I Wanna Be Yours

With so many books, I've yet to complete this one seems achievable due to its relaxed style and humour. There's a feeling of warmth and intelligence to Johns writing. It may appeal to people of a certain age due to some 50s 60s references, but so far - a quarter of the way through- it's hitting the right spot.Johns insights are very clever and it shows it's not all about his excellent poetry - his writing is also good.If you're a fan, it's certainly going to be in your collection- I would wholeheartedly recommend.

My son and I recently went to see the great man at a theatre performance, I decided to get his life story for my son as a birthday gift. He loves the book and it was his quote that I used as a headline.

Now don't get me wrong I enjoyed reading this book, it's splendidly written, acerbic and witty, and reads like one of JCC's verses; and through it all you can hear that unmistakeable quick-fire Salford sardonic sass for which Clarke is renowned. And JCC's life as a [largely] functioning junkie surrounded by an extraordinary cast of misfits, wackos and ne'er do wells haphazardly following his ambition to be a full time poet makes for a humorous read.But, and there's always a but, like so many auto-biographers JCC falls into the trap of focusing too much of his book on his early years and then gallops through the majority of his career [if this were a travel book we would learn more about the contents of his suitcase than the journey]. About ten percent of the book is spent on JCC's early twenties trudging around Manchester's club circuit looking for a break, twenty percent on his five or so big punk-poet years, and fifteen percent on the forty years since then; with the first fifty percent of the book given over to detailing his post-war childhood and his teen years in provincial sixties Salford*. And that's where I struggle with JCC's recount, who really remembers all those intricate details of their childhood, I don't [and I haven't spent years of my life on class A drugs] and when it actually comes down to it how much of this stuff is really relevant to the making of JCC the punk poet laureate?But as said I enjoyed this book, although there was very little about his poetry there's a lot about his poetry performances and his tours, while these are interesting too often they are just a lists of places and people. But then there's the drugs; lots of drugs, and JCC treats the reader to a voyeuristic view of their influence on his life as it slowly but all too predictably unravels, it's a bit like watching a car crash in slow motion only worse!So highly recommended, a witty and interesting insight into a one of a kind living legend, but because I would have liked less on his early years and more on his poetry it's only four stars from me, but I do recommend it if you have an interest in Dr. JCC, punk or poetry.-----*For the pedantic who've being doing the sums the other five per cent is taken up with photos and references.

I laughed every time I read it. It was like it was a chat, finding humour in all minutae of life. Honestly the most enjoyable book I've ever read.

John Cooper Clarke's prose is as wonderful as his poetry and crackles along with acerbic asides and delightfully sardonic portraits of eccentric characters such as Kenny, 'a drunken ...psychopath - I never met him when he didn't have anaxe in his hand'  and his family: 'I was a mystery to them and they were a mystery to me.'In this witty, incisive and insightful autobiography, the Bard of Salford and the Name Behind the Hair, JCC saddles up to take us on a frantic gallop through his life and career: from a stint as a lab technician in Salford, ill-paid jobs as a teenager in seedy Northern nightclubs under the tutelage of comic Bernard Manning, bouts of heroin addiction and recovery and even guest appearances on the Sugar Puffs adverts to achieving fame and recognition as Britain's greatest living performance poet, broadcaster, documentary maker, writer and Doctor of Arts. What a ride!I Wanna be Yours is is the perfect companion to JCC's  poetry collections, Ten Years in an Open-necked Shirt, The Luckiest Guy Alive and his many CDs including Word of Mouth, Snap, Crackle and Bop and This Time It's Personal.  Even if you can't travel abroad, take an extraordinary journey on John Cooper Clarke's magic carpet, each of its 320 pages and photographs an absolute delight.

A funny and informative sprint through JCC's life and times. Enjoyed it enormously.

It was the best of times it was the worst of times - a Tale of Two Jonnies might have been a better title.I've already complained about the obsessive listing of stuff and details that I'm not sure that at his advanced age without the judicious help of Drs Google and Wikipedia he could remember.I'm not too far away from my 70's myself and what I can remember is seeing JCC at Bristol Colston Hall supporting Siouxsie And The Banshees - a tour of which he never mentions and which according to Dr Google I saw on July 31st 1981. This gig was fantastic, JCC was great - we'd bought the albums and he was at the top of his game. Siouxsie And The Banshees were also fantastic... I'd been turned onto them by the punks in my next door flat playing their albums LOUD - so thanks guys. Fast forward many many years JCC was performing at the Plough Arts Centre in Great Torrington North Devon. A group of us had booked to celebrate a mates birthday there. It was a disaster. JCC couldn't remember his lines, he could barely remember his name - what an embarrassment and a huge let down for us fans. Even Dr Google couldn't put a date on this one.So a Tale of Two Johns in real life as in this book.To be fair I preferred the book from around the middle when he seems to have given up on the lists and name dropping although it does continue but I continued to read to the very end. I am glad that he got his life together, found love, a family and got straight - because I really did enjoy his early work - and props to him for fulfilling his dream of being a working professional poet.

An excellent read!

A fun walk through his life growing up in the 50’s-present day. The author makes the trip to his past come alive with his honesty and colorful descriptions of the characters and styles. A fun read. JCC is a bright, talented man whom I once had the pleasure of meeting in Dublin while vacationing there. He is the REAL DEAL. A kind soul.

I bought this for the hubby and from listening to him laughing out loud I think I can honestly say he’s enjoying this book, he says he finds it relatable to growing up in Manchester and all the fun things you used to do when you were a kid.Beautifully written too

Great read. Hard to put town. Amusing and diverting from start to finish.

The doctor at his best. Lyrical, funny, honest and humble. J C C is a genius