Monoray Books signs 'highly entertaining' memoir from Taupin, Elton John's lyric writer

Monoray Books has signed Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me by Bernie Taupin, the lyric writer for Elton John.

Publisher Jake Lingwood acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Gordon Wise at Curtis Brown. The book will be published on 7th September. 

The long-term collaborator with Elton John on countless hits, Taupin now tells his story, from growing up in the East Midlands to traveling to Los Angeles with the superstar singer. The memoir, said the publisher, "grants access to history-making events from Taupin’s singular perspective, sometimes front and centre, sometimes from the edge, yet always with an infectious energy and a songwriter’s eye for detail". 

Taupin said: "It was never my intention to write a traditional A to Z autobiography. I began a few years back composing essays and observations on my life that ultimately gained momentum and started to look like a book. From then on it became a long, arduous task that was exhilarating and liberating. It was also a lot of fun and immensely beneficial in blowing the dust off a lot of what I’d forgotten about. Hopefully, there’s something in it for everybody. It’s contemplative, self-assessing and attempts to stay off the beaten path in not regurgitating what’s already been written. Non-linear, it’s an exploratory trip bouncing back and forth along the decades.”

Lingwood added: “Bernie is a legend in the world of music and I don’t know of anyone who’s had a life like his. Scattershot is a beautifully written and highly entertaining memoir and just like unique Bernie’s life. I don’t believe there’s anything quite like it. Indisputably, one of the music books of the year.”