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    Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
    Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
    Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography
    Audiobook9 hours

    Set the Boy Free: The Autobiography

    Written by Johnny Marr

    Narrated by Johnny Marr

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    About this audiobook

    The long-awaited memoir from the legendary guitarist and cofounder of the seminal British band The Smiths.

    An artist who helped define a period in popular culture, Johnny Marr tells his story in a memoir as vivid and arresting as his music. The Smiths, the band with the signature sound he cofounded, remains one of the most beloved bands ever, and have a profound influence on a number of acts that followed—from the Stone Roses, Suede, Blur, and Radiohead to Oasis, The Libertines, and Arctic Monkeys.

    Marr recalls his childhood growing up in the northern working-class city of Manchester, in a house filled with music. He takes us back to the summer of 1982 when, at eighteen, he sought out one Stephen Morrissey to form a new band they called The Smiths. Marr invites fans on stage, on the road, and in the studio for the five years The Smiths were together and how after a rapid ascent, the working-class teenage rock star enjoyed and battled with the perks of success until ideological differences, combined with his much publicized strained relationships with fellow band mates, caused him to leave in 1987. Marr’s “escape” as he calls it, ensured the beginning of the end for one of the most influential groups of a generation. But The Smiths’ end was only the beginning for Marr. The bona-fide guitar hero continues to experiment and evolve in his solo career to this day, playing with Paul McCartney, Pretenders, Modest Mouse, Oasis and collaborating today’s most creative and renowned artists. 

    Rising above and beyond the personal struggles and bitter feuds, Marr delivers the story of his music and his band, sharing the real insights of a man who has made music his life, and finally giving fans what they’ve truly been waiting for.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateNov 15, 2016
    ISBN9780062565006
    Author

    Johnny Marr

    Johnny Marr was co-creator and lead guitarist of The Smiths. He went on to join The The and The Pretenders and collaborated with Talking Heads and the Pet Shop Boys before forming Electronic with Bernard Sumner. In the 2000s he joined Modest Mouse and The Cribs before launching a successful solo career. He has added his distinctive sound to film soundtracks, collaborating with Hans Zimmer on Inception, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, which won the Oscar for Best Song. In 2014 Marr developed and launched a guitar with Fender: the Johnny Marr Signature Fender Jaguar has gone on to be one of Fender’s most popular models. 

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    Reviews for Set the Boy Free

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    • 3/5
      nonfiction/memoir - cookbook author and food network show host talks about growing up as an immigrant, becoming or trying to become a fashion model, falling in and out of love with Salman Rushdie, struggling with endometriosis (one of those diseases where she assumed her chronic pain was normal but it turned out to be a serious problem), having a baby (and the custody battle that followed), and finding love again before losing him to brain cancer. She also talks a little about her family's Brahman Hindi traditions, and includes a few of her more traditional recipes.
    • 2/5
      As memoirs go all I can say about this one is that it's different. Padma Lakshmi has led a life that no one else could have and she does a decent job of describing it. She seems somewhat ambivalent most of the time. Her descriptions of her Brahminical heritage sound despondent like she is pining for them. They are not accurate quite often. For example no self-respecting Brahmin priest would schedule an annaprasanam" on Saturday at 9 AM since that is an inauspicious time.
    • 4/5
      This book has probably been the surprise book of 2018. I enjoyed it far more than I was expecting. While Padma talks some of her modeling and television career, she talks mainly of her personal experience—as an immigrant, as a woman, as a lover, and as a mother. I learned quite a bit about southern Indian food and endometriosis. Most appealing of all is how honestly she addressed her own flaws and errors.There was some stuff in it about fashion and jewelry that was of little interest to me; however, there was so much here that I breezed past it without batting an eyelash.
    • 2/5
      Somewhat hard to follow with back and forth between a life event, and then all the different things leading up to it. Not particularly well written. Does us interesting vocabulary. It is memoir of a privileged life. Even though this author admits and apologizes for her selfishness, it is quite evident and unsettling to think many people make decisions like this without considering the consequences to others.
    • 4/5
      I had no idea who Padma Lakshmi was until I opened this book. And the picture on the cover would not have enticed me to read it, but I have read a positive book review in a paper which got me interested. I would say it took guts to write this memoir - not because of some horrific disclosure, but simply due to the fact that she started her career as a model. People would judge, no matter what, no matter how difficult her path was or was not. And I am sure she knew it in her in heart. She starts the book with her short marriage to Salman Rushdie (which was an eye-opener for me in more than one way - just read p. 39-40 about him), and only then revisits her childhood and her life since then. I was struck by the fact how unconventional (by Indian standards) her mother's character was when Padma was growing up. At times her narrative is self-effacing to a degree and also honest (especially her first immigrant experiences), and at times I had the feeling she is prevaricating about certain events. But of course there is no such "rule" that you disclose EVERYTHING in a memoir...
    • 3/5
      A few years ago when I was still in high school I took a Culinary Arts elective class where I figured I’d learn how to do some pretty plating. There were only about three girls that took the class seriously and I was not one of them. At least I learned how to decorate a cupcake with marshmallow flower petals. Anyway, one of the things the teacher did to fill the time was make us watch Top Chef and see how real chefs would choose spices and whatnot then how they would present the meal to the judges’ table. That was the first time I ever watched the show and saw Padma Lakshmi. I don’t think I’d ever heard of her before then.When I first picked up this book I didn’t even remember that was her. It was almost a pleasant surprise to find a book about a woman that paved her own way and some recipes to try out. Only recently have I learned of the scandals she got herself into, i.e. entering relationships with much older men, custody battles, etc. but that I still didn’t have an opinion about her until after I read the book.Lakshmi tells her life story connecting everything back to her love of food. She was a model yet that wasn’t what garnered her lots of attention it was her cookbook. Being a model helped sell the book but that was what got her into writing. Her biggest gig had to do with food and in a way it still is. She’s honest with her experiences and doesn’t shy away from sharing details that, in my opinion, make her look bad. I don’t think we would make good friends but she seems like the kind of person that would make going to a fancy lunch kind of fun.
    • 5/5
      As a fan of Top Chef, I admired the way Ms. Lakshmi hosted the show. I knew nothing about the rest of her life, but felt intrigued enough by her performance on that show to try her memoir. I did not expect that her life could have been so fascinating! She has had her share of ups and downs, from her modeling career to her hosting duties on food shows, as well as her involvement in other business ventures. Her personal life is also filled with highs and lows, from her marriage to Salman Rushdie, to her relationships with business tycoon Teddy Forstmann at the same time she was also involved with Adam Dell, whom she had a child with, despite the odds against her ever becoming pregnant due to her medical history. She has had an amazing life with yet more to come!
    • 5/5
      Name a better Guitarist, man, spiritual hero, and artist than Johnny Marr! I dare you!
    • 4/5
      Perfectly decent autobiography covering all his career highlights, many of which I had forgotten - such as his time with The The or Modest Mouse. Marr was 23 when The Smith broke up which is astonishing. Plenty of namedropping, but he's mostly self-effacing and chuffed to have found himself where he is. Grateful for everything, but proud of the hard work he put in. It's a tough combination to pull off in an memoir, but I think he does it. Solidly entertaining, even if it has none of the flair of his main career.