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Simon Spence

A Likely Lad Hardcover – 16 Jun. 2022

by Peter Doherty (Author), Simon Spence (Author)

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Peter Doherty's is the last of the great rock 'n' roll stories - bad boy and public enemy. To his devoted fans, he is a cult hero, a modern-day Rimbaud. Musically, he has defined the past twenty years of indie rock with his sound, lyrics, lifestyle and aesthetic.

Since The Libertines rose to international fame, Doherty has proved endlessly fascinating. A whirlwind of controversy and scandal has tailed him ever since the early 2000s, so much so that all too often his talents as a songwriter and performer have been overlooked; for every award and accolade, there is a scathing review. Hard drugs, tiny gigs on the hoof, huge stadium shows, collaborations, obliterations, gangsters and groupies - Doherty has led a life of huge highs and incredible lows.

With his wildest days behind him, Doherty candidly explores - with sober and sometimes painful insight - some of his greatest and darkest moments, taking us inside the creative process, decadent parties, substance-fuelled nights, his time in prison and tendency for self-destruction. With his trademark wit and humour, Doherty also details his childhood years, key influences, pre-fame London shenanigans, and reflects on his era-defining relationship with Libertines co-founder Carl Barât and other significant people in his life. There is humour, warmth, insight, baleful reflection and a defiant sense of triumph.

A Likely Lad is Doherty's version of the story - the genuine man behind the fame and infamy. This is a rock memoir like no other.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Constable
Publication date

16 Jun. 2022
Dimensions

16 x 3.6 x 23.6 cm
ISBN-10

1408715481
ISBN-13

978-1408715482
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From the Publisher

Product description

Review

Doherty wasn't just at the heart of that era, he defined it, in ways both good and bad. Who better to capture the excitement but also the bleakness of that period than him? -- Hadley Freeman ― Guardian

Reveals unexpected details . . . Intimate, often salacious ― Sunday Times

Lucid, candid and, ultimately, hopeful ― Observer

Expertly pieced together . . . An extraordinary hymn to indie's own Rimbaud and degenerate noughties London ― Mojo

A defiant and humorous look at one of the most infamous rockers of the 21st century ― Far Out Magazine

[A]n easily digestible page-turner . . . plenty of new stories ― i News

Overloaded with compelling stories - many funny, some haunting ― New Statesman

Book Description

The long-awaited, candid memoir from Peter Doherty, whose talent as a musician has more often been eclipsed by a Herculean appetite for self-destruction: drugs, prison, prostitution, court, murder, death, robbery, car crashes and hospital emergencies.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Constable (16 Jun. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1408715481
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1408715482
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16 x 3.6 x 23.6 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 4,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 22 in Alcohol & Drug Abuse Biographies
- 23 in Rock Music
- 31 in Rock & Pop Musician Biographies

Customer reviews:
156 ratings

About the author

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Simon Spence

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Simon Spence collaborated with Rolling Stones manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham on the classic memoirs Stoned and 2Stoned and is the author of seven admired non-fiction books on subjects such as Immediate Records, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and Bay City Rollers. As a music journalist he has written for NME, Dazed & Confused, The Face, i-D, The Independent, Q and Mojo. His latest book is All Or Nothing: The Authorised Story of Steve Marriott.

Customer reviews

5 star		66%
4 star		19%
3 star		7%
2 star		3%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

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Lee Theasby

A not very likeable lad

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 July 2022

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To be honest I never quite got the appeal of The Libertines or Babyshambles, though I'm probably slightly older than their listening demographic. Some of their music I found to be pretty good but not quite as exciting as the music press of the early noughties made out.
This book is quite an exhaustive look from Pete Doherty s childhood right through to the present time. Like a lot of biographies it was written with a ghost writer who spent a lot of time interviewing Doherty. To be honest I'm amazed he remembered a lot of details having been lost in a fog of crack and heroin smoke.
It's a thorough read though it comes across to me as someone who has probably used eight of his lives up after spending a lot of time (and money) on drugs which is recounted in the book. Although I'm sure he is quite charming in real life, the book doesn't exactly portray him in a good light, in my opinion. Hopefully he will stay clean in his new life in France.

