You sense, off stage, the pain and frustration of Barât, as his friend’s dissolution imperilled their band in its infancy. Thrown out of that band for drug consumption he founded Babyshambles, who continued on the success that the Libs should have had without him, and then on into solo work, an unsuccessful acting career, back into the Libertines, and eventual sobriety living the quiet life in Normandy. What’s incredible is not only his total refusal to stop - despite the extreme pressure from family, friends, and the law - accept on his own terms; plus the fact he is still alive where others (like his friend Amy Winehouse) aren’t; and that he managed to maintain such a strong career throughout it all. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

Drugs naturally feature quite prominently in this biography, but Doherty never seems to glorify or glamorize them; quite the opposite in fact. Peter's music is as eclectic as it is introspective, and is consistently thought of one of the leading lights on the British rock scene. But these strange little references in certain books I picked up intrigued me, especially to opium, which was described in a luxurious sense, associated with a sensation of peace and accomplishment and a mystical, magical land.Elsewhere, the singer “fell asleep on the motorway hard shoulder on my way to Heathrow in my Jag… I was woken up, with a crack pipe in mouth, by a policeman banging on the window. Carl describes the Libertines as ‘like catching flashes of sunlight between buildings as you race by on a train. 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. He surrounds himself with amoral, skanky people who he seems to be aware are taking advantage -see "Wolfman" who even Mick Jones of The Clash, (who must've seen some serious skanks in his career) views as unsavoury.

You may think you have heard them all (and plenty more fabricated ones too), but the indie rock star is set to lift the lid on his decade-spanning career with the release of a memoir. The reason Doherty’s ruinous lifestyle “worked” within the confines of three-minute songs is because music can make even the most dreadful things seem exotic and exciting. There were some real tragedies along the way as drugs and excess just took people down a very dark route.Despite international success with The Libertines and Babyshambles – the latter a group of such ramshackle construction as to make the former sound like the LSO – his world was a place of addictive drugs, frequent violence, arrests, imprisonment, insolvency, tabloid intrusion, destitution and God knows what else. Fun is always enticing and being a bit naughty has a certain allure when you're younger and wanting to experience everything life has to offer. the time Doherty ran into Iggy Pop at Coachella and was devastated to find he was jogging (“he was drinking through a straw from a bottle of water. Doherty also reflects on the turbulent relationships with various significant people in his life across the years.

I am actually genuinely interested in what life is like as a sober person after so many years as an addict. Obviously rock stars, actors, actresses and artists tend to have access to more money, attend wild parties, have tumultuous affairs and are able to enjoy many interesting experiences; but their day to day lives are always equally interesting to me.

The book is, essentially, a lightly edited transcript of many hours of rambling interviews, and reads like it. Was really looking forward to this one given The Libertines are one of my favourite bands, and Doherty’s story is very poignant. There is a sense of reckoning, too, a well of sorrow over friends lost, such as Winehouse and sometime collaborator Alan Wass. So what follows, Spence explains, is actually an “authorised biography” – but this descriptor isn’t accurate either. He comes across as very honest and matter of fact when it comes to drug use, and talks candidly about some of the murkier accusations attached to that side of his life.

Was good to read about the late great Alan Wass but again nothing too deep but overall very enjoyable. Some of us are seeking bliss, but others are truly courting oblivion - whether consciously/subconsciously and whether they're willing to admit it (to themselves and others) or not. Irritatingly, Peter reminded me of Skimpole in some place, talking about how he is 'a perfect child' when it comes to finance and owing money. He does obviously talk extensively about his addiction and he dips into some of the mayhem his life has been, but the sugar coating he puts on much of his 20+ years of extreme drug use, makes taking his words at face value (forgive me here) a tough pill to swallow. Not everyone who gets entangled in a life of drug addiction is lucky enough to come out the other side, and I think Doherty is careful not to simply assume that he's now completely out of the woods.Don't get me wrong, Doherty has definitely been the architect of his own misfortune, but he's also been hounded out of multiple places, just because his "bad-boy" behaviour marked him out as fair game.