This autobiography by Gower was actually his sixth book about cricket, the other five all containing greater or lesser amounts of autobiography, as well. It was written near the end of his playing career, which was not looking as if it would finish on perhaps as bright a note as he would have liked, and so it has a slightly bittersweet tone (which he acknowledges in the Preface, added five months after the main manuscript was completed and reflecting the brief upturn in his cricketing fortunes which had occurred during that period).

Now, if you've seen my David Gower page at this site, you already know of the high esteem in which I hold this cricketing legend, so you're probably expecting a glowing review here. And... what can I say? I really did enjoy this book. Okay, there are spots in which DG comes across as being a little, umm, self-justifying, but it is his autobiography, after all. And there are some rather frank comments about people he identifies as "friends" that made me wonder whether the parties concerned would've made the same identification after they read the book... but perhaps that's typical for this sort of writing (you see, I don't read a lot of these sports autobios.). But over all, Gower: the Autobiography is a well-written, entertaining read, full of wit and self-deprecating charm and humorous anecdotes about lots of interesting people and places in cricket from the late 70's to the early 90's.

I mean, you gotta like a fellow who answers the oft-made accusation that his approach to the game was too easy-going in a chapter entitled "Laid back... and think of England." Says Gower, while his aversion to the nets was no secret, and while it is true that there were too many times when he left the crease wondering why he hadn't managed to turn that 50 into 100, it is also the case that when he thought his game needed work, he worked on it. And his overall goal-- to play cricket "with fun, style, and excellence"-- is one he believes he met more than a few times over the course of his (then) 114 Tests.

Gower: the Autobiography gives the whole story. There's the good: DG at school, excelling at various sports including mischief; DG as new boy at Leicestershire, not having to wait too long before getting the call from the England selectors; DG hitting his first ball in his first Test for 4 (and then wondering whether he should have done that); DG enjoying early success alongside other greats like Botham and Lamb; DG attaining the England captaincy and, after a slow start in the position, having the season of his life in 1985; and, as we learn in the Preface, DG at last breaking Geoff Boycott's record for the most England Test runs. But there are also the less happy moments: DG (and England) battling the sensationalist press, DG off his form, DG losing the captaincies of both Leicestershire and England in the same year, and finally DG irreparably at odds with the Gooch-Stewart leadership of the England team in the early 90's. And if Gower is not shy about claiming his successes (well, apart from that initial 4), he is also not above admitting that some of his choices, including certain off-the-field ones, were not always in his own best career interests.

If one wants a picture of a terrific talent and engaging personality, and the interesting times in which he played, this book's worth tracking down.

[Note: a later paperback edition finishes Gower's story more decisively, including his last Tests and his marriage. There's also an audiobooks version (abridged from the later edition), with David Gower reading his own story on 2 cassettes.]