'Warmth, wit and honesty make this such a satisfying read' Daily Mail Supermarket worker, postman, union official, father of three. Dansettes, dancehalls, smoky pubs, rock-n-roll West London. There are two sides to Alan Johnson. ___________________ From the moment a young Alan Johnson first twanged the strings of his plastic 'Tommy Steele' guitar, he was determined to become a rock star. Alan's life has always been lived to a musical soundtrack. His earliest memories of the bleak, post-war, pre-rock 'n' roll west London landscape into which he was born are suffused with the melodies that wafted from the rented Bakelite wireless in the slum where he lived with his frail mother and dauntless sister. His love affair with pop music blossomed alongside the music itself, which exploded into being in the mid-1950s and came to embody the iconoclastic spirit of a new era. In this memoir, Alan looks back at his pursuit of rock stardom through the music that accompanied it - on vinyl, cassette tape or blasting from the stages of the Marquee club in Soho or the Wimbledon Palais; the sounds of Chuck Berry and Lonnie Donegan, of the Yardbirds and Dylan, of Bowie, Elvis Costello and Springsteen . . . not forgetting the Beatles, the band he has worshipped since 1963. In My Life recalls with affection a vanished world of Flower Power and platform shoes. Honest, poignant and very funny, it is more than just a nostalgic celebration of music- it offers a new perspective on the singular life of Alan Johnson the man. ___________________ PRAISE FOR IN MY LIFE- 'Radiates the author's easygoing charm' Spectator 'Loving slice of social history' Daily Express 'Very readable' New Statesman 'Charming memoir' Mail on Sunday

From being transported by the sound of 'True Love' by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly on the radio, as a small child living in condemned housing in ungentrified West London in the late 1950s, to going out to work as a postman humming 'Watching the Detectives' by Elvis Costello in 1977, Alan Johnson's life has always had a musical soundtrack. In fact music hasn't just accompanied his life, it's been an integral part of it. In the bestselling and award-winning tradition of This Boy, In My Life vividly transports us to a world that is no longer with us - a world of Dansettes and jukeboxes, of heartfelt love songs and heart-broken ballads, of smoky coffee shops and dingy dance halls. From Bob Dylan to David Bowie, from Lonnie Donnegan to Bruce Springsteen, all of Alan's favourites are here. As are, of course, his beloved Beatles, whom he has worshipped with undying admiration since 1963. But this isn't just a book about music. In My Life adds a fourth dimension to the story of Alan Johnson the man.