Terry

What a terrific audio book. You truly get to know Keith in this engaging autobiography, and there's lots to love: the Stones history and mythology explained, a lifetime's cast of marginal characters brought center stage, the influence, uses and abuses of a long history with drugs, but most of all the music. Keith's love of music in general and true rock and roll in particular, and guitar rock very specifically, are at the core of the book. The book is a great story. We get to listen to one of the true originals of 20th century music tell it all, and its a blast. Not sure what the female reviewers who gave the book 1 star are talking about. They preface their reviews with what big Stones fans they are, and then criticize KR for misogyny because of his use of certain slang terms. What? Didn't you listen to any of the lyrics of the songs? Its a vernacular, and a life that apparently the reviewers never shared. The truth is Keith's sincerity and love for the significant women in his life are touching and real, especially his mature attitude to Anita Pallenberg. The best of the book is its tone. Richards is completely honest, completely sincere. He has, like him or not, integrity. I'm reminded of an interview I once saw with Bernie Worrell where Bernie calls Keith "one of the people." And that's it. He is the real deal: a genuine rock song writing original, but even more a true, for real, much to be admired human with values that cannot be compromised and faith with friends that cannot be breached. That's what the book is about.

The narration by Johnny Depp is good, but that by Joe Hurley is superb. If you were wondering whether this one is really worth it, it is.

This is a dreadful book. Don't waste your time or money. I had recently read and heard quite a number of physics books, most of which were very good (Nothing, The First War of Physics, The Quantum Story, The Disappearing Spoon, Cosmic Jackpot, For The Love of Physics, Electric Universe, The Grand Design, The 4% Universe, etc.), and this was by far the worst. It is a combination of school marmy preaching, name dropping, hyperbolic pep talk, full of herself prim pseudophilosophizing, and LHC tour guidance. Dull and duller by turns. There is some interest in the description of the LHC experiments, but just. Another one of those 'we are on the verge...' chronicles that never even approach a good explanation of why.

If you like stories about science, specifically centered on elements of the periodic table, you will love this book. They are not science stories, but great stories related to science. Along the way you will get a little science, but not so much. It's mostly about great stories, like why you can track the Lewis & Clark expedition by the mercury laxatives they took, why spoons were made from gallium, why Fleishman and Ponds, why they put bismuth in pepto, and on and on. The stories are only related by their chemical connection, but it all hangs together in a terrific collection performed excellently. Five stars for the stories, four for the performance. Very entertaining.