Clapton: Edge Of Darkness, Updated Edition (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When else but in 1068 could four thousand souls, dressed in ruffles and Chelsea boot, in Op-Art and flares, their chests festooned with McCarthy..." (more)
Key Phrases: orchestral nights, family entertainer, musician present, Hurtwood Edge, Eric Clapton, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From his pioneering work with the Yardbirds through his superstardom in Cream to his Grammy-winning solo career, here is blues and rock icon Eric Clapton in all his personal and musical complexity. 32 photos.

About the Author

Christopher Sandford, the biographer of Mick Jagger, Kurt Cobain, and Sting, is also the author of Bowie: Loving the Alien and Clapton: Edge of Darkness. He has reviewed and written about rock music for more than twenty years, for theTimes of London and other publications, and his books have been published in more than a dozen countries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Updated edition (June 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306808978
• ISBN-13: 978-0306808975
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #585,673 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Separates the myth from the man, July 29, 1999

By A Customer

"edge of darkness" was an excellent read. other bios of clapton tend to gloss over the periods that are so well-known. this book goes into detail about them and more importantly, about clapton himself. this book takes him off the pedestal he himself may never have wanted to be on and places him directly with the rest of us.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Adventures in Psycho-rock., December 27, 1999

By	BDH (Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews

From a musician's standpoint, I feel that some of the prose of this biography was a little hard to withstand. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely an interesting book. It's just that I wish the story contained MORE about Clapton's music throughout the years, lyrically and theoretically, his equipment and so on ... Clapton the musician. The author did express his opinions of his songs and his albums, which I disagreed with a lot. But opinions are just that: individual likes and dislikes, and everyone's are different. TOO MUCH stress was on Clapton's personality, love life, and inner demons ... the celebrity stuff.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars As Appealing As A Train Wreck, July 6, 2005

By	EC Music Lover "actgwzrd" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

I recently read three books on Eric Clapton's life - I've always loved his music and wanted to know more about him as a person. This book was the absolute worst!

Like passing a train wreck, it is so awful you keep looking even though everything in your heart and mind tells you to turn away. Who knows how much of the nasty gossip and innuendo in this trashy, mean-spirited account of a man's life is true, or even half true? The thing that the reader is left wondering is why did this man, who has a monumental dislike for his subject, choose to write about him? Surely he cannot have made much money on it. The book is badly written as well, and repetitious to the point that I began recognizing certain phrases as they were cloned time and again.

Of the three books I read, the one by Schumacher was the best, being well-documented, respectful but not fawning, and not afraid to be critical when the situation called for it.

The third book I read was Eric Clapton - In His Own Words. This was full of wonderful pictures, but rather sparse in revealing the deeper details of Eric Clapton's life and career. I don't fault him for this - he has had a complicated and not always wonderful time of it in life, and it must be extremely difficult for such a private person to bare his soul for the paying public. But still, it was too incomplete and cautious to be really informative.

Please save your money and don't waste it on the Sandford book, get the Schumacher one instead!