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Tumbling Dice
SERIALISED IN THE MAIL ON SUNDAY AND THE TIMES, AND AS FEATURED ON BBC RADIO AND LONDON LIVE TV . . . In this startling, funny and agonizing book, Lesley-Ann Jones relives the glory days and walks again on the wild side with tears, laughter and a whole lotta love. The respected biographer of Freddie Mercury, David Bowie and Marc Bolan, LAJ began her career as an intern at London’s Capital Radio, and worked with Debbie Harry and Blondie, Spandau Ballet and Leo Sayer at Chrysalis Records. She experienced 15 minutes of fame as a television presenter at the inception of Channel 4. She subsequently reinvented herself as a reporter and celebrity interviewer on the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday and the News of the World. She was directly involved in 3 of the most explosive celebrity scandals of the Bill Wyman’s affair with schoolgirl Mandy Smith, Gary Glitter’s exposure as a paedophile, and Hugh Grant’s arrest in Los Angeles following his dalliance with a prostitute. The Gloria Gaynor of the written word, she survived not only the toughest street on Earth and near-fatal illness but also life-changing divorce, culminating in the killing of her lawyer. TUMBLING DICE offers, at its heart, the evolving psyche and growing awareness of a green-gilled hack on a quest for exclusives and a thrilling lifestyle, but essentially, of course, for love . . . "Hilarious, revealing, shocking and hugely enjoyable account of the wild, weird world of celebrity and even wilder, weirder world of tabloid journalism," says Piers Morgan . . . "LAJ has always shone her light brilliantly, if sometimes too accurately, on others. She now turns it articulately and entertainingly onto herself - a scoop!" comments Sir Tim Rice . . . TUMBLING DICE is "brilliant, unputdownable, a tour de force. The best book about celebrities that I have ever read. I wish I’d written it," raves Simon Napier-Bell, manager of the Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, Wham!, Sinead O’Connor and George Michael . . . "Lesley-Ann was both the glamour and the guts of rock journalism. No one got closer to the story, nor nearer to the core of a crazy time. She was there and she was all there," is broadcaster Robert Elms’s take . . . columnist Matthew Parris adds, "Boy oh boy, Tumbling Dice is sensational! The stories are amazing and the storyteller, Lesley-Ann Jones, brings such intelligence, self-knowledge and honesty to a life recollected, that by the second page of the introduction, I was hooked." . . . and journalist Martin Townsend "It was almost impossible to be at a gig, party, reception or other rock-related shindig from the late ’70s, ’80s and beyond without seeing Lesley-Ann. She was everywhere, and seemed to know everyone, from rock stars to hotel doormen."
- GenresMusic
323 pages, Paperback
Published April 4, 2019
28 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Lesley-Ann Jones
30 books88 followersLesley-Ann Jones is a British biographer, novelist, broadcaster and keynote speaker.
She honed her craft on Fleet Street, where she worked as a newspaper columnist and feature writer for more than twenty years. She has also worked extensively in radio and television, appears regularly in music documentaries in the UK, USA and Australia, and is the writer and co-producer of ‘The Last Lennon Interview’, a film about the final encounter, in New York, between the former Beatle and BBC Radio One presenter Andy Peebles.
Her debut memoir ‘Tumbling Dice’ is out now.
NB: the cover of TUMBLING DICE displayed here is NOT the current, correct one, but is of an edition that was never published! It appears to be impossible to change it! The ISBN for the CORRECT, CURRENT VERSION is 978109175
First serialisation rights for TUMBLING DICE were acquired by the Mail on Sunday UK, published across four pages on 7th April 2019. Second serial went to The Times, UK, featured as a double-page spread on 10th April.
The author’s interview with US ABC Radio network is syndicated to 2,000 stations across the United States. She has discussed the book on most BBC local stations, including BBC York, Northampton, Guernsey, Cornwall, Solent, Hereford & Worcester, Derby and Oxford. Live radio exposure continues over the coming weeks, with BBC Radio London’s Robert Elms Show, Wandsworth Radio, Express FM’s The Soft Rock Show, K107FM Scotland, Wycombe Sound, Camglen Radio (Scotland), the Sticks Radio Show & podcast, BBC Radio Kent, Radio Caroline, Talk Radio’s The Paul Ross Show and Talk Radio Europe’s Bill Padley Show.
Lesley-Ann Jones’s agents are currently negotiating with two independent production majors on a screen adaptation of TUMBLING DICE.
Other recent works include ‘Hero: David Bowie’, ‘Imagine’, and ‘Ride a White Swan: The Lives and Death of Marc Bolan’. Her globally-acclaimed definitive biography of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, re-issued in 2019 as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, is a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller. The book accompanies the band’s long-awaited eponymous feature film, the highest-grossing music biopic of all time.
