After 30+ years Lifehouse finally sees the light of day. While very different from its first inception this radio play ranks among Pete's best work. Its very similar in tone and style to his last "concept album" Psychoderelict. And if you enjoy reading the play I also recommend Pete's Lifehouse Chronicles CD set, which includes the radio play itself plus 2 CDs of original Lifehouse Demos and 2 CDs of mor recent work on the project...

Pete Townshend is of course a musical genius but he is also a very terrific writer Life house is a little better than Horse's Neck.But any one who is a fan of the who should buy this book and add it to their WHO collection.

As a 15-year Who fan, I've often lamented that the end of the creative Who coincided with my interest in the band. I wondered why there weren't at least more albums from their peak creative years. After reading this book, I now understand all the complex group dynamics that both fueled and hindered the band. From this book, we see it all from an eyewitness unencumbered by celebrity. As introspective as Townshend often was (is), he often contradicted historical recollections of the legendary Who. Richard Barnes seems to set the story straight, and despite being a close friend of the band, tells it honestly. Warts on the arse and all. A great read broken up by scores of previously unseen photos and memorabilia.

Simply put, The Who transcended rock in their heyday. A much more compelling live act than the Stones or Beatles...lyrically soaring over Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. A chronicle of the greatest band to emerge from the British Invasion. The Who's magic, was that it was a machine...but an ever-changing one. Pete Townshend's lyrical courage, Roger Daltrey's agressive vocals, John Entwistle's thundering bass and Keith Moon's anarchic drumming made this a band for the ages. This book, a must for any Who completist, is also a wonderful source for the new fan. With it's use of exclusive photos and insider tales, the books author (Barnes) has managed to please even the most informed fanatic. Towsnhend, Daltrey, Entwistle and Moon are captured in their true form...as flawed individuals and as peerless performers. Anyone who has been a fans for years will love the "behind-the-scenes" peeks...and the new fans will delight in these stories as an introduction to the greates band in rock and roll. Loud, raucous, destructive, brilliant. Pick it up if you love the Who!

This is the inside scoop on The Who from a friend of Pete Townshend's before The Who even existed. There are an overwhelming number of color and black-and-white photos and a text that takes you on The Who's amazing journey from guitar-smashing hooligans in Shepherd's Bush dives to rock 'n' roll gods. If you like rock music at all, you need this book

It holds its own in a sea of musical theatre books: "Phantom," "Les Miz," B&Beast" all have their own books; none compare to this. The extra CD is a great bonus: wonderful interviews w/ cast and crew (Not,like, the guy who pulls the rope) If you're a Who fan, great sections on them, as well as a generally beautiful layout and wonderful pics. (I mean it, kids) It's woth the $$$ and is a great coffe table compliment!

Although not currently in print, this is a must find for "Tommy" fans. Like the broadway soundtrak CD, it transports you to the magic behind the memory of a great broadway musical.

Having been a fan of Pete Townshend and The Who since I was old enough to rebel, I came into reading Horse's Neck with high hopes. After all, Townshend was the brain of The Who, its impassioned writer who made generations of teens to WANT to experience angst, and who made battling personal demons fashionable. But unfortunately, this collection of vignettes illustrates why Pete made it as writer of lyrics rather than prose. Horse's Neck, like James Joyce's Dubliners, is a sort of a chronological hodgepodge of character studies, rather than a set of short stories. Only unlike Joyce, Townshend is really only studying one character--his own. While traces of humor and poignancy present themselves in these semi-autobiographical tales, the writing is often clunky and pointless, particularly in one unnecessarily long detective drama. The true fan will, however, benefit from the book if only to see oft-used Townshend themes and phrases used in a different format. Take the lyrics of "Who By Numbers," have a dime-store novelist with a penchant for the perverted translate the lyrics, and you get the idea of what Horse's Neck is like.

