I have been an Elton John fan all my life after borrowing the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album from my sister and never giving it back. I had a major crush on Elton John, and I fell in love with the music, the collaboration of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Their songs told stories with often tragic characters.

I have seen Rocketman, the biopic that came out around the time of Me, the memoir I just finished, so I was somewhat aware of the sex, drugs and rock and roll aspect of Elton's life. What I wasn't prepared for, perhaps, was the gossipy, b****y side of Elton; he can be downright mean. But he is also funny and often self-deprecating as well as completely honest about his addictions from drugs to sex to shopping as well as his terrible temper.

And, if he did brag a bit, he IS Elton John after all. He chose a variety of stories that showed him at both his best and worst. Besides getting behind the scenes looks at his concerts over the years, we learn about his relationships with family, friends, and the famous and *very* famous including an odd frenemy kind of thing with Rod Stewart. We follow his struggles with substance abuse and his success in getting clean. And, we see him finally get what he never thought he could have: a real family.

I enjoyed the book, learning more about Elton and feeling nostalgic for the times he describes, especially the creation of the early albums I adore. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book and fully recommend it. It carries Elton John's personality, often with his dry sense of humor. It is interesting to see his perspective on popular culture events and people, and from a human viewpoint. The writing is conversational and flows. Generally, the book follows his life in time order, with topics that sometimes overlap the timeline of other chapters. The opening felt confusing to me, so I did not like how the book started, but the rest was great. At first, it seemed like a barrage of naming names, dates, and so forth, and I was surprised by the detailed quotes of things other people said from early in his life. Then later in the book, when he mentioned his diaries, and the style in which they were written, that would account for a lot of his specific information, and he noted his writing style. Note: There's plenty of adult language, which is fitting for this book, and which may be a consideration for potential readers who are sensitive to such. Editorial Note: I noticed that for companies and organizations, he uses the plural of a verb instead of singular. This was new to me, and since this was done repeatedly, I took it as deliberate. I'm from the U.S., and maybe that's a British thing.
— Rebecca ( )

Six stars! It was everything I'd hoped it would be.

I've also started listening to musicians that were never part of my scene (Little Richard, Rod Stewart, The Band) because Elton John talks about them in a way that really sparked my interest. So that's nice, to have the book unexpectedly launch me into something new; a tiny surprise gift. ( )

The autobiography by Elton John is an easy and enjoyable read. It has it all - sex, drugs and rock and roll - and a self deprecating humour that on several occasions made me laugh out loud.
Not being a great Elton fan, or particularly well acquainted with the British music scene of the period, the movie about Elton John, Rocket man, provided some context. The book is so well written I assume Elton had help, but the voice seems to be all his own, wry and funny, factual and to the point even when recounting the absurd.
At times the deluge of names and places and records that only a connoisseur of 60-70 rock and roll will recognize can be a bit overwhelming, but if you can let it roll off your back instead of haring down rabbit holes to research and map all the characters and their relations, the flow of the narrative will keep you moving through to more entertaining passages.

Elton (or his helper) has a bad habit of introducing characters in the flow, and then only later provide their background and relation to Elton. There is also a lot of foreshadowing which both contribute to an occasional sense of messiness and jumping around. On the other hand, the meta commenting Elton provides is very endearing and gives a sense of getting to know him on a deeper level. ( )

I am not the biggest Elton John fan. In fact, the bulk of the albums he talked about in the book I really had not idea what songs were on them. I know the big hits, of course, but I'm hardly an Elton John connoisseur. Having said that, this book was a crazy fun read regardless of my lack of overwhelming fandom. I thoroughly enjoyed his story told in his unabashedly frank and hilarious style. I was going to get around to watching Rocketman eventually, but now I'll be checking it out sooner rather than later. I think I'll also be giving a listen to those albums I'm unfamiliar with, and listening in proper order to respect his insistence on about an "album musician." I think I finally understand what it means when someone says someone is a "musician's musician," and I think Elton John fits the bill after reading this. Definitely worth the time, even if you aren't a super fan :) ( )