21 Years Gone: The Autobiography

by Jack Osbourne

This inspiring autobiography details Jack Osbourne's journey from the drug and alcohol addictions that nearly killed him to his remarkable recovery and ultimate redemption. By the time Jack was 16, he was addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs, was hanging out with rock stars in LA and living a life that any teenager would aspire to—and then the reality show The Osbournes turned him into a global celebrity. As much as Jack enjoyed his fame, underneath it all he was still an awkward teenager, using his sense of humor as a protective shield. With fame and money came greater access to drugs and soon his addictions took a firmer hold on him and his behavior was soon out of control. In 21 Years Gone Jack writes with brutal frankness about his descent into addiction and the low point he reached when his mother Sharon was diagnosed with cancer. Scared that his she might die, Jack retreated further into his alcoholic shell, hating who he was, hating what he did. When Sharon realized what was happening she told Jack he had to go into rehab and slowly he turned his life around. Discovering a passion for extreme sports, he went from overweight and unfit to the lean young man he is today—courtesy of such adventures as running with the bulls in Pamplona, fighting a Thai martial arts expert, and scaling El Capitan, one of the world's toughest climbs.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

About the author

Jack Joseph Osbourne is an English media personality, best known as the son of musician Ozzy Osbourne and music manager Sharon Osbourne, and brother of Aimee and Kelly Osbourne.

Reviews

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since rewatching The Osbournes TV show earlier this year, and then attending Ozzy Osbourne’s final concert, I’ve fell down a rabbit hole of hyper-fixating over the entire family. This interest has been a good distraction for my brain.

I admire Jack’s strength for being so open and honest about his addiction struggles, which started at such a young age, plus for choosing to get sober at the age of 17. It would have been so easy for him to fall back into the L.A. party scene even after completing the Twelve-Step programme.
It’s good that he found extreme sports as a hobby to throw himself into, it must have taken a lot of strength and he deserves to feel really proud of himself.
21 Years Gone shows that the rock & roll, Hollywood, lifestyle isn’t all its cracked up to be. Money, and fame, don’t always buy happiness.

Rating memoirs is always difficult, as it feels almost wrong to rate somebody’s life experiences/ life-story, so I always base it upon the writing and how it made me feel.

5 Stars

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wanted to love but was a bit of a slog.

I don't rate biographies as it feels like you are rating someone life so 5 stars for Goodreads purposes.

[Becki Basley · Rating 5 out of 5]

21 years gone: the autobiography of Jack Osboune by Jack Osbourne
(Ebook read on Everand app)

I have to admit I did watch the Osbounes MTV show. The fan in me wanted to see how Ozzy was offstage and the sociologist in me wanted to see what life was like for Jack and Kelly, the children of the Prince of Darkness.

I honestly didn’t know Jack had wrote a book until I went looking to see if his mom had written one (I found 3) but when I ran across Jacks book. I decided to read his first.

Jack gives a Frank discussion about how bad his addictions were and how he got sober. I found myself silently rooting for him as he retained to climb El Captain(sp?) it’s highly worth the read.

I kind of hope he writes a second book about his experiences being a father maybe co-writing a book on fatherhood with Ozzy. Very inspirational first book!

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, I did struggle with this book a bit as 3 quarters of it seemed like the same going on about partying, alcohol and substance misuse and I got a little bored with it, however it was great to read of someone’s recovery with addiction and how they channeled their energy into something else but it’s not one I could re-read and even though I think that I still appreciate the time and effort that went into writing this book

[Rachel Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly incredible story from someone that has gone through the worst and come out on top.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives some great background into being a kid in the midst of a Rock Show.
Jack Osbourne has had a semi-normal life before being shot into the spotlight with the world wide phenomenon of The Osbournes - a reality show that follows the Osbourne family in the daily life.

Jack is brutally honest about himself about the person he was and the person the media had painted him to be.
Before being in the spotlight Jack had a life that was balanced between spending on tour with her parents, and spending time in a normal school environment with her parents being at home or away for just a few days.
The books starts with some of Jack's memories of his childhood, both from England and the US. These range from the rock and roll to plain old school days. This part of the book is very interesting and gives a great insight into Jack's struggle to fit in at school.

The bulk of the book concentrates on his decent into using drugs and drinking alcohol, the height of that use and then the recovery process. All of which give a great insight to the world of drugs, specifically around the LA club scene and music industry. The danger faced by users and also the difficulty of the recovery is highlighted through Jack's personal experiences - which are varied from extremely sad, to inspiring - all of it being quite informative about each process Jack went through.
Although there are some very sad and even desperate moments, the high insight prospective which Jack now writes from oozes with the lessons he's now learnt from the many situations he's been confronted with. This makes it not only an excellent read about life in what has been considered a famous example of a dysfunctional family and a boy lost in drugs, but a very inspirational read about giving it your all even if you are "shit scared".

I highly recommend this book, if you think Jack has nothing to say and no life experiences at the young age of 21. Think again and read for yourself.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

So to-date I've completed reading all books written by the fab four Osbourne family members and I'd have to say this is one of the weakest efforts. Jack spends a lot of time re-teling the same autobiographical information you can find within the pages of Sharon and Ozzy's autobios. The chapters on drug use were interesting but reading it felt like he kind of breezed through several years of drug use and it didn't provide me with any additional understanding of drug use. I've read more well-written books that address the subject with more time and emphasis on the subject. I also think he spent way too much time discussing his post drug rehab interest in running with the bulls, etc. That end section of the book caused me to lose interest in finishing reading it.

[Viv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed this from my offspring - it is a good account of how Jack Osbourne managed to escape from the world of drug taking with his spirit intact. Yes there is the usual drawn out anthology of what substances were imbibed over how many years etc but for a 21 year old he has caught himself on quicker than most. Enjoyable and heartwarming.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Easy to read, interesting, insightful, and very honest. It also gave me some very interesting ideas for new and fun things to try out!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Problems don't anyone mo matter how much money do you have and how wealthy and how much influence your parents have. Much money gives you more possibilities. That's all.

[Steve Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring story of recovery.

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, very inspiring.