Bailey Singletary is a junior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].For the most part, college students would say they don’t have time to read a book unless it was for a class, and even then, SparkNotes saves lives.
It seems like reading isn’t really as important as it used to be, and maybe that’s because there haven’t been any really good books that seem intriguing or everyone just waits for the movie to come out.
I’ve always enjoyed reading John Grisham books, as many other Mississippians have, but I think books that are easy to put down and pick back up days later are best for college students. Our schedules are crazy, and Grisham’s books seem to need consecutive days of attention. So while I had some downtime last week in between studying for tests and projects, I decided to pass time by finding a book to read instead of a trashy magazine or watching re-runs of “A Shot at Love” with Tila Tequila.
After walking around debating on what I wanted to read, I picked up Eric Clapton’s new autobiography that a lot of Clapton fans have waited for like Harry Potter fans anticipated “Deathly Hallows.”
I had read Bob Dylan’s “Chronicles” and “Scar Tissue” by Anthony Keidis in the past and enjoyed these musicians’ autobiographies, so I assumed I’d like “Clapton” too since I like his music as well.Once I began to read about his life, I realized that this wasn’t going to be like Dylan’s book, which focused mostly on his music career and didn’t get into his personal life. Clapton has had the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” life that the music world is known for. While the book does cover his life through the many bands he has been a part of and the outstanding performers he has been asked to play with, it also covers his drug addictions, his lowest points when he wanted to die, his love affair with his best friend’s wife and even the tragic death of his son.
The book is not only made for Clapton fans, it was written for fans of music and will appeal to those who are envious of a musician’s lifestyle. It isn’t the gossip or tabloid type of writing, and it doesn’t preach to people about not doing drugs.
The book shows the truth behind drug and alcohol addiction, how low it will take a person, how many relationships it will crush and how hard it can be to get back to the top. Some might finish the book and keep their opinion that Clapton is a pompous and self-centered jerk, which is expected.
If you don’t know anything about “Slowhand” before you read the book, I have a feeling you will be somewhat of a fan by the time you turn the last page of “Clapton.”
For those who have admired this rock legend since the first time they heard him, it is definitely a must-read. Musicians usually talk about their lives through interviews with the large-headed Larry King and are forced to leave some of the more interesting events out because of FCC regulations.
In autobiographies, artists are allowed to pour out their hearts and souls, because nothing is taboo in books.
Clapton is completely honest in his book, and it is very humbling.
While I’d recommend almost any musician’s autobiography to someone who wants something interesting to read, Clapton’s stands out in a way because it shows that not everyone is perfect and there’s always a way to come out of the worst times of your life.