Clever, unblinking and unrelentingly painful, it has to be the best thing he has produced in many years ... While not a terribly inventive lyricist, Collins turns out to be a gifted storyteller ... It’s not all darkness. Not Dead Yet is laced with self-lacerating wit and celebrity cameos (Dustin Hoffman, Tony Bennett, Adele) rendered with unusual candor.
Overall, Collins’s memoir is breezy and self-deprecating. When he lists his failures as a husband and father — especially in the final chapters, about a recent and near-fatal slide into alcoholism — he gets uncharacteristically serious. The book ends on a cautiously optimistic note, but with news of a loss Collins tries his best to shrug off: due to persistent nerve and back problems, he may never drum again. The next time 'In the Air Tonight' comes on the radio, pour one out for Phil.
Several times throughout the book, Collins presents himself as drawn almost haplessly into volatile situations, one after another. But he is brutally honest in detailing his harrowing descent into alcoholism 10 years ago at age 55.
