Press

What the critics say

Eric Clapton has produced a gem of a rock memoir, in which he lays bare the painful roots of his music. Clapton speaks honestly and touchingly not only about the external course of his life but of what music has meant to him. That makes it much the best of this season's rock memoirs. Clapton delivers himself profoundly. It's extremely moving.
- Evening Standard

Clapton relates what happened with painful honesty. In other rock stars, such plump contentment might seem hypocritical, even vulgar. But with Eric Clapton, you feel that a little comfort is the least he deserves.
- Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday (4 star review)

This is an essential read
- Observer

It's a raw and remarkable piece of self-exposure
- Daily Telegraph

It is a pity more autobiograophers don't have Clapton's grounding in the blues.
- Sunday Times

His story is certainly deserving of telling. What sets this book apart is Clapton's sheer stature. His tale is frank, witty and engaging. Worth a read.
- News of the World

This is a gripping read
- Observer

Eric Clapton: The Autobiography is nail-biting, white-knuckle stuff
- Tatler

An inspiring story of struggle, setback and redemption, The early chapters bring vividly alive the mood and music of the times, and the young Clapton cuts a deceptively sympathetic figure: an idealist, dedicated to maintaining the 'purity' of his music; modest about his talents, candid about his professional jealousies, his shyness, his sexual insecurities.
- Telegraph

Clapton's book is a candid, almost confessional look back on a starry life. This is a compelling, down-to-earth document of the man behind the guitar-hero mask.
- Q

Clapton reveals all in this unflinching confessional.
- Independent

A powerfully honest and very moving insight into the life of a rock legend
- The Herald (Glasgow)

Clapton bares his soul. Fascinating. It's an absorbing read, like you've been granted access to a mind finally coming to terms with itself.
- The Sunday Tribune (Ireland)

Difficult to put down
- Sunday Times

Clapton provides an orderly account of life in which all other considerations are secondary to the frequently selfish needs of The Artist'
- Guardian

Gold-plated tales of sex, drink, drugs and fame and moments of musical incandescence.
- Observer Music Monthly

A warm portrait
- FT Magazine

A harrowing and searingly honest book about the unreal rock star life.
- Daily Express

Clapton lays bare his life story in this witty but also painfully honest autobiography. Compelling and accomplished.
- Sunday Express

A painfully honest insider's account of an age all too often portrayed as one long party
- Daily Mail

A glorious rock history.
- New York Post

This book does what many rock historians couldn't: It debunks the legend...puts a lie to the glamour of what it means to be a rock star.
- Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune

Strong stuff. Clapton reveals its author's journey to self-acceptance and manhood. Anyone who cares about the man and his music will want to take the trip with him.
- Anthony DcCurtis, Rolling Stone

Clapton is honest...even searing and often witty, with a hard-won survivor's humor...an honorable badge of a book.
- Stephen King, New York Times Book Review

Riveting
- Boston Herald

An even, unblinking sensibility defines the author's voice.
- New York Times

An unsparing self-portrait.
- USA Today

Both the youthful excesses and the current calm state are narrated with an engaging tone that nudges Clapton's story ahead of other rock'n'roll memoirs.
- Publisher’s Weekly

Clapton is a confessional, an addiction memoir, and a glorious rock history rolled into one, with a smidgeon of guilt and, ultimately redemption thrown in for good measure.
- New York Post

Clapton fills in many gray areas, recounting his highs and lows with a thoughtfulness often lacking rock memoirs.Methodically he whittles away at the larger-than-life rock god until a vulnerable, messed-up mortal emerges...Clapton is an absorbing tale of artistry, decadence and redemption.It's also an important reminder of the guitarist's imprint on rock music, as a sideman, solo artist and bandleader.Not bad for a blues snob from Surrey.
- Los Angeles Times

Clapton: The Autobiography does what many rock historians couldn't: It debunks the legend, de-mythologizes one of the most mythologized electric guitarists ever, puts a lie to the glamour of what is means to be a rock star...It's a cautionary tale that spills over into tragedy several times as love, lives and talents are all wasted.
- Chicago Tribune

Like the bluesmen who inspired him, Clapton has his share of scars...his compelling memoir is... a soulful performance.
- People

Charming and surprisingly candid.
- Entertainment Weekly

Absolutely brilliant
- Daily Express