Music books: the most debauched tales of rock'n'roll excess

HOW BETTER to salve the pangs of remorse induced by a season of over-indulgence than by voraciously consuming the reminiscences of those whose lifestyles make the most debauched works do seem like the ascetic rituals of a monastic community? This year has thrown up a particularly rich harvest in the well-tended field that is the rock 'n' roll debauchery memoir, and the pick of the crop is undoubtedly Slash (HarperCollins 18.99), the disgracefully entertaining rsum of the misdeeds of the former Guns N' Roses lead guitarist. This volume is a fitting monument to its subject's heroic commitment to living his life as a walking rock'n'roll cliché.