Rick Bragg's biography of Jerry Lee Lewis really is the business. The words on the page perfectly match the music and the man -- RODDY DOYLE * * author of PADDY CLARKE HA HA HA * *
No one in rock and roll has ever made music and lived life with the ferocity of Jerry Lee Lewis, and no writer is better suited than Rick Bragg to tell Lewis's story. The result is a biography with the memorable language and narrative drive we expect only from the finest novels. Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story is the best book on rock and roll I have ever read -- RON RASH
Brilliantly funny, moving and exhilarating * * The Times * *
Jerry Lee Lewis is a fascinating guy, a really opinion-splitting kinda legend, and this is his autobiography -- NOEL FIELDING * * NME * *
Lewis's life story, running from Southern hick to Elvis's rival, is irresistible * * Sunday Times * *
Attempting a biography of rock 'n' roll's most notorious figure is no mean task, but Pultizer Prize-winner Rick Bragg has done an admirable job, aided by Jerry Lee-Lewis himself . . . a fascinating account of a wild, wild talent * * Classic Rock * *
Bragg's fascination for Jerry Lee Lewis wins through, and his shining a light on the eternal dichotomy between sin and salvation makes for a fascinating, distinctly American story . . . * * The Times * *
As an intimate portrait of the original rock 'n' roll wild child, it's probably the closest look that we will ever have of one of pop music's greatest talents and most mysterious enigmas * * Record Collector * *
Hell-raising takes centre stage * * GQ * *
Beautifully written * * Mail on Sunday * *
[Bragg] tells the full story of a long and extraordinary life with critical honesty, describing the triumphs, disasters and scandals, the women, the drink and drugs * * Daily Express * *
Like Byron, he seems mad, bad and dangerous to know, but his art at least reflects him truthfully * * Independent * *
Absorbing . . . a thumpingly good yarn . . . thrillingly readable * * Daily Mail * *
Bragg's book really soars . . . a compelling read -- George Byrne * * Irish Independent * *
Compelling . . . Bragg's book really soars * * Belfast Telegraph * *
The dirt and struggle of white-trash Louisiana is measured out in vivid, hard-punching prose and steeped in down-home vernacular * * Scotsman * *
Rick Bragg's brawny, inflamed prose captures the flavour of a sulphurous rock'n'roll pioneer whose heyday was brief and scandalous, and the drama of an era when pop music was deemed a threat to America's morals * * Guardian * *
Bragg vividly evokes that distant era when rock 'n' roll was catalyst for moral hysteria and a song like 'Great Balls of Fire' had the explosive velocity of the first missile hurled in a riot * * Spectator * *
The real big story comes from the biggest rock 'n' roller * * Evening Standard, Best Music Books of 2014 * *
