In this accomplished autobiography, Jackson describes his early days, long before he became a household name. In describing his childhood in Portsmouth and the early classical training in music that changed his life, he manages to convey both the excitement and liberation he felt as a youth when he realised he was musically gifted and the take he has on it with the benefit of hindsight, now that he is older and wiser. Jackson, who separates himself from other rock star writers by virtue of having written this book himself, ends his account just as stardom beckons. He is far more interested in where he came from rather than where he got to...Jackson can write. He has almost as acute a sense of how to shape a simple but emotive sentence as he does a pungent melody line. Out of a miserable childhood of soul-destroying assumptions and parental beatings which seemed guaranteed only to block any possibility of a creative life, he manages to create something beautiful. He describes a monochrome existence cut through by sudden bursts of Technicolor, forever provided by music...Putting the power of music into words has always been difficult and Jackson manages it better than most. He is one of those people without whom life would be duller and greyer. He's written some great pop songs and recorded some great albums. Now he's come up with a great rock memoir. (Jay Rayner, Observer). Honest, funny, wise and inspiring; tells you more about music and the love of music than a shelf-full of textbooks ever could. (Ian Banks). Wise, funny and honest, A Cure for Gravity charts his life to the point where his career takes off ...hugely informative on music and the ways of working with it, as well as how to stay true to your beliefs. (Glyn Brown, Sunday Telegraph).