Life

The No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller from the Rolling Stones legend

By: Keith Richards

Narrated by: Joe Hurley, Johnny Depp

The once-in-a-generation memoir of a rock legend - the No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller.

'Electrifying'
New York Times

'A masterpiece'
The Word

'Funny, poignant, brutally honest'
Sunday Telegraph

'Densely packed with incident... immensely readable'
Sunday Times

'Once you begin this, wild, wild horses couldn't drag you away'
Independent

'Life is pretty faultless as the quintessential depiction of the man in full and his extraordinary life and times to date'
The Times

'I was hooked from the start'
Harper's Bazaar

As a member of the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the riffs, the lyrics and the songs that roused the world, and over four decades he lived the original rock and roll life: taking the chances he wanted, speaking his mind, and making it all work in a way that no one before him had ever done.

Now, at last, the man himself tells us the story of life in the crossfire hurricane. In Life, Keith narrates his loves and losses, stratospheric fame and success, and the endless stories which have led to his enduring image as outlaw and folk hero.

In a voice that is uniquely and intimately his own, with the disarming honesty that has always been his trademark, Keith Richards brings us the essential life story of our times.

'This is a good, gossipy read. But the best stuff is Keith on music. Check out his wonderful passage on Charlie Watt's drumming'
Evening Standard

'Dark, honest and gleefully indiscreet'
Shortlist

'Life may be the best rock star autobiography ever'
Classic Rock

'A hilarious, ribald and often shocking tale told elegantly and with much candidness'
Catholic Herald

'The fact that Keith is still alive to tell the story is incredible'
Sunday Express S Magazine©2010 Mindless Records, LLC

Critic reviews

Electrifying... the intimate and moving story of one man's long strange trip over the decades, told in dead-on, visceral prose without any of the pretence, caution or self-consciousness that usually attend great artists sitting for their self-portraits

Densely packed with incident... immensely readable. A memoir so full of incident it feels like the author's lived three lives, not one

LIFE is pretty faultless as the quintessential depiction of the man in full and his extraordinary life and times to date

Funny, poignant, brutally honest, engagingly colloquial, Life is pure Keith Richards, as good a rock memoir as you are likely to read.

A masterpiece, the most sustained, colourful and rambunctious rampage through his [Keith's] 67 years imaginable

This is a good, gossipy read. Keith comes across as a thoroughly decent man, with just a hint of the devil. His relationship with Jagger is complex and fascinating

Dark, honest and gleefully indiscreet from the first page to the last, it puts some of today's painfully dull musicians to shame

Once you begin this, wild, wild horses couldn't drag you away

A hilarious, ribald and often shocking tale told elegantly and with much candidness

I was hooked from the start

LIFE may be the best rock star autobiography ever

The fact that Keith is still alive to tell the story is incredible

A strong start

I loved the first part of this book but after a while it becomes very self indulgent and the innocence is lost. It doesn't really finish, rather ends with some aimless recollections.

Still it was an insightful read.

Outstanding

I really enjoyed this book, one of the best audio books I have listened to. It had the feeling of sitting in the company of someone who knows how to tell a story and tells it well. Anecdotes (quite a few of those) and lots of facts about Keef himself and the Stones. If you are remotely interested in rock music, the seventies or just want a good listen, this is the book for you. Don't miss it!

Decent read

Of the 3 narrators I like Joe Hurley the most. He seemed to really enjoy his role. Johnny Depp was awful.
Keith's need to be modest and self depreciation is tiresome

Tells it as it was

A great tale. Too bad they chose Joe Hurley to narrate some of the book. He sounds so much like Mick Jagger, I had to keep reminding myself it's a book about Keith Richards. Johnny Depp & Keef were great.

I just loved it! Am now in the Richards fan club..

What an amazing guy. What I loved most about this book, was the fact that you discovered how incredibly talented Keith was/is, but you also learned he is a good, kind hearted and giving man, despite his flaws. He was so different in so many ways to Mick it would seem, no wonder they each brought something so different to their writing partnership, as The Glimmer Twins. I wasn't so fond of the first narrator (ie Joe Hurley), I think it wold have been better to have just had one narrator throughout. This book has really opened my eyes up to The Stones and what makes them so bloody great. They certainly know how to work hard!