Chuck Berry: The Autobiography [Hardcover]

Chuck Berry (Author), Bruce Springsteen (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 1989

This is the astonishingly candid autobiography of Chuck Berry, the man who created rock'n'roll. It includes a discography and filmography, and details of all of his recording sessions.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'If you tried to give rock 'n' roll another name, you might call it "Chuck Berry".' John Lennon" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: Harmony Books; 1st edition (January 13, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517566664
• ISBN-13: 978-0517566664
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #520,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Autobiography As it Was Meant To Be, January 18, 2009

By 

Sir Gerald Wordsmith "Gman" (Kirkwood, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chuck Berry Autobiography (Paperback)

I have finally gotten around to reading Chuck's story, 20 years after it was written. I was moved by his honesty, by his lyricism, by his compelling story and complicated life. Blues and Rock and Race in America... not an easy subject to understand, nor a smooth journey. But Mr. Berry tells it as he lived it and as he remembers it, rough edges and all. I was intrigued by his writing style, as poetic and heartfelt, even obtuse at times, as the lyrics for his songs. One of the attributes I look for in an autobiography is, when I have finished reading it, if I have a better understanding of the person. Why he is like he is, what the forces were and are that shaped his life. In this book, my answer is an unqualified "yes." I'm glad he wrote it. I'm even happier I read it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars poor writing style bogs down reading, August 23, 2010

By 

Allan Tong (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chuck Berry: The Autobiography (Hardcover)

I love Chuck Berry and was eager to read his memoirs. I came away with mixed feelings.

I liked that he tells stories about writing his greatest songs. That was a good chapter. Also intriguing were his scrapes with racism, his (many) dalliances with women over the years, and his prison terms in the early-60s and late-70s. Does he reveal everything? Of course not. No autobiography does, but he can be candid.

What I didn't like was Chuck's clumsy writing style with run-on sentences, use of arcane words when simpler ones would've sufficed, and weird changes in active/passive voice. His style comes off as pretentious and distracts the reader from what he's trying to say. (I actually preferred Springsteen's foreword which told a good story in clear terms.)

For hardcore Berry fans, really.

4.0 out of 5 stars Chuck Berry is Rock and Roll, May 28, 2011

By 

Yellowkid (Casco, Maine USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chuck Berry Autobiography (Paperback)

Like most autobiographies, Chuck's is rather self serving, and his writing style may dismay some, but hey, this is a rock and roll legend, not an English major.
Chuck writes about his early musical influences by performers such as Louis Jordan, his meeting with Muddy Waters, and how he came to write many of his hits. The origin of the famous "duck walk" is told and Chuck tells about his brushes with the law.
I am not alone in my opinion that he is the most important R&R figure of the twentieth century. I believe it was John Lennon who said that if you needed another name for R&R it could be Chuck Berry, most fans will thoroughly this book.