Who I Am - Softcover

Townshend, Pete

3.71

9,072 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1443418927 ISBN 13: 9781443418928

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013

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“Mr. Townshend’s self-portrait is raw and unsparing . . .as intimate and as painful as a therapy session.” ―MICHIKO KAKUTANI, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Long acknowledged as one of rock music’s most intelligent and literary performers, Pete Townshend―guitarist, songwriter, singer and founding member of The Who―at last tells his wild story in this candid and immersive autobiography.

Raised in West London by an eccentric grandmother while his parents were off living the early post-war, rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, Townshend describes a frenetic childhood of displacement and abuse. Then, in high school, everything changed when he met Roger Daltrey and formed a band that would travel the world, earning fame, fortune and critical acclaim. In Who I Am, Townshend takes us from the inner sanctum of Eric Clapton’s drug-ridden hotel rooms to the feet of Jimi Hendrix and his electric Kool-Aid guitar; from the first trial performance of Townshend’s rock opera, Tommy, in a London bar to his infamous arrest (and acquittal) on child pornography charges.

With his trademark eloquence, fierce intelligence and brutal honesty, Townshend has created a work of literature that stands as a primary source for popular music’s greatest epoch. Readers will be confronted by a man laying bare who he is, an artist who has asked for nearly sixty years: who are you?

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About the Author:

Pete Townshend is the legendary lead guitarist and principal songwriter for The Who, one of the most influential rock-and-roll bands of all time. He is one of Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. He resides in West London, where he was raised.

Review:

“Intensely intimate...candid to the point of self-laceration...[Townshend’s] tone is less lofty than anyone would have expected, just as this book is more honest than any fan would have hoped.” (Rolling Stone (Four 1/2 Stars!))

“Mr. Townshend’s self-portrait is raw and unsparing...as intimate and as painful as a therapy session, while chronicling the history of the band as it took shape in the Mod scene in 1960s London and became the very embodiment of adolescent rebellion and loud, anarchic rock ‘n’ roll.” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times)

“Unusually frank and moving...[Who I Am] isn’t one of those rock memoirs that puts the what before the why. His past is a puzzle Mr. Townshend is sweating to decipher.” (The Guardian (UK))

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