lifestyle or just blatantly told lies. In his book, ‘A Likely Lad,’ Doherty, with the help of writer, journalist and biographer Simon Spence, seeks to, ahem, set the record straight and tell the true story of one of British music’s most controversial stars.
Unfortunately, the mythology of Doherty is much more interesting than the reality. The issue is not that the book is lacking in salacious stories – there are plenty – it’s just that Doherty doesn’t seem to have much to say about them. Perhaps this is the result of the fact that, despite being a gifted lyricist and poet, Doherty did not write the book himself. Rather, he relayed his life story to Spence who then formed the narrative that makes up the few hundred or so pages of ‘A Likely Lad.’ As such, the book struggles to figure out what it is: Is it an interview? An oral history? A memoir? The latter is perhaps the most apt, but it lacks the reflective quality I look for in a memoir; much of the book feels like standard biographical information that one could find on Wikipedia. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that for much of Pete’s adult life, and thus for much of the book, he was in active addiction, so the repetitiveness and mundaneness mirrors this reality. His lack of reflection then is perhaps understandable given that he likely doesn’t remember a whole lot of what happened.
Towards the end of the book, Pete seems to open up more and takes on a much more optimistic tone with the musician finally seeming to grapple his life, meet a woman he loves, and commit himself to sobriety (sort of). I just wish more of the book had this sort of energy.
Maybe a bigger fan of Doherty’s music would find this more interesting than I did. I didn’t hate the book; I just didn’t find it as interesting as I would have liked.