Nice one, riff master. A tough and entertaining memoir. Page by page, at every turn, Richards comes across as honest, scary, affectionate and witty. The '60s are portrayed without sentimentality as a time of integral social change, fighting against established order. The '70s languish in junkie superstardom, gripping, gruelling chapters that refuse to glamourise the truth and often shock the reader with a dead-eyed paranoia. Jagger and Pallenberg dart in and out of the narrative, as dynamic and compelling as the main character himself, brilliant friction. Then there's some haphazard accounts of how those amazing songs came to light, luck and chaos it seems. Exciting, jaw-droppingly direct and hilarious, Life is a ferocious book, it burns with the wisdom of an original non-conformist.
