The Who‘s Pete Townshend is to publish his long-awaited memoirs. The large-nosed guitarist will release the book next year, marking the end of a work in progress that lasted a decade.
The tome will be called Pete Townshend: Who’s He?, with Townshend securing a deal with Harper Collins through the same man, one Ed Victor, behind Keith Richards‘ recent Life.
Executive editor at Harper Collins David Hershey said, “In the 1970s, Pete Townshend famously asked the musical question ‘Who are you?’ Now, in his autobiography, generations of fans will finally get the answer they’ve been waiting for.”
Now, this book has the added spice of it being relevant to when Townshend was infamously arrested for accessing child pornography in 2003.
Back then he said, “I have been writing my childhood autobiography for the past seven years. I believe I was sexually abused between the age of five and six and a half when in the care of my maternal grandmother who was mentally ill at the time. I cannot remember clearly what happened, but my creative work tends to throw up nasty shadows – particularly in Tommy.
“Some of the things I have seen on the net have informed my book which I hope will be published later this year, and which will make clear to the public that if I have any compulsions in this area, they are to face what is happening to young children in the world today and to try to deal openly with my anger and vengeance towards the mentally ill people who find paedophilic pornography attractive.”
Nine years later, we can all see the fruits of his research labours.
