Keith Richards: Got Life if you want it

I am really enjoying Life right now. I speak, of course, the autobiography Life by Keith Richards.

It is an entertaining, informative and very frank memoir. The Rolling Stones' lead guitarist and the real driving force behind the band, Keith Richards is frank about the sex, the drugs and the rock 'n' roll. But what surprised me most about the book is Richards' lucidity and powers of recall of what we all imagined was a life led in a haze of mind-bending drugs. (Where he has forgotten small parts, he has been able to call upon friends and associates for their account of what happened.)

Richards writes (with the help of long-time friend and author James Fox) with love and enthusiasm for his chosen profession. Other musicians will learn a lot from his explanations about how he plays and his favoured open tuning method that has given the world some of the most memorable guitar licks in the history of rock'n'roll.

His recall of how he wrote many of rock's classics is fascinating and he is generous with his praise for Mick Jagger's lyric-writing skill. He is generous in Life to many people. This reflects as much on Richards as the people about whom he writes. There are few people for whom he has a bad word. Mick Jagger is an exception to this - but as the two men have been joined at the hip for over half a century it is not surprising that they have had their ups and downs in their relationship.

The drug-taking for which is renowned is offered in detail along with sage advice. Always buy the best seems to be his motto - but then he could afford to do so. But he also adds several "don't try this at home" warnings.

He is also discreet and almost middle-class in his accounts of his sexual exploits. He is not a gentleman who kisses and tells. Or even fucks and tells. And in many cases he didn't fuck as often as people may think. Hugs and cuddles are important to this so-called hard man of rock.

The Keith Richards that comes across in Life is a generous, sensible and balanced man with an amazing talent for and love of music. If you read no other rock autobiography, you should read this one.