Depressing because it documents in sad detail British singer Amy Winehouse's losing battle against addiction; and enthralling because it describes how in the middle of so much heartache and despair she managed to create some of the most marvellous music of the past decade.
Amy's father does not pull any punches. He is brutally honest about the drugs and Amy's struggles with them. He also details how he helped to put his daughter back on the rails time and time again only to see her fall back into old habits.
Mitch never gave up on Amy, encouraging her during her many dark hours and protecting her as much as possible from unsavoury boyfriends and drug dealers. His devotion was unstinting and his devastation over her death, he says, will stay with him forever.
Mitch's book contained several surprises, including that Amy did not die from an overdose of heroin or cocaine as I had always thought. She had been clean of those drugs for years. It was alcohol that was her undoing - an autopsy showed she had a lethal dose in her system.
As Mitch says, her life was a roller-coaster ride. When she was free of drugs, she was a delightful, fun-filled, ambitious young woman who could hold an audience in the palm of her hand. At other times, she was a physical wreck who self-harmed, was bad-tempered, late for appointments (if she showed up at all) and a shambles on stage.
I occasionally got fed up reading about the whole depressing mess and at other times I was transfixed by Mitch's accounts of her song-writing and performing genius.
I wasn't expecting such a fine, honest book from Amy's father, someone I thought might have glossed over her weaknesses and blamed others for her mistakes.
And he also impressed me by announcing that all author proceeds are going to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, set up by Mitch to assist groups that provide help, support and care for young people in need.
• Geoffrey Barnett is a Dunedin journalist.
