A selection of memoir and autobiography book covers published by Penguin.

New memoirs and biographies 2025

Reading lists

New autobiography books and memoirs to read this year

Kevin Rowland

'I have never read a music autobiography like it. Or any other come to that. You want to say, "Kev, don't be saying that." But he does, repeatedly. Buyer beware. But it is absolutely stone cold hard truth BRILLIANT.'

‘Blazingly honest ... a confessional book — at times almost recklessly candid — but it’s also a profoundly sad family memoir that grapples with Rowland’s lifelong desire for approval from his Irish parents, especially his laceratingly critical father, a man who would frequently take his belt to his son’s legs.’

'remarkably candid, gripping ... the book is confessional, contrite to an extraordinary degree, and packed with granular detail'

'raw, startling, but ultimately triumphant book'

‘A picaresque story, and Rowland tells it with an impressive lack of self-pity... powerful and oddly persuasive. Even as he seems to despair of himself, you wind up rooting for Rowland. '

‘The first half is so out there, if you didn’t know it was about a young man who went on to form a band and enjoy several Top 20 hits and a global No 1 with 'Come On Eileen' you’d think, wow, these are the formative years of a future jailbird. Or someone now dead ... It's unflinching, insightful and sometimes hilarious.’

'Rowland has gone through the mill and produced a powerful account of his life… [he] has raised the game for autobiographies by musicians at a time when they are in danger of becoming a predictable late career exercise ... a thrilling tale … marvellous book about a life less ordinary.'

'There's never been a rock 'n' roll autobiography - or perhaps any autobiography - as searingly honest, twistedly dark and emotionally uplifting as this one. An instant classic and a must read from one of the most influential British artists of our time.'

‘Rowland bares his sensitive soul with commendable – if sometimes alarming – honesty’

‘He details it all with candour and panache’

A life story

SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
A searingly honest memoir from Dexys’ iconic frontman, one of the great mavericks and creative geniuses of British music. 
 
At home, the prayerful eight-year-old altar boy was planning to attend college to train to be a priest. Elsewhere, he was thieving, lying, swearing, fighting and rarely out of trouble. 
 
In this astonishing memoir, Kevin takes us from the juvenile courts of his troubled teenage years to the early days of the New Romantic scene in the late ’70s. An unwavering passion for music and highly tuned sense of fashion and style ignited an unstoppable drive within him, compelling him down a path that led to his huge chart successes with Dexys Midnight Runners in the early 1980s. However, despite being celebrated as a creative genius, inner turmoil was never far away, and a terrifying series of self-sabotaging events were to follow – including a serious cocaine addiction – leaving him in the wilderness in the 1990s, bankrupt, living in a bedsit, on the dole. 
 
Always resilient in the face of adversity, after a massive upheaval Kevin found his way back. He charts his return journey, from shocking audiences with his pioneering embrace of gender fluidity with My Beauty, right through to Dexys’ triumphant appearance at Glastonbury in 2024. 
 
Vividly detailed, and with a truly rare degree of self-insight, this is Kevin's own, deeply personal account of an extraordinary life, raw and unvarnished. A remarkable memoir, as compelling and original as you would expect from one of the pioneering icons of music history.

Kevin Rowland

Praise for Bless Me Father

'I have never read a music autobiography like it. Or any other come to that. You want to say, "Kev, don't be saying that." But he does, repeatedly. Buyer beware. But it is absolutely stone cold hard truth BRILLIANT. ...

‘Blazingly honest ... a confessional book — at times almost recklessly candid — but it’s also a profoundly sad family memoir that grapples with Rowland’s lifelong desire for approval from his Irish parents, especial ...

'remarkably candid, gripping ... the book is confessional, contrite to an extraordinary degree, and packed with granular detail'

'I have never read a music autobiography like it. Or any other come to that. You want to say, "Kev, don't be saying that." But he does, repeatedly. Buyer beware. But it is absolutely stone cold hard truth BRILLIANT. ...

‘Blazingly honest ... a confessional book — at times almost recklessly candid — but it’s also a profoundly sad family memoir that grapples with Rowland’s lifelong desire for approval from his Irish parents, especial ...

'remarkably candid, gripping ... the book is confessional, contrite to an extraordinary degree, and packed with granular detail'

'I have never read a music autobiography like it. Or any other come to that. You want to say, "Kev, don't be saying that." But he does, repeatedly. Buyer beware. But it is absolutely stone cold hard truth BRILLIANT. ...

‘Blazingly honest ... a confessional book — at times almost recklessly candid — but it’s also a profoundly sad family memoir that grapples with Rowland’s lifelong desire for approval from his Irish parents, especial ...

'remarkably candid, gripping ... the book is confessional, contrite to an extraordinary degree, and packed with granular detail'

Articles featuring Kevin Rowland

New autobiography books and memoirs to read this year

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