2 people found this helpful

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The Smart Way

A few trinkets of new information

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2022

Verified Purchase

Not a bad book at all but very little that I didn't already know and not much in depth knowledge. Was good to read about the late great Alan Wass but again nothing too deep but overall very enjoyable. It keeps you pretty glued with a veilde promise of something wonderful to come but sadly never really gets there.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2022

Verified Purchase

Well written , honest and gives a real insight into the legend that is Peter docherty

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Kindle Customer

A great read and rather insightful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 August 2022

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed this book, having quite a fascination with Doherty's chaotic life and incredible poetic and musical abilities- he's lead a colourful life but nice to see a happy ending. I wish him and Katia well for their future and it would be nice to see the Libertines finally reach a more harmonious phase.

Helpful

Lumpster

Very Readable & Enjoyable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 June 2022

I’ve been a fan of Peter Doherty’s music from the outset with The Libertines until I lost the faith some time shortly after his solo stuff was released. I ordered the book as I thought he is a really interesting character with plenty of stories to tell, all of which should make for an interesting book.

Does it deliver? Well it is certainly readable and I got through the 311 pages in 4 chunks. As you can probably imagine, someone who has spent years as a hard drug user (and was high for a large proportion of the time) probably doesn’t have the greatest memory and so stories are a bit vague or interesting topics (like his spells in prison) aren’t described in nearly enough detail to satisfy the reader’s curiosity. The hardest part, however, is the 1,001 names of people who drift in and out of the stories at different points to the point that you don’t really have any idea who they are. Perhaps I should have taken notes to help me join the dots….

Overall he comes over as an intelligent and decent guy who didn’t realise that drugs were wasting his time, money and talent - and destroying relationships - until far too late. But to be fair to him, there isn’t any noticeable regret or self pity, just a realisation by the end of the book that he’s now in a great place with his life. And as he is such a likeable character, you can’t help but hope that he continues to make a good fist of it and enjoys health and happiness for years to come.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Bobby Needs

There are better books out there on Pete, The Libertines & Babyshambles (seperately)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 June 2022

Basically? This book is 'ok' but in no way any more revealing than previous books on Pete, The Libertines or Babyshambles.

Books that are better:

The Libertines Bound Together: The Story of Peter Doherty and Carl Barat and how they changed British Music by Anthony Thornton (The best Libertines book hands down - If you've not read this already? Buy it instead!!)
Kids in the Riot: High and Low with the Libertines - Pete Welsh
Pete Doherty: My Prodigal Son - Jacqueline Doherty
Pete Doherty - Alex Hannaford
Pete Doherty: Peter is better than Jesus - Busty/Gérard Nguyen
Beg, Steal or Borrow: The Official BabyShambles Story - Spencer Honniball

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jimi Jac

Bad Boy Boogie

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2022

There is quite a lot of frustration with Doherty musical career, he could have been a singer songwriter for his generation, but because of hard drugs, which he seems to still romanticise about in this book & preferring a more maverick attitude to his career, which is can’t blame him on that stance, but it all means that his albums have steadily sold less & less, his last release, the excellent “The fantasy life of poetry & crime” only scraped to number 52 on the UK charts.
Anyway Doherty is an articulate guy & “A likely lad” is engaging read (although Simon Spence does edit Doherty’s story in a liner style,) mixing lighter moments with real dark periods of his life.
Being a resident of Nuneaton (Doherty went to school in neighbouring Bedworth) it’s nice to hear him reminisce about buying second hand records from Entertainment Exchange, but not too happy to read about him stealing books from Bedworth Library, bad poet!

2 people found this helpful

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