I've just finished reading his book on Kindle. Here's my review that I put up for him on Amazon. I mean every word of it too.
It takes guts to write about yourself with any degree of honesty, and Lol Tolhurst has chronicled his rise and fall with The Cure in a very poignant and candid way. The style of prose is conversational and warm, easily accessible; and by the time I'd finished reading I felt a kind of connection with this man and total empathy for his suffering and desperate self destruction. Being around the same age as Tolhurst, this book was really nostalgic for me, and one gets a real feel for the era of the 70's and 80's, the mindset and daft things we did growing up in Britain at that time. There's humour and pathos, and some parts are really heart wrenching. In particular, his description of losing his mother, the loneliness and sense that he was adrift with no real emotional or familial anchor to help stop his inexorable slide into alcoholism. Some parts I could really identify with that were uncannily similar to my own experiences, from losing my mother to lung cancer, to discovering how truly vile Twinkies are! What's so refreshing here is that there's no mudslinging, no nasty finger pointing or blame, no big I am or trite platitudes - just utter honesty and holding up of the mirror to his own shortcomings and dear damaged self.
Cured is an entertaining read and a must for Cure fans. It doesn't go over old ground that's been published over and over. It highlights the vulnerability certain people suffer when raised to the giddy heights of fame at a tender age before life has hardened them or taught them how to survive in an environment that encourages you to believe you can do and think anything you damn well please. It also highlights how only the individual can truly save themselves or change their own lives, and that reaching an all time low is not necessarily the end the world. After reading this, I truly believe Robert Smith probably saved Tolhurst's life by sacking him from the band. As you read deeper into his descriptions of his most out of control moments, you just wish you could have been there to give him a shake and great big hug. But you also understand the frustration that the rest of the band must have felt, and their need to distance themselves from such a destructive and negative energy.
I guess there's only so much information you can put into one book, and I really do hope Lol Tolhurst has another one in him to share. Cured is about absolution and healing, about friendships so deep they're almost karmic, about fun and fame, tragedy and survival.
