Truly

This is not the type of celebrity memoir you expect. Truly, by Lionel Richie is less a victory lap, and more of a confession from the man who is still actually surprised at his success. The book brilliantly adopts the epic, dizzying moment of his 2015 performance at Glastonbury, with 200,000 people chanting his name, as a mirror and makes the superstar confront the fearful, insecure boy that he used to be. 'What the hell is goin' on?!' he questions the crowd, and that unbelief is the motor of the whole book. Richie instantly draws the reader into the best, beautiful secret of his life: how did the clumsy, embarrassing boy called 'Skeet,' who could not concentrate at school, manage to write the music to the whole world? It is a strong account of fate masquerading itself as a sequence of wild, most unlikely developments.

The author tells this story himself in a friendly, familiar tint of someone who has just found himself in an easy chair and is about to engage in a long, open-hearted talk. Richie does an excellent job in making his flaws appear to be the secret of his strength. He acknowledges that he was too shy and panicked to get outside the safety of the Tuskegee 'Bubble.' It is in this regard that The Commodores are involved: they were not merely a band, but the group he so desperately needed to get him out the door and get his stuttering talent to fly. The story cleverly presents the idea that not everyone who screams, 'Gimme the ball!' would be a success, but occasionally the one who just happened to get the right work team to work with would. The story of the neighbour, Mr Jefferson, intruding with an overwhelming life-altering memory of his own lost chance, is one of the most touching turning points in the whole book, a sure indication that fate was busily cleaning up behind Richie.

The deepest and most profound theme is Richie's diagnosis of his own 'brokenness.' He talks of the humiliation of being called a 'slow learner,' and feeling that his body was fundamentally broken because he could not sit still, implying he had difficulties with what is today known as ADD/ADHD. However, this can be seen as the perceived weakness, the endless noise and the need to run away to the 'Other Side' of his mind, turned out to be his only precious gift: the creative laboratory of the songwriter. The book's strongest point lies in this pivot because the author states that what you thought was the worst thing about you is the same thing that contributes to the world. In his fervid wish to make the journey seem predetermined and divinely destined, however, the story simplifies the hard work and perseverance sometimes needed to get to such a feat. The sense of destiny is genuine, but it can give his extraordinary journey a sense of inevitability that takes some of the sparkle off his artistic labor, which was achieved through daily effort.

TRULY is essential reading for anyone who has ever felt like the last kid picked, for those who struggle with self-doubt or for artists whose inner voice seems too crazy to be any use at all. The memoir is honest, funny and deeply spiritual. It is beyond music and links readers through the human struggles we all share and reminds us that our weaknesses can be our hidden superpowers. It demonstrates that if you find your rhythm and your team and believe that the noise in your head is just the start of a beautiful song, then you can achieve greatness. I give Lionel Richie's TRULY 4 out of 5 stars.