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Full Disclosure. Before reading this book, I was not a huge Eric Clapton fan. Sure, I'd enjoyed him in concert a few times and I owned some of his albums. I respected him. But I wasn't all that interested in reading about him. I was more interested in reading what he had to say about George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

In this book, Eric Clapton has plenty to say about all three. But he's got even more to say about a lot of other people, events, places and things. And in doing so, he penned an incredible autobiography.

This an amazing journey narrated by an incredible man. From abject poverty in Ripley, England, Eric Clapton ascended to the top of guitar virtuosity, crashed, burned, won it all, lost it all, rose again, crashed again, somehow survived and then wrote this book.

And this is a brilliantly written book. Clearly it is Clapton's story told by Clapton. And he tells it with great humility and grace.

The story features almost every figure of the blues and rock music as well as contemporary art, design, cinema, fashion and, yes, addiction therapy. All the suspects are here. And Clapton delivers precise insights into each and every one of them. (Including, of course, the narrator himself.)

Eric Clapton reveals the harrowing tale of his alcoholism and the carnage it created in his life (and the lives of those around him). He unloads the sordid details of his personal failings and the costs incurred. (I don't know much about books on addiction and recovery, but I'd bet this is one of the best books under that heading ever written.)

And, even when he's trying to get his act together, cruel fate deals him unimaginable grief and suffering.

Yet, Clapton perseveres and emerges the better for it. He dedicates himself to noble pursuits and stakes everything he has on them. And in doing so he is redeemed.

This is a great book. It's a compelling story told by a genuinely human narrator. And it is very well written. I didn't hesitate to give it five stars.