Something For The Weekend 16

Hey Dave, if you only read one book this year… then you’re doing about as well as me. Honestly, I’ve started that Steve Martin novel you gave me about three times but – as they say in all the best Guardian reviews – it’s absolute tosh. And not in a good way. Which is a bit surprising really because his other book of essays and columns was excellent, as is most of the stuff you can find here at his website.

However, I’ve just finished reading this autobiography by Police guitarist Andy Summers and it’s excellent. Class A drugs, hard liquor, loose women, cool guitars, private jets, highway diners, endless parties and rock ‘n roll are obviously better uses of your time than reading stupid books Dave. But if you want some fascinating stories about these things and more then you’ll find them all here.

Obviously – as the World’s Biggest Police Geek™ – I’m a bit biased but the early stories from the 60s when he jammed with Jimi Hendrix and sold his guitar to Eric Clapton are even more interesting than the 80s stuff. And that bit at the end when he and his ex-wife “find” each other again… *gulp* … I think I experienced that same irritating piece of dust in my eye as I had at the end of Rocky Balboa.

Alas Dave, there are no pop-up pictures in the book to compensate for your short attention span but you’ll be glad to know the book is beautifully written and isn’t full of big long words like Sting’s book was so no need to reach for your thesaurus. Incidentally, what’s another word for thesaurus? Oh, and much as I’d like to take the credit, I didn’t write the foreword.

Have a great weekend. Cheers, Neil.