The author is currently working on two further titles, for publication in 2020.
She is a mother of three, and lives in London.
She honed her craft on Fleet Street, where she worked as a newspaper columnist and feature writer for more than twenty years. She has also worked extensively in radio and television, appears regularly in music documentaries in the UK, USA and Australia, and is the writer and co-producer of ‘The Last Lennon Interview’, a film about the final encounter, in New York, between the former Beatle and BBC Radio One presenter Andy Peebles.
Her debut memoir ‘Tumbling Dice’ is out now.
NB: the cover of TUMBLING DICE displayed here is NOT the current, correct one, but is of an edition that was never published! It appears to be impossible to change it! The ISBN for the CORRECT, CURRENT VERSION is 978109175
First serialisation rights for TUMBLING DICE were acquired by the Mail on Sunday UK, published across four pages on 7th April 2019. Second serial went to The Times, UK, featured as a double-page spread on 10th April.
The author’s interview with US ABC Radio network is syndicated to 2,000 stations across the United States. She has discussed the book on most BBC local stations, including BBC York, Northampton, Guernsey, Cornwall, Solent, Hereford & Worcester, Derby and Oxford. Live radio exposure continues over the coming weeks, with BBC Radio London’s Robert Elms Show, Wandsworth Radio, Express FM’s The Soft Rock Show, K107FM Scotland, Wycombe Sound, Camglen Radio (Scotland), the Sticks Radio Show & podcast, BBC Radio Kent, Radio Caroline, Talk Radio’s The Paul Ross Show and Talk Radio Europe’s Bill Padley Show.
Lesley-Ann Jones’s agents are currently negotiating with two independent production majors on a screen adaptation of TUMBLING DICE.
Other recent works include ‘Hero: David Bowie’, ‘Imagine’, and ‘Ride a White Swan: The Lives and Death of Marc Bolan’. Her globally-acclaimed definitive biography of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, re-issued in 2019 as ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, is a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller. The book accompanies the band’s long-awaited eponymous feature film, the highest-grossing music biopic of all time.
The author is currently working on two further titles, for publication in 2020.
She is a mother of three, and lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 3, 2019
Over promised, under delivered
I had never heard of "LAJ" until I heard her interviewed on Johnnie Walker 's Sounds of The Seventies, promoting this book. I thought the tales she told sounded quite interesting, so I immediately bought it. I really didn't like the style of her writing at all. I noticed so many repetitions and glaringly obvious errors (Ken Bruce 's famous Pop Master referred as Quiz Master, Rick Parfitt excluded from the list of celebrities who died in 2016) that I wondered if it had been edited at all. There are also grammatical errors and unfunny puns. The author tries too hard to to be funny and doesn't seem to understand the phrase 'less is more' particularly with the badly worn cliches.
One or two of the chapters are interesting, but many are just non stories or things that are general knowledge anyway, e.g. She didn't get an interview with Hugh Grant and everything else in that chapter was out there in the public domain. She did hang out with Bill Wyman and Gary Glitter, but had nothing to do with their exposures.
Not recommended
I had never heard of "LAJ" until I heard her interviewed on Johnnie Walker 's Sounds of The Seventies, promoting this book. I thought the tales she told sounded quite interesting, so I immediately bought it. I really didn't like the style of her writing at all. I noticed so many repetitions and glaringly obvious errors (Ken Bruce 's famous Pop Master referred as Quiz Master, Rick Parfitt excluded from the list of celebrities who died in 2016) that I wondered if it had been edited at all. There are also grammatical errors and unfunny puns. The author tries too hard to to be funny and doesn't seem to understand the phrase 'less is more' particularly with the badly worn cliches.
One or two of the chapters are interesting, but many are just non stories or things that are general knowledge anyway, e.g. She didn't get an interview with Hugh Grant and everything else in that chapter was out there in the public domain. She did hang out with Bill Wyman and Gary Glitter, but had nothing to do with their exposures.
Not recommended
November 20, 2024
I liked it. I found it comforting. Famous people being human, just more hysterical, I guess. I bought it after listening to a podcast about her book on Christine McVie and didn't feel like waiting. Now I know why my girlfriend never liked Hugh Grant. Well not entirely but to an extent. Feel free to write More Tumbling Dice, LAL.
August 26, 2019
A little of this and that
Names drop galore, and some ditties are interesting. Most are way too short before she's on to the next anecdote.
Names drop galore, and some ditties are interesting. Most are way too short before she's on to the next anecdote.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews