It's Been Emotional

by Vinnie Jones

British actor and professional footballer, Vinnie Jones is the original bad boy made good and will tell the full extraordinary rags to riches story for the first time - the brilliance on the pitch, the brawls and drinking off the pitch, the arrests, the affairs, his wife's dramatic health scare and his latest headline scandal with a Russian prostitute. Bold and frank, this is Vinnie laid bare.
Born and bred in Watford, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team after qualifying through a Welsh grandparent. He won the 1988 FA Cup final against Liverpool before moving to Wimbledon and then Leeds United. He has also played for Chelsea.
His celebrity status has grown over the years after appearing in the 2010 series of Big Brother and coming third, as well as the hugely successful British Heart Foundation CPR campaign.
Vinnie's bad boy tag has followed him into the world of film where he has used his hard man status to secure roles in hugely successful Brit Flicks, such as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Genres: Football, Biography, Biography Memoir

271 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2013

Reviews

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the bookish equivalent of a guilty pleasure – I tried to hide the cover when I was reading it on the bus and on my lunch break at work, and felt the need to justify myself to my friends when they asked me what I was reading. But I don’t know why – it was actually a pretty good read, and whilst Vinnie did have some help whilst writing it from Gordon Smart from the Sun (hey – at least it’s not the Daily Mail), it still felt authentic, and it was still in Vinnie’s voice.

In fact, it turns out that he’s lived a far more exciting life than I knew about, including after his rise to fame as a movie star – seems like he’s more of a celebrity over in the States than he is in the UK, although he is still a household name, even if his career does seem to have dried up a little, recently. But he was also in some kick-ass movies – Snatch, in particular, was one of my favourites, and Vinnie’s deadpan delivery of “because he dodges bullets, Avi” is still guaranteed to make me laugh.

For me, reading this kind of supported my existing view of Vinnie Jones, as a person, but it was also interesting to learn about some of the other things that he’s done throughout the years and that I wasn’t aware of. He’d be a good guy to go for a pint with, but not to get in a fight with – these days, he doesn’t drink or fight.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography was always going to be entertaining and frank but surprisingly for me it offered a lot more than that. The book gave me an insight into Vinnie Jones's family relationships and other emotions. The book was a good mix of anecdotes and background information that kept me enjoying the read throughout.

[Chris Oldham · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good book

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this autobiography. Vinnie states in the prefix of the book that he wrote this after being in therapy for a couple of year to control his "Dog", and he makes no secret of the fact he is writing this book out of discoveries he made during therapy, hence the title of the book. Vinnie looks back through his life with the wisdom of experience.

The great thing about this book is Vinnie manages to get me as a reader on his side without sounding childish or bitter. He put his hands up and owns up to his mistakes, says looking back I would have done this differently, but at the time this is what I was feeling. He talks about the friendship and relationships, but he does not dwell on them. If you are a friend or family member you are 100%, not need to say any more.

If you are not a football fan you will (like me), and live in the UK you still probably heard of Vinnie in some sort of trouble on and off the pitch. This is one of the things he wanted to clean up in this book. He played hard, fast, aggressive and successful; however no matter his on pitch performances, his reviews were always negative. After reading this book I have done back and YouTubed some of his matches and Vinnie's commentary of the matches is spot on in my opinion. He went for or defended the ball aggressively and shot for the goal every chance he got. More often than not it went in. In my opinion that is the way the game is supposed to be played. If more players played that way I would watch football more; instead of having players flying and diving for free kick every time some on touched them. Not being able to break this negativity that the press had of him is what ultimately had him trying out for films. Where he was getting good to rave reviews from the start. Also it is worth remembering Vinnie was playing football before footballers were making the super-exuberant money they are today.

Vinnie has a no nonsense style in his writing and in life. If you say something about he be prepared to be called on it, if you meet him. I respect for for it. Vinnie makes no secret as he has little acting experience he played the hard man roles he was given as he would naturally and there is nothing wrong with giving people what they want as he was told.

I really good enjoyable book. The only reason I could not give this book 5 stars is because some of the passages are a bit disjointed he starts talking about something then mentions something else and come back to the point he was making. A true strength of this book is if you do not agree or are a fan of Vinnie Jones, by the end of the book you will respect him as a person for what he has been through and achieved.

[Brooklyn Gibbons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book , read it quick and enjoyed .

[Trevor Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn about this book. On the one hand, I was fascinated to read the details of Vinnie's football career moves and his transition to Hollywood. It's a real rags-to-riches story and he thoroughly deserves his success; he has worked hard for it. On the other hand though, I'd have liked to have read more detail about the degree to which he has understood himself and tamed his 'black dog'. He outraged me when he complains about a British policeman who was simply doing his job when he arrested Vinnie's son for drink driving. People who are serving in the military are not immune from the law of the land. Vinnie seems not to have noticed (at least, he does not explore it or even notice it in any depth) that in the vast majority of red mist rages, alcohol is involved. Virgin Airways did exactly the right thing in banning him for life - he seems to show no contrition for scaring other passengers to death and ruining their flight experience. Some people might well have been travelling first class for the one and only time in their lives. He complains far too much about being labelled a thug, but that's what his behaviour was, thuggish. The saving grace is that he appreciates those people around him who've helped him along the way, not least his patient wife, Tanya. As a heart transplanted person myself, I can relate to her ongoing challenges. Good luck to her.

[Stephen Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous, honest and down to earth. An unexpected gem.

[Merv · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m surprised by the number of good reviews of this book. I found it a poor read; self-serving and sensational. Jones excuses his many errors in life and in football. He blames other players for over-acting and referees for penalising him. His Hollywood career is overblown and he seems to take most delight in naming the people he’s bumped into in Hollywood. He’s still a star-struck Bedmond boy. I bought the book at a remainder store for $6; I think I paid too much!

[dizzy pickles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book great read

[Jake Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read and he's done so well for himself.

[Bethany Chaplin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Really interesting.

[Wee H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book... An insight into how cancer can affect everyone.. Everyone should share a love like these two did...she loved him at his worst.. A real tear jerker 😭

[Mark Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book, great look into the life of Vinnie Jones

[Fred_Likes_Words · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like him much after reading this tbh.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a soccer fan but I really enjoyed how it was written and felt that he tells a great story.