Perhaps if Townshend had been a prose writer from the beginning, his work would have blossomed like his music writing did. After all, amazingly well-written gems like "The Song is Over" and "The Sea Refuses No River" were proceeded by deservedly less known songs like "I Can't Reach You" and "Faith in Something Bigger." That being said, the feeling here is that Pete would have been better off taking a shot at another concept album rather than writing Horse's Neck.

I hate to admit it, but the reason Pete is my favorite R&B/country rock singer is his writing. I love his jumps, cowboy dance steps & windmills, but the rhythms of his short stories & poems are as romanic as his music. Horse's Neck is a bracing, astringent, lyrical collection of stories & poems, which I may read at the Who concert, if I make it out out of the house without some crazy idiot stalking me--it's nutty here! At any rate, I love his dialogues, monologues, lyrics--perfect for reading with a hangover, in the bathtub, while listening to Chinese Eyes, after breaking up with your boyfriend, on the bus, or the el! Pete IS the Quixote of rock! Bye, luv!

A very good read, lots of creative imagery. I think you should know a bit about Pete before you read the book or you might be a little shocked! I used to be very confused by Pete Townshend, but this clears it all up for me. Really fun stories that compare to nothing I have every read before! Get it now...

Okay - if you're a major Pete Townshend fan, you're gonna' want this book. But be prepared - it reads like a decent dissertation topic larded with heavy dollops of pop psych and repetition to get it up to acceptable book-length. (One example: Smith questions throughout why Daltrey kept singing Townshend's increasingly-personal and introspective songs. As if Daltrey had any real choice - a point Smith himself makes near the end of the book when he quotes Daltrey expressing his gratitude to Townshend, without whom he would have been "a factory worker.")

Townshend is a genius who has spoken so eloquently for himself, to God and to anyone else who cared to listen, for more than 30 years. Sadly, though Smith relates lots of incidents and quotes tons of lyrics, it's as if he can't get a bead on the the music ... or the man.

It's great to finally see such a balanced view of Pete Townshend's career as a songwriter. This book certainly isn't for everyone, but for anyone interested in post-war popular music, and definitely for Who/Townshend fans, it's worth taking a look at. Smith's academic presentation may be a bit cumbersome at times, but generally his adherance to a narrative structure and even-handed presentation of Pete's oeuvre wins the day. "No other artist in history of popular music has achieved the artistic scope of Pete Townshend's career," Mr. Smith concludes. Amen to that.

A brilliant exploration of Townshend's ideas and longings. This book is entirely refreshing--neither a pop bio nor an academic treatise, but something better. Gives us real insights into a serious songwriter's vision. A balanced view of the business and the art behind one man's maneuverings. Required reading for those who take rock seriously.

My main problem with the book was this: we find that the author stole some tapes while on the payroll of Mr. Townshend. From that point on, the book takes on a very smarmy feel, and to me, ends up sounding like he is trying to get himself back into Peter Townshend's good graces. The stuff on the early years, childhood, etc, was interesting, some new stuff on the Who's beginning (although better covered in Kieth Moon bio). Overall a disappointment to a long standing Townshend/Who fan. You can still learn more about the subject from listening to his music.

I don't know what I expected from this book. Perhaps I was looking for the tell all book of the Who that filled me in on all of the details that I didn't already know about the band, and really get into the shoes of one of the greatest musicians alive. It didn't happen for me with this book. Yes, there were things that I learned about Townsend, and The Who, but there wasn't enough interesting things to fill a whole book in my opinion. After this book I was not left with any overwhelming feeling of WOW! That was great, or, WOW! I learned a lot from this book. It covered the basics, but to me, never really went into things with much detail. I didn't find myself glued to the book except for a very few parts. I'd almost say I found it boring, but it wasn't quite that bad. I was left thiinking that there must be better books about the Who and Pete than this one. If I were you, I'd look for those ones.

Only one word to describe this well researched, well written book,PERFECT. You hit the target mate! Good on you Giuliano