Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

Without a doubt THE BEST autobiography I have ever read. Ever. With painfully frank views on everything from Malcolm McLaren to Sid & Nancy to The Sex Pistols to the English class system to living in a squat to 'shit sandwiches' to lawsuits to sex and SEX to reggae to strobe lighting, there is nothing that John Lydon doesn't cover in this fantastic insight to his life before and during The Sex Pistols.
It's a no holds barred account of everyone he's ever known, with credit where it's due but mainly insults and sarcastic remarks where they're due (which is obviously quite a lot in his opinion.
Filled with his own personal photographs and even statements from the bitter court case after the American tour, with chapters written by his wife and his father, there is nothing missed out and his sharp tongue makes it difficult to put down.
Favourite quotes include:
Have no rules. If people start to build fences around you, break out and do something else. you should never, ever be understood completely. That's like the kiss of death, isn't it? It's a full stop. I don't think you should put full stops on thoughts. They change.

English public schools tend to turn out little snobs. They're taught a sense of superiority, which is the kiss of death. They have the privilege of social status, but that doesn't mean shit in the real world - except in England, where they don't live in the real world. They're absolutely screwed up for life, but with this awful sense of superiority based on nothing. Actually, it's based on torture. They have their own little cliques. The country's run by them.

Deny nothing.

I don't think my kind of world would could really exist at all because there

are so many sheep out there that need leaders. Let them bleat among the flock, that's not for me. I'd rather be the lone sheep out there fending off the wolves. It's much better.

The royal family has been brought up to believe it's God's will for them to be where they are. That's what I find so disgraceful.

They have no lives, nothing but a silly little cabinet in the corner with a few crappy antiques inside. That's their universe, and they keep up with the Joneses; our lawn is manicured much better than yours. They're all competitive in all the wrong ways. They're competitive in trivia but nothing substantial. What would the neighbours think if they had an opinion? Many lead horrible, lone

ly lives - so utterly mediocre.