Who belong to the pioneering rockstar category, who went from playing double and triple sets of covers per day every week for peanuts in small clubs before making it big and being famous. Later, they reaped the benefits of their huge success with epic excesses of every kind and a totally wild lifestyle. Fame, glory and fortune scarred each one with its own way Pete Townshend’s evolution, who managed to transform his emotional injuries into the masterpiece that “Tommy” is, while he keeps doubting himself as a father, lover and artist, as he narrates himself in one of the best memoires out there.
What wind the reader from the very beginning is how immediate and honest Townshend is when he tells his story from his childhood years, his experiences, his fantasies that all make the puzzle of who he is. The most interesting parts are of course his memories from when he was a kid, the depression and the sexual harassment that’s implied several time, Who’s first steps and of course his times of addiction and excesses that led him to extreme behavior and set his life in danger. The last part of the book where he seems troubled about which car to buy and how he is going to set up his kids and family with a few million pounds is boring. Still, it’s part of Townshend’s temperament.
What’s important is that he doesn’t try to avoid to talk about his worst moments in his life, like the recent pedophile accusation and how he handled them then and now. He is real, frail and most of all human…
