marliesvan's review
5.0
Extremely entertaining autobiography. I can really recommend the audio book as performed by Taron Egerton. He makes it a joy to listen to.
books_and_planners's review against another edition
4.0
This book was wonderful. I’m a huge fan of Elton John. I loved the movie Rocketman, but this autobiography didn’t hold anything back. It was real & raw. I had to keep pausing to look up stuff he referenced. Whether it be songs, other artists, events, scandals, etc. I started this book on my kindle but finished it on audiobook. I highly recommend audio, which is narrated by Taron Egerton, who plays John in Rocketman. Fantastic. What a life.
miacorkum's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Sexual content
serving_goffman's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
obscuredbyclouds's review
3.0
I'm not a fan of Elton John; I love "Rocket Man" and "Amoreena" and I think he wrote a few other good songs and is clearly a talented musician, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed his biopic. I was, again, surprised by how entertaining this autobiography is. My boyfriend gave it to me for Christmas and had been urging me this week to put down Thomas Mann and pick up this instead, since I clearly needed something light and absorbing.
Well, he was right. This is a well-written, easy to read autobiography that has a lot of going on - from emotional stuff to laugh out loud moments, there's Yoko Ono's "so much moo-ing" and Bob Dylan the gardener as funny anecdotes, but also just really witty and amusing musings.
I enjoyed the first part of the book the most, because I like reading about the beginning of music careers. I also prefer hearing about forgotten and under-appreciated musical influences more than name-dropping the Queen and every other famous person in the world. The recounting of his drug addiction was interesting, but the lavish lifestyle and the way he talks about his consumerist mindset (can be summed up as "I deserve it!") just left a really bad taste in my mouth. And while he makes fun of himself for his tantrums and emotional outbursts, I'm not sure if he's as self-aware as he thinks he is.
If you're a fan, you need to read this book. If you're not and just enjoy autobiographies, this is a pretty good one. I'm gonna go and listen to his output from the 70s a little more closely now.
Well, he was right. This is a well-written, easy to read autobiography that has a lot of going on - from emotional stuff to laugh out loud moments, there's Yoko Ono's "so much moo-ing" and Bob Dylan the gardener as funny anecdotes, but also just really witty and amusing musings.
I enjoyed the first part of the book the most, because I like reading about the beginning of music careers. I also prefer hearing about forgotten and under-appreciated musical influences more than name-dropping the Queen and every other famous person in the world. The recounting of his drug addiction was interesting, but the lavish lifestyle and the way he talks about his consumerist mindset (can be summed up as "I deserve it!") just left a really bad taste in my mouth. And while he makes fun of himself for his tantrums and emotional outbursts, I'm not sure if he's as self-aware as he thinks he is.
If you're a fan, you need to read this book. If you're not and just enjoy autobiographies, this is a pretty good one. I'm gonna go and listen to his output from the 70s a little more closely now.
offbalance80's review
5.0
There's a popular parlor game/meme/conversation starter/whatever that talks about the celebrities, alive or dead, that you'd like to have to your house for a dinner party. Before I read this book, I'm not sure Elton would have made the list. Now that I have read this book? He's near the top of the list for life. He has amazing anecdotes about his life, things that I can't even believe he felt comfortable putting into print. He has other, even more amazing anecdotes about people in his life (and based on this book, Freddy Mercury is also forever on the list, as he sounds like an absolute scream). He's candid about his mistakes, his bad behaviors, and all of the things he's extremely proud of. Any memoir would do this, but the stories are relayed in such an incredibly engaging fashion that you just want him to keep going. (He does feel a bit more reluctant to share certain things about his current, happy, settled life with his husband and sons, but you can't fault him for that). This past week I've been in bed with a horrendous upper respiratory infection, but reading this made me feel as though a really funny friend dropped by to keep me company while I was miserably sick in bed. If you enjoyed Rocketman (the movie) or are just a fan, don't miss.