Autobiographies good or bad?

I've not read too many but here's my thoughts on the few I have:

Paul Lake's is by far the most interesting and well recommended for any football fan.
Bert Trautmann's biography filled out more of the professional life of the man and was a decent read after previously reading Trautmann's Journey: From Hitler Youth to FA Cup Legend.
Uwe Rosler's was interesting for the early career and subsequent health issues and told in a fairly straightforward manner.
Mike Summerbee's was a bit of a letdown for me. Think my expectations were a little too high thinking there would be all sorts of lurid tales in there but not to be I'm afraid.
 
If your looking for a good Autobiography. Look no further than Rik Mayalls Bigger than Hitler Better yhan Christ. Total madness. But so so funny.
 
I’m half way through Paul Lake’s book and think it’s very good.

Before that read Colin Schindler’s book ‘Manchester United ruined my life’. He is/was a City fan rather than a player. I enjoyed it, but think it would have a more limited appeal than Paul Lake’s autobiography. Maybe for the older reader.

John
 
Read Whitey's - very harrowing at times but it's what happened and needs to be read. Stewart's book is being brought over by my visiting mate next week.
Shaun Goater's I really enjoyed, so humble and down to earth. Great reading about his mum or grandmum just working to keep Shaun in a pair of boots when growing up as a kid.

Fred Eyre's has to be read - funniest football book going! Kicked into touch.
Read Fred Eyre's book years ago, but still remember the story of when he turned up for his first match for City and the gateman would not let him in. He told they guy: " I'm going into that pub over there. When City notice they havent a number 6 tell them where to find me."
Typical City, so must be true!
 
Harry Harris...... I proof read it for the publisher 3 days after we had won it. He originally started the season writing about the rags ''final season with Fergie'' and them winning the title.... after the 6-1 he shat himself thinking ''they ain't going to win it'' and switched tactics to do the book on City. Obviously he carried on doing both just to cover himself.
He missed a trick. Given the close finish, he should have intertwined both manuscripts, finishing with....Aguerrrroooooooo.
 
Football autobiographies are, by and large, awful to read. Coton’s was alright though, and Lake’s was excellent. Not read Stewart’s yet.
The problem with autobiographies is that in many cases the subject is looking to cash in or to put the record straight. Also, they tend to be ghost written to a standard format of roughly 60,000 words. Often the ghost writer will make basic mistakes that fans would not (I think a few people have noticed 1 which talks of fans singing Blue Moon at Wembley in 1976 - 13 years before we actually started singing it!). Coton's is different because it was written by a Blue (Simon Mullock) who was keen to challenge Coton and get the best he could out of him while Lake's was written by his wife (a proper writer too!) and so the passion/feeling and frustrations could properly come out.

I've been asked a few times to ghost write a biography, once for a player I really admired, but my first question is always why and then what's the angle. Personally, I prefer biographies where the author can challenge the subject more - or properly put into perspective the significance of the player. When I wrote the Joe Mercer biography Football With A Smile the first thing I said to my publisher was - don't limit my word count! I didn't want to produce a bland 60,000 word book that merely talked about his managerial career or the popular stories. I wanted to tell his full life story and genuinely highlight what he had achieved, his family, frustrations and issues.

No doubt over the coming years there'll be dozens of biographies written about City players. I just hope they avoid the formulaic approach and tell us something meaningful. Often distance in terms of time helps too.
 

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