X-Ray

This is an examination of the life of Ray Davies, leader of The Kinks. From 1964 he has been one of the brightest, sharpest, wittiest and most popular of British musicians. Instead of a conventional narrative, Davies has set the book in the future as a confrontation between his aged self and a young journalist who is researching his life. The result is a caustic, witty and ultimately moving self-portrait of one of the most influential British rock musicians, a figure whose work with The Kinