Bit of a Blur: The Autobiography

Follows the ordinary dramaturgical path of a rock star biography closely (dreaming - dynamic start - stardom - fights and conflicts - decadence - breakdown - wisdom) but really feels like it's pretty intelligent. The music nerd ex-indiepopper in me would probably have liked to read a little more about stuff like "the day we put chemical world together started with Dave inventing this badass drumbeat", but on the other hand it's quite refreshing with a book like this that spends a lot of time focusing on completely other things. Like space. Or flying. Or cheese. James comes across like a likable brat, and makes me dig out the old records and relive those late teenage years. Not bad.

For all the fascinating stories in this book (and there are many), it just doesn't come together to form a complete narrative of a life. It's like he flattened everything out, exagerating the entertaining little stories but toning down the real drama. But I don't think it's a problem of skill. I think he just didn't want to tell, either because it was painful or to protect others. Which is fine, really. But it doesn't do the reader (or him, really) any good in the end.

I got this book because I thought it would give some interesting insight into one of my favourite bands. But no. Alex James spends very little time talking about Blur- in fact you might be surprised to know he's in a band, based off most of this. Instead of talking about the dynamics of the group (hell he doesn't even mention anything about Graham leaving the band, from memory), inspiration and how they worked in the studio, James decides to just tell us about his various hedonistic excesses during his time as a rock star. He was living his dream and he just wants us to know that he really had a hell of a time getting totally off his face, having sex with randoms and waking up in strange places in a bizarre state. Maybe he thought show more telling these stories would be somehow original but, while somewhat funny, they're just totally typical. I wouldn't mind a few, but it really is almost all James talks about. And he doesn't get into emotional stuff most of the time, oh no, he just paints this entirely cliche picture of the sort of vacuous life rock stars live- even though he himself doesn't seem to realise how bad he makes himself look like through telling us all this crap and then claiming 'I never regretted it because I kind of thought it was my duty and all'. Despite attempts to make himself seem like a profound man through telling us about his interest in astronomy, cheese and buying a farm with his family in the Cotswolds, James still seems like a pretty vain, egotistical jerk to me.

All that said, this isn't a bad book, I generally enjoyed it, but it took me months to finish, as one can only take so much of James talking about being drunk. The opening, up to and including the recording and touring of Leisure, were quite interesting. James gives some interesting insight on the beginning of his relationships with the rest of the band, and the early recording process. But after that he hardly seems to meet them, let alone record music with them. Really, I can't recommend this book, because you probably won't learn anything at all about Blur or what it's like to be a rock star, but it isn't a bad read if you choose to pick it up. Just not a very insightful one. show less

Does not shed much light on Bur, but is a fun memoir of fame. While reading it I keep thinking it seemed almost like the real-life version of Bret Easton Ellis's novel Glamorama, although with a very different ending.

First off, yes, I do think Alex James is incredibly handsome and no, that did not (necessarily) influence this gleaming review.

He does have a skill in writing comedy - although he says that writing comedy is hard (I concur) he seems to pull it off and produce a hilarious and personal memoir. I could imagine him chuckling as he reads it himself.

Started off really liking the style of the book i.e lots of 'brilliant' and 'nice', short sentences. This fitted well with Alex's early years. But I was hoping that as Alex recounted his more recent past (he is now 38) his style might change - this didn't happen. Still I did enjoy the tales of his excesses and some bits made me laugh out loud (Noel Edmunds in the lift!). Although his 'moral bankruptcy' was fleetingly referred to I didn't have the impression that he had any regrets. It was also interesting to note that celebrities are just as captivated by the idea of fame as the rest of us. Alex came across as someone with a real joie de vivre and a thirst for knowledge.
This sounds a bit like a school report - I'm not a teacher - honest!

For all the fascinating stories in this book (and there are many), it just doesn't come together to form a complete narrative of a life. It's like he flattened everything out, exagerating the entertaining little stories but toning down the real drama. But I don't think it's a problem of skill. I think he just didn't want to tell, either because it was painful or to protect others. Which is fine, really. But it doesn't do the reader (or him, really) any good in the end.