A Likely Lad

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Doherty’s drug use left him unable to perform the role of professional musician – when the band went on without him, he was wounded, railing against “the industrialisation of the Libertines”. Doherty has made it out the other end of flashbulb infamy but, as A Likely Lad makes clear, it was touch and go. Doherty comes across as a loveable rogue at heart, who just made the mistake of staring too deeply into the void for too long, only for the void to then hold him in its death-grip for nearly two decades. The long-awaited, candid memoir from Peter Doherty, whose talent as a musician has more often been eclipsed by a Herculean appetite for self destruction: drugs, prison, prostitution, court, murder, death, robbery, car crashes and hospital emergencies.

Unfortunately this book lacks the poetic warmth Doherty is known for speaking in, and forgoes a lot of talk of the relationship between him and Carl in exchange for tedious goings on about drug binges and the like. In his foreword he says he “can’t really admit defeat” and, despite a few near misses, he hasn’t had to. He is one of the frontmen for the rock band, the Libertines, and previously formed Babyshambles and the Puta Madres. At Books2Door, we believe that reading is a fundamental skill that every child should have to help improve their vocabulary, grammar, and critical thinking skills. Constable also boasts a strong non-fiction section, publishing the likes of HRH Princess Michael of Kent and bestselling parody We?

To me it paints a very accurate and important picture of drug abuse and addiction and to talk about it so openly isn’t to glorify it. It’s a perfectly normal biography all the info is in there but the whole time I’m waiting for the romanticism and fantasy and lyricism with which the same events are described in the Books of Albion etc. Rather, he relayed his life story to Spence who then formed the narrative that makes up the few hundred or so pages of ‘A Likely Lad.

His lack of reflection then is perhaps understandable given that he likely doesn’t remember a whole lot of what happened. Deep down I know I never wanted to end up a hopeless junkie, with an addiction that I became a slave too. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

Doherty describes the well-documented incident in which he burgled Barât’s home, which led to his first prison sentence and first exile from the Libertines, as “a bit naughty, really”. It is not included in promotions available to our main range products, as stated in our terms of service. Coke and speed were nice little additions, and benzodiazepines for the come-down were really just a way of helping to get to sleep after being up partying and munching "disco-biscuits" for 3 or 4 days at a time. The most vivid and descriptive section of the book covers his childhood, where the reader does get a sense of his time spent of various military barracks, and his brutish father. The musician Pete Doherty has often been described as a “poet” – by fans, breathless NME journalists and, of course, himself.

At times Doherty's wit and humour shines through, and some anecdotes of his past debauchery are hilarious. For fans, it’s certainly worth a read, particularly for anecdotes about the making of his albums, his memories of concerts (many of which can be found online) and how particular songs were written. He doesn’t emerge well from the death of Mark Blanco – who fell to his death from the balcony of a east London flat at a party in 2006 – maintaining he fled the scene to protect himself and the teenager he was with.The fact that The Likely Lad, the 43-year-old’s warts’n’more ghost-written autobiography, somehow manages to omit this striking story is surely testament to the overwhelming chaos of Doherty’s life.

There are fist fights and attempts to stalk their idols, the Strokes (all stories from this period also invariably end with the admission that Libertines hanger-on and future Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell “was there too”. The long-awaited, candid memoir from Peter Doherty, whose talent as a musician has more often been eclipsed by a Herculean appetite for self-destruction: drugs, prison, prostitution, court, murder, death, robbery, car crashes and hospital emergencies. Obviously rock stars, actors, actresses and artists tend to have access to more money, attend wild parties, have tumultuous affairs and are able to enjoy many interesting experiences; but their day to day lives are always equally interesting to me.

Fans of the Libertines – who formed in 1997 – may hope for a work rivalling the literary merit of Patti Smith’s Just Kids or Bob Dylan’s Chronicles. Our team is made up of book lovers who are dedicated to sourcing and providing the best books for kids.