Title: Motherless Child
Author: Paul Scott
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 314
Rating: 8/10
Paul Scott – Motherless Child
Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.
Motherless Child is presented as “the definitive biography of Eric Clapton”, and I’ll be the first to admit that it gives you a great insight into his life and his career, although considering it was published in 2015, the last decade or so seems a little bare. That said, Clapton’s getting on a bit by now, and he’s also started to settle down.
It’s also well-written and well-presented, and it’s obvious that a lot of research has gone into it. That said, the main sources that Scott uses are other biographies of Eric Clapton, as well as Eric’s own autobiography. It does sort of beg the question of why you’d need another Eric Clapton biography, especially when this one makes so little of the recent years.
But if you can put that aside and judge this for what it is, which I can because I’ve never read anything else about Clapton, then you’ll realise that this is actually a cracking autobiography, especially because of its relative neutrality. Scott is a Clapton fan, but that doesn’t stop him from telling you about what a douchebag the guitarist can be.
And he can be a bit of a douchebag, too. I mean, let’s face it – he was a womanising, alcoholic drug abuser. But still, he seems to have settled down a bit in his later years, and it’s not as though he hasn’t witnessed his fair share of tragedy. I found it an interesting enough read, and I’m not a particularly big Clapton fan, and so if you fancy taking a chance then go out and get it. Just make sure you come back and let me know what you think, afterwards.
Eric Clapton
