A man this cheerful cannot possibly have read the book...
The regular accusation of anyone who rubbishes Kevin Pietersen’s version of events, or indeed his book, is that they are part of the conspiracy against him.
Journalists have been accused of colluding with the ECB,
with the BBC’s Jonathan Agnew taking the full brunt of the criticism, and
anybody else has simply been accused of falling for the plot to find a
scapegoat or finding it a convenient narrative.
I wouldn’t want to pretend to be party to the inner workings
of an England dressing room, I can only base my conclusions on Kevin Pietersen
based on word of mouth and what I saw when I watched him play for England.
After the Ashes humiliation I was critical of Pietersen, but
would have had him in my team going forward, as I noted in my review of the campaign but
that was based on what he was capable of on the pitch and not what he was like
off it.
Whether you believe his version of events, or the
alternative viewpoint of everyone else within the dressing room environment,
the reality now is that Pietersen can never play for England again. The book
makes sure of that.
Some books are referred to colloquially as unputdownable, KP’s
was very nearly unpickupable.
After reading three chapters, and finding myself emotionally
exhausted by the outpouring from his so obviously wounded soul, it felt almost
cruel to go on. For me and for him.
I persevered though, and dived deeper into the thoughts and
feelings of a truly distressed man; if nothing else, I hope getting this all
out of his system and putting it on paper might help him find a bit of
happiness.
Nobody has won in Pietersen’s on-going battle with the ECB,
but he has definitely lost, though he achieved so much before the outcome was
settled.
At an attempt at a deeper review, I’ll begin with the
positives.
Rarely, when reading this book are you left wanting more.
Some sports autobiographies feel guarded or too metronomic in style, but this
one was similar to Bradley Wiggins’ in that it was almost repetitive in its
attempt to tell the full story.
Not an author by trade, it seems natural that the sportsman
might repeat himself or lose track of the story they are telling occasionally.
It feels authentic.
A friend of mine regularly declares that his integrity is
unquestionable, and I usually respond immediately by questioning, or ridiculing
his integrity.
Fortunately Kevin Pietersen hasn’t gone down the Mike Tyson
route of calling the truth in his book undisputed, because like my friends
integrity, his truth has been questioned and analysed with almost forensic
detailing, but unfortunately that’s about as positive as I’m able to get about
this book.
As alluded to earlier, it is a very tough read. There are no
positives, without the aim of including them being to take a swipe at something
else.
Some of the things he discusses and the points that he
gropes for are difficult to follow, particularly when discussing the IPL and
the county game. He gallantly defends the former from an attack I’m not
convinced it is facing, while highlighting the second as part of the ECBs
systemic failing.
The most repetitive feature of the book is a man who can’t
see where he might be in the wrong, and even when he acknowledges he might be,
it just isn’t ever his fault.
While all the off-pitch chaos was going on, Kevin Pietersen
was scoring thousands of international runs, but they don’t feel central to his
story, and they really ought to be.
If you achieve what Pietersen has, and at the end of it your
book doesn’t celebrate that, then it isn’t just those around you that need to
take a long hard look at themselves. He also manages to cram meeting, and
marrying, his wife into less than two rushed pages.
Would I recommend this book? Probably not.
Do I think everyone would hate it? No.
It’s a difficult read, particularly if you are trying to
make your mind up about who is telling the truth, but as this is the truth from
Kevin Pietersen’s point of view, it is a story worth telling.
I would like to make one final point, the criticisms and
borderline character assassination above is based purely on the book. While
Kevin Pietersen has always led a controversial existence he is not all bad. He
is as generous with his time as he is hard working, and he often speaks well.
Unfortunately the voice in the book is not the personable Kevin Pietersen, but
a man on a point-making mission.
