I have had this book in my pile for quite some time and decided to pull it out on a recent long flight.
Though it started cute and insouciant, I found Alex soon grew tiresome. I guess that is what happens when you are the bon vivant bass player and not the gifted guitarist or lead singer/leader.

The book jumped around way too much and I jumped around but then felt like it was missing huge chunks.

I read a lot of fluffy celebrity bios. This one was not fun. It was a drudge and a sludge.

something i started reading due to being a fan of blur resulted in surprising and amusing me to no end. a very pleasurable read. james' voice is light, amusing, incredibly likeable, and informative. the author doesn't write only about pop culture and rock'n roll bands, but about other subjects that he finds just as interesting, and ones he manages to sell to the reader as well.

UPDATE: heard that blur was first called seymour after my favourite Glass (sorry, franny) and realised I remembered fuck-all of the book. not surprising, given that it is almost five years since I’ve read it (hence the vague and empty review, see above). I enjoyed the book second time round. the tone is light and amusing, the name checks cheeky and the picture painted of british culture and band life pretty.

the fit one from blur tells you about all the fun he had, the girls he's slept with, the drinks he's had. he does not touch up on the unsavoury bits as much as i would’ve liked - what drugs did you take exactly, al? would have liked to see more pictures of/with his Justine, and more details on the Gra/Damon business. all in all a good, fun read, lots of interesting music/book recommendations in it too.

bit too light to be truly self-reflective, but really, what were you expecting?

I really dislike rock star biographies that go on and on about their debauched lifestyles. Look at all that booze/drugs/women, aren't I fantastic? Yes, I'm talking about you, Ronnie Wood. But this one is written with such style, wit and charm that I can't help loving it. In real life I'm sure I wouldn't like to live next door to Alex James - I especially wouldn't like to go to the Groucho Club with him - but he does make it all seem a lot of harmless fun.

One of my favourite autobiographies. An amazingly honest personal account of Alex's whirlwind success in Blur and beyond. Top read!

Far more engaging than anticipated. James always seemed a bit of a fop, but it plays well here.

Five million stars.