Customer Reviews

Somebody Someday

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

.. Robbie Williams.

Ok, I probably review way too many RW items on Amazon, but he is truly a unique talent and someone I wish was more popular in the US. His talent and unique blend of pop/rock & R&B influences and is such a nice break from formatted pre-teen pop.

That said, this book is no less interesting than the music. Robbie is not afraid to let it all show, for good or for bad. He openly admits to having demons that other artists spend a fortune trying to hide from the media behind a wall of publicist double-talk and blatant lies.

There is a movie version of this out in the UK at the moment, and I'm hoping that it will at least make it to Canada on DVD so that those of us fans stateside can purchase a copy. I highly recommend this book if you're a fan and want to get to know more about RW.

Living in the States, I find it next to impossible to get my hands on any legitimate news or information about Robbie Williams. Only recently a fan, I have been fascinated by his on-stage presence and consequently curious to discover what he's really all about. 'Somebody Someday' I don't think was ever intended to be a full-fledged biography. It is rather a running commentary by journalist Mark McCrum who joined Williams on his European 'Sermon On the Mount' tour from late 2000 thru early 2001. In truth, for all practical purposes it is quite simply the literary companion to the video documentary for those same shows, entitled 'Nobody Someday.' Therefore, although it provides occasional vignettes about Robbie's past as well as those of his crew and managers, it is more a description of the events surrounding the tour, not an comprehensive analysis of the star.

The book is more reactive than insightful, but that is for the better: there are few if any platitudes and virtually no excuses for what the author witnesses. The narrative also moves quickly and is so true to what occurred that I actually began to feel the rigors of the hectic schedule myself. To that end, there are vivid portraits of just how unglamorous life 'on the road' can be, despite the girls, the glitz and the excitement (including the life-threatening incident in which Williams is thrown off stage by a crazed German fan). The author occasionally splices in bits from his interviews with Robbie, but this is primarily a shot of the megastar in the moment. Given that the tour coincided with yet another attempt by Williams to swear off drugs and alcohol, there are no descriptions of debauchery or outlandish public displays that were known to characterize other times in his life. If anything, after the author briefly recounts some regrettable incidents in the past, you hear how Robbie is successfully fighting to stay sober. In fact, that item is part of a larger underlying theme that slowly emerges: it is that Williams is coming of age. Starting out with a show for a German Bank group in London, he is cynical and frustrated, but by tour's end, he has become less troubled, more grateful for his good fortune, and more enthusiastic about being a performer. He can more easily reconcile Rob, the private person, with Robbie, the musical celebrity. However contrived that transformation may have been, McCrum seems to provide his honest impressions of it. For a guy like me who knew virtually nothing about Robbie Williams two months ago, the book also serves as a practical introduction to the pop phenomenon (note: before March 2004, I had never heard of Robbie Williams or Take That or Rock DJ -get the picture?). This work doesn't answer all the questions, but I recommend it if you want to begin to become familiar with the enigmatic performer who is number one in the world outside the US. Having done that, I submit that you'll discover that you still don't know him at all.

This book was the best auto-biography I have ever read, Its a shame Robbie Williams is not popular in the USA, he can come in use to us over here! His way of expressing everything hes gone through is great, shows his ups and downs in his career, family,drugs,alcohol,sex, everything, but shows he has become a better man. this is truly a motivatiing book and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. Im sure you wont regret reading it.

Everyone should run out and get this book!

What can I say?? ... from cover to cover this is pure Robbie. Can't wait for the follow-up.

Although this book was good it was no where near as good as the first official book "let me entertain you". The book follows Robbie and friends around while on tour and has some great bits about Robbie himself but i was a bit dissapointed to find that the book is alot of the time about his band and management instead of him. Although that is not a *bad* thing, i really just expected it to be more about the great Mr. Williams himself, i didn't purchase the book to read the life story of people in his management (although they were very sad and touching storys)! A good book but could have been better.

"Somebody, Someday" is wonderful autobiography and travelogue. Robbie Williams, one of the biggest pop stars on the planet except in the United States, and Mark McCrum takes us on a yeaer-long journey through the ups and downs of Robbie's life. We get to see the ugly moments that inspires his introspective, self-effacing, and witty music. These moments are offered up forthrightly and honestly without the sense that he is fishing for pity. It's a good and solid read even if you're not a Robbie fan.

This book is absolutely awesome! I got it for last Christmas and if you like Robbie Williams and his music I suggest you get it *fast*. I have been a Robbie fan for about eight month now and this is the first book I read about him, but it's such a wonderful book, you'll love it no matter if you're already one of his greatest fans or someone who's just getting to know him and his music.
Not only does it give some great insight on his life as a famous rock star and his tours, but also on Rob the man. It also includes some of the best pictures I have yet seen of him. Including a bunch of him recording music and performing and some with his dogs!
It is entertaining, sad, humorous, exciting, sensitive, sweet, desperate, hilarious... great. I really love that book! The definite best parts for me were his performances on stage and all the anticipation and preparation that goes with it, because I could really relate to that myself. It also shows such a different side to that whole cliché of the famous celebrity who seems so far away from our own little world. That's so not true! Celebrities too have troubles and quirky moments sometimes. And overall their lives are not much different from ours, apart from the fact that they are, well, known to about a million more people.
It also introduces you to a whole bunch of the people he works with everyday and how they see the Robbie world and the fame. Overall it takes you into the life of the world's best entertainer and onto his tour. After you read this you'll wonder why you can't find Robbie's e-mail on your computer because you'll feel like you know him in person.

This is a book with Robbie Williams' name on the cover....and it doesn't get five stars?? What's going on?

I'll explain. This book, while it claims to be a biography of Britain's biggest pop star, actually has very little information about the star himself. It seems as if author Mark McCrum really had trouble getting access to the star. Most of "Somebody Someday" is either McCrum's own observations or his talks with members of Robbie's entourage. A LOT of space in this book is devoted to the band and crew members and their past and present activities. As much as some of their stories were interesting, I did not buy the book to read about them. I wanted to know more about Robbie's personal life, his relationships, his history with Take That, etc. Let's face it: I really could care less if the accountant is getting girls or if the guitarist is getting drunk.

Sifting through all of the tales, and trying to keep who's who straight, makes this a very slow read. It's unfortunate. I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did because I'm an admirer of Robbie and his music.

Amidst all of my disappointment, I can't call this book a total loss. The moments that McCrum DOES speak with Robbie are insightful, and it really shows how much the singer has matured since his early days. Fans also get to see just how much of a paradox he really is: how he can be so charismatic and egotistical on stage, but how he hates himself in real life. But by far the most interesting segment of the book tells of an incident at a concert where a mental case rushed the stage. There's a bit of suspense there.

In addition, there are some great photographs by Scarlet Page, some B & W and some color. Don't expect any cheap, unofficial calendar-like photos. These are really beautiful shots.

Perhaps a more appropriate title for this book would have been "Behind the Scenes on the Sermon on the Mount Tour." Then I might not have felt so misled. If you would really like an in-depth look at Robbie's life (and you have a multi-region DVD player), I recommend checking out the movie "Nobody Someday" instead. It requires a special order or an Ebay hunt, but it is worth it. You'll actually get to see a lot of what is talked about in this book, including the crazy guy rushing the stage. It was filmed at the same time the events in the book took place.

I'm willing to wait a while for a better book to come out. If you are a true Robbie Williams fan, you probably should too.

This was a great book and its a must have for any robbie fan. I also loved the pics@! And well I just love robbie but Micheal did a great job of showing us what its like in robbies world

This book is a must-have, an absolute must-have for a Robbie Williams fan. The photos are some of the best I've seen of him, and Robbie's humor and honesty make it a delightful read. With so few resources available out there for an American Robbie fan, this one is invaluable. What a great Amazon.com purchase it was!