Radio X, 9/16/16
"From being a young oik in Hammersmith to being a sex addicted, burnt out addict in L.A., Steve Jones has led a bloody interesting life. He was the man who kick started the Sex Pistols, one of the most influential bands in British music, and ended up as one of the least likely guitar heroes in rock 'n' roll."
"A raw, vanity-free dive into a life marred by an abused childhood, petty crime, and addictions to drink, drugs, and sex, but rescued by Jones's relentless aspiration for a better life."
—London Times Magazine, 11/5/16
"A hilarious and at times harrowing read."
—MOJO
"Jones's autobiography is anything but quaint.... His book's title speaks volumes, although these stories are told without sadness.... Through the fame years, Lonely Boy is often eye-wateringly funny.... He's 'a semi-retired sexual deviant who doesn't really act out so much any more,' which is sensible. His book's a delight."
—The Guardian
"A brutally frank autobiography."
—The Mirror
"The Sex Pistols guitarist details his life-an impoverished Sixties childhood, sexual abuse and dalliances with crime-in a way that is both moving and candid."—The Telegraph, "Top 50 Books of the Year 2016"
"An absolute riot of revelation...[Jones] owns up to his failings with a colourful candour that is moving."
—The Telegraph, "Best Rock Biographies and Music Books for Christmas 2016"
"Never Mind the Bollocks, here's a great Sex Pistols memoir...Paints a portrait of just how 'dangerous' punk rockers and punk music were in the UK during the mid and late '70s, when it always had a harder, more political edge than U.S. punk...Jones's memoir is-like a great punk-rock song-short, hard-hitting and Pretty Decent."
—Houston Press
"With his memoir,...Jones elucidates the Dickensian childhood that underpins his band's glamorous nihilism as well as the multiple addictions-heroin, alcohol, stealing, and sex-that almost took him to an early grave."
—GoodReads.com
"A bloody good story...Jones' own voice speaks loud and clear throughout Lonely Boy, a brutally honest and level-headed memoir."
—Record Collector
"[A] funny, filthy-mouthed memoir."
—NME
"What's special about this book is its story arc, which will make the most hardened punk well up...A poignant, honest, drily humorous rump-fest from a lost soul found."
—MOJO
"A book that's sometimes raucously funny."—Uncut
"If you live in the Los Angeles area, you've probably heard Jonesy's Jukebox, the guitarist's popular radio show, and if that's the case, you already know how refreshingly honest and funny the guy can be. That's the same kind of energy he brings to Lonely Boy...His struggles with drugs, alcohol, and sex addiction are handled with the punk icon's irresistible storytelling style that combines raw honesty and un-PC humor."
—NoEcho.net
"The book shows off Jones' wry humor and blunt assessments of himself as he parses his life...As a whole, the book provides a fresh look at the punk movement 40 years removed from the release of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols."
—RollingStone.com
"[A] gleefully coarse autobiography...Throughout Jones' tome, he leans into the language of London's street culture...It's a tale told without censorship or self-pity...Ribald stories lurch across every page, making Lonely Boy a must-read."—New York Observer
"Lonely Boy is the complete autobiography: unfailingly honest, presented warts and all...The band, which for so many years has lived largely in lore, is humanized here. We get to see the people behind the group, the struggles that came with becoming a symbol for punk youth, and the effects of having to live up to that image...Lonely Boy is an eminently readable autobiography. Jones holds nothing back, his scars on display for all to see...Sex Pistols fan or not, Lonely Boy is an entertaining read that leaves no stone unturned."—A.V. Club
"Raw, open, and disarmingly honest...There's something very refreshing about Jones' honesty, and to hear the story of the birth, brief life, and grisly death of the Sex Pistols told in his voice-the working class scouse accent all but leaps from the pages-is a delight for anyone who cares about rock music at the end of the 20th century...He's witty, he's self-deprecating...Reading Lonely Boy, you can't help but feel compassion for Jones and his mates...The angst of end-of-the-century class-obsessed England in general and depressed urban London in particular, is palpable when Jones recounts his youth."—Buffalo News
"The cocksure guitarist...kicked off the British punk movement...He's also penned a long-awaited autobiography, Lonely Boy that, along with music and mayhem, finds him discussing his multiple chemical addictions, his abusive childhood, kleptomania, and how he conquered them all."—Metro New York
"A good read...Lonely Boy is in some ways a tragic story, and shows just how long it can take to even begin to undo the damage done by child'sexual abuse...The book...shows that being a victim of child'sexual abuse doesn't mean you can't go on to be a legend."—Male Psychology Network
"The story of the Sex Pistols has been told and mis-told several times. Maybe this book is the first one that explains where it all came from, not from someone's ego, or imagination, but from West London, retold by the only real member of the band...Very moving stuff."
—The Portable Infinite
"Very personal."—US Weekly
"Lonely Boy is a times confessional, at others profane, it is often laugh out loud funny and on more than one downright sad. There is an unexpected level of emotion and honesty...While it features everything you'd expect from a rock star bio, it avoids the pitfall of becoming a cliché."—My Big Honkin Blog
"Details [Jones's] fast-paced life, a sweaty sex, drugs and rock and roll journey with dollops of humor, honesty and bratty tongue in cheek pathos."
—Rock Cellar
"Fantastic...Jones confesses to the kind of sordid, outlaw upbringing that would make even Keith Richards blush...Lonely Boy is unique amongst rock star memoirs: Jones is the real deal, and he isn't afraid to put it all-the good, the bad, and the truly ugly-out there for all to see."
—Esquire
"In his new memoir, Lonely Boy...Jones owns the band's history point by point, from its grittiest details to its echoing continuance in new music...Lonely Boy is exciting because it's about a Sex Pistol-singular, not plural. It isn't a timeline detailing the band's every move; it's far more captivating...Jones is an entertaining storyteller...Lonely Boy isn't contrived or dishonest-it's an open conversation about the experiences that were most important to Jones' development as a musician and person. The Sex Pistols created one of music's most memorable rebellions. This is the story of the musician who helped them make it." —Elmore Magazine
"Absolute unflinching detail, with a nod and a wink and a pinch of Cockney slang...[A] painfully honest...must-read memoir."—Noisey's VICE
"With characteristic candor, Jones shares the sordid details of his dysfunctional, working-class, West London upbringing...The book captures the hooligan panache and Cockney rhyming slang that have enthralled listeners of Jones' long-running KLOS (Los Angeles) radio show...For fans of punk history, and punk guitar, Lonely Boy is full of surprising little revelations...Lonely Boy is a close cousin to Dee Dee Ramone's 1997 'as told to' autobiography Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones...Both books are essential reading for anyone interested in the birth of punk rock."—Guitar World
