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So Far, So Good: The Autobiography of a Wandering Minstrel
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 1, 2011
Roger Whittaker wrote this autobiography with his wife in the early 80s. It was frankly a bit disappointing - he has clearly had an interesting life, but the book doesn't have much flow, and there is surprisingly little mention of the songs that made him famous. Only worth a read if you're a fan.
March 25, 2026
I’ve abandoned reading over the last few months, and decided last week to force myself back into it. I’d only read the opening few chapters at most of this before picking it back up again. Fortunately over the next few days, I got back in the habit again and completed this within a week or so.
The best compliment I can give this book is that I enjoyed picking it up to read each time - perhaps not as much as the riveting The Lives of Brian (Brian Johnson) autobiography - but enjoyable nonetheless.
I am less interested in the opening of the book discussing Roger’s early life in Kenya, however it was refreshing to hear a different perspective than many of these autobiographies which can fall into very similar tropes. Roger’s upbringing in Kenya, and particularly the Mau Mau troubles provide a point of difference and intrigue to this read.
This book is less about Roger’s musical career perse (i.e. recording each album / song) but rather his family life, his touring and the burden that it had on his family life. I found this of particular interest and gave me some much wanted context into Roger’s life. Another point of difference which makes this unique is that this was published in the mid-80s, rather than in his later years when things can start to wane somewhat when it comes to an autobiography. This does end somewhat suddenly but that’s testament to the writing being up to the time of this being written, with more adventures to succeed this book…
Paid a bit more than usual for this one given it’s quite rare / old, but I’m glad I did as it provided more context into Roger’s life and family, as well as his overall musical inspirations and inspirations for individual songs that he wrote, compared to the limited information that is available on the internet.
The best compliment I can give this book is that I enjoyed picking it up to read each time - perhaps not as much as the riveting The Lives of Brian (Brian Johnson) autobiography - but enjoyable nonetheless.
I am less interested in the opening of the book discussing Roger’s early life in Kenya, however it was refreshing to hear a different perspective than many of these autobiographies which can fall into very similar tropes. Roger’s upbringing in Kenya, and particularly the Mau Mau troubles provide a point of difference and intrigue to this read.
This book is less about Roger’s musical career perse (i.e. recording each album / song) but rather his family life, his touring and the burden that it had on his family life. I found this of particular interest and gave me some much wanted context into Roger’s life. Another point of difference which makes this unique is that this was published in the mid-80s, rather than in his later years when things can start to wane somewhat when it comes to an autobiography. This does end somewhat suddenly but that’s testament to the writing being up to the time of this being written, with more adventures to succeed this book…
Paid a bit more than usual for this one given it’s quite rare / old, but I’m glad I did as it provided more context into Roger’s life and family, as well as his overall musical inspirations and inspirations for individual songs that he wrote, compared to the limited information that is available on the internet.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews