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  • Bit of a Blur

  • By: Alex James
  • Narrated by: Alex James
  • Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (121 ratings)
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Bit of a Blur cover art

Bit of a Blur

By: Alex James
Narrated by: Alex James
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Summary

Success catapulted Alex James from a slug-infested squat in Camberwell to a world of private jets and world-class restaurants. As "the second drunkest member of the world's drunkest band" life was always chaotic, but Alex James retained a boundless enthusiasm and curiosity at odds with his hedonistic lifestyle.

In Bit of a Blur he recounts his experiences living through the madness of Britpop, detailing both the pleasures and perils of fame. From nights in the Groucho with Damien Hirst, to dancing to Sister Sledge with Bjork, to being bitten on the nose by the lead singer of Iron Maiden, he offers a fascinating and hilarious insight into the world of celebrity.

Alex James is the perfect chronicler of his generation: witty, observant, frank, and brimming with joie de vivre. Bit of a Blur is as charming, funny, and deliciously disreputable as its author.

©2007 Alex James (P)2007 Hachette Audio

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What listeners say about Bit of a Blur

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly Good

Just had credits to use up and as I was in my 20's during the 90's thought this would be worth a listen to, which it was. Would recommend

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Abridged, rushed and not a true reflection of the book.

Back in the late noughties I read the book when it came out and I had such great memories of it being a fantastic tale of 90s hedonism and music, topped with some cheese. After finishing the audiobook (in a single car journey) it is very clear that Alex was either reading by numbers or just didn’t really want to be there when the recording was taking place. This version misses out huge parts of the book that are important to fans of the band and magically jumps from year to year, it actually didn’t even mention Graham being fired from the band - which one would have considered quite pivotal. The ending was abrupt and I was disappointed. Such a shame as it really is a great original book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a Listen!

Just a really sound guy talking about his crazy life on the road with one of the most influential bands of our generation. Really enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing

This audiobook was Fantastic from start to finish. I would recommend it to anyone, Blur fan on not.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very good book

very interesting and sometimes funny worth a listen Alex is a great story teller especially as it's his own life he's narrating

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book!!

I found myself listening to this within the space of 3 days ( which for me is pretty good considering i don’t usually enjoy audio books that much but thought I’d try it out) Alex James goes into detail on his life before Blur and of course after. I think this is a great book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Britpop to voxpop

It took a little while to get used to Alex James' narration (and it sounded like it took him a while to get into reading without sounding self-conscious) but about 20 minutes in I started enjoying this very much.

While there is a smattering of cliche and purple prose there is much genuine humour (of the laugh outloud kind). It's an amazing insight into the kind of lifestyle 99.9% of us will never experience but can now enjoy by proxy.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Average - avoids details

As a fan back when they first came out I was interested to hear the rock n roll stories. Good or bad they’ve largely been sterilised or only lightly touched upon. For those wanting real gossip I wouldn’t recommend.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

The whole thing felt a bit rushed, lacking in any kind of detail, or sentiment, barely mentioning music, and the way it was told was also quite child-like, in lots of short sentences. I usually love that the author is narrating, but unfortunately Alex James doesn’t seem to be the most natural of story-tellers. It’s interesting to a point but there is quite a lot of gratuitous attention on drinking at the Groucho club as well as sleeping with numerous women. I didn’t really get a feeling of who Alex James actually was unfortunately.

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