Sting decided to write a different kind of autobiography. Instead of writing about his experiences as a rock star or celebrity, Sting chose only to write about specific moments of his life.
For fans looking to hear about how many girls he bedded, drugs he did, or any other kind of typical rock 'n' roll story one might hear by a rock star, they may as well put down Sting's 'Broken Music,' and pick up Motley Crues' book instead.
'Broken Music,' is a story about a boy growing up in the industrial city in northern England; about his trouble relationship with his parents; about his first love; about his love of music and where these experiences eventually took him.
The book shares some very intimate details about his life. In the book he talks about his mother's infidelity and the incident where he caught her and her lover having intercourse. Sting also shares his own sexual confessions.
Sting said "I lie in the darkness of my attic bedroom above the dairy, where I have successfully ejaculated into my hand for the first time...I have no idea what it is that has exploded into my hand in the dark, only that it has the viscosity and temperature of blood."
Sting also shares in his book his troubled relationship with his father. His father owned a dairy and paid little attention, or complimented, Sting or his mother. This lack of love or attention had a hand in Sting's mother cheating on his father. For years, Sting despised his mother for doing this, but he would soon follow in his mother's footsteps with his own infidelity when he would later fall in love with a neighbor who he eventually married.
Sting had discovered music at an early age banging on his grandmother's piano keys (she called this early effort 'Broken Music'), listening to his parent's record collection, and later on playing around on a guitar given to him by an uncle. Growing up Sting would learn guitar riffs and then replay the music at the local YMCA and, attend Newcastle's Club a Go-Go, where he watched influential musicians such as Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Jimi Hendrix.
The book also talks about Sting's struggles to make it as a working musician while at the same time teaching, and even working as a tax collector. He talks about his early bands, Earthrise, The Phoenix Jazzmen, The Newcastle Big Band and Last Exit. He even talks about his time in a trio band that played on a cruise ship.
Sting mentions only briefly his experiences in The Police, and the rise of their popularity. He even gives readers the pleasure to learn what inspired his career making hit 'Roxanne.'
'Broken Music,' is an interesting enough read that could easily be considered for feature film. With rich detail and vivid characters, one gets a sense of what it was like growing up as the rock icon.
Although the book does use some 16th century flowery language which makes it dry and hard to read at times, the book keeps ones attention. For fans that cannot get enough of Sting, this is a perfect addition for their collection.
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