21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Everyone over 13 should read it", 20 Jun 2001
THat was the comment from a newspaper journalist. I agree completey, this book wuld be an excellent read even if only about his childhood and rise to fame in the Boomtown Rats. On top of this, the book also closely documents how Bob came up with the idea for Band Aid, and how it came to reality, and how it led to Live Aid, the biggest concert ever in the world with 2 BILLION people watching it. Read it!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As great a cultural contribution as his Band Aid/Live Aid achievement (OK, almost as good!), 16 Mar 2011
Possibly the best autobiography ever written. I read this book when I was about fourteen and it felt like something I didn't want my Mum to discover in my room, so explicit was Bob's honesty and language. Not just foul language and sexual language, but a more honest and direct use of the English language than I'd previously encountered in any kind of publication anywhere at all.
Any fears or hopes that the book will be a step-by-step re-enactment of the Band Aid/Live Aid process are not necessarily founded, because the first two thirds of the book are like two separate books beforehand. Both of which are brilliant.
The first third is a a description of Bob's Irish childhood, adolescence and young manhood, which reads better than Frank McCourt's 'Angela's Ashes' or Roddy Doyle's 'Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha' (both of which I enjoyed in their own right).
The second third is a description of Bob's rise from wannabe pop/rock star, to bona fide writer/singer of international Number One songs and albums with The Boomtown Rats, which reads better than 'The Dirt' by Motley Cru, or Slash's Guns & Roses history (again, both of which I enjoyed in their own right), and sits alongside Chuck Berry's autobiography as the best of it's kind.
The third and final third, of course, depicts in detail the moment where Bob feels moved to take major-league humanitarian action on a larger scale than has ever been even contemplated, either before or since. He makes the impossible possible by first conceiving an unlikely yet inspired idea, then having the sheer strength of mind, body and soul to ensure it happens. It's an intriguing page-turner involving behind-the-scenes showbiz excitement, high-end politics and power in all it's forms.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
come on, 23 Feb 2006
I do not own this book at present but have read it before. It is a marvellous, and truly rare insight into one of our hero's, a true living legend. Like his gigs of which I have seen two he is candid and open but does not like a fuss made about him. The man posseses more humility than is nessecary in any human being. A great read, for God's sake buy it!
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