"Take A Look At Me Now" - Phil Collins' Not Dead Yet autobiography reviewed by Alan Hewitt.

Autobiographies are a strange beast, they must be even stranger for the subject! Having written one biography myself, I was already aware of the potential pitfalls that embarking on such a project may have been lying in wait for Phil. After all, it must be even more difficult to censor yourself than it is to do so to someone else telling the story!

So, with all of that in mind, I began my reading of Phil’s story upon receipt of my copy with no idea as to what I would find inside. Would there be salacious tittle tattle and scuttlebutt regarding antics with Genesis? The divorces? Already a ready form of material for the gutter press always obsessed with the more lurid aspects of fame?

Well, if that is what you were expecting or hoping for from this book, then I have to say you are going to be sorely disappointed! Instead, what you have here is a thought provoking, honest, at times rip-roaringly funny and at others, deeply moving telling of Phil’s story.

There aren’t any major revelations or anything that the more well-informed among us did not already know, but the book reads extremely well, it has obviously been a labour of love for Phil and some of it must have been extremely difficult for him to write - especially the final chapters which outline Phil’s battles with failing health and alcoholism. He does not pull any punches though and that is to his credit.

All in all, an extremely satisfying look through Phil’s eyes at a life which has been lived to the full. I have often envied Phil but not any more. Instead I have a deeper respect and admiration for a man who has been as true to his story as he has always been to his music.