CLAPTON The Autobiography

That's why they call it the blues. Guitar legend Eric Clapton looks back at his life in this self-inflicted account of painful memories. Clapton, a veteran of such legendary bands as the Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos, is ruthless with himself. He holds nothing back, nor does he ask forgiveness for a life of selfishness and excess. Bill Nighy becomes Clapton in this first-person narrative. With dignity and humility coming through in his performance, Nighy talks about Clapton's decades of cheating, philandering, drug use, selfishness, and outright stupidity. But he's so brutally honest and guilty it feels like he is too hard on himself. We have to wonder if a more dispassionate chronicler might have wielded a kinder pen. M.S. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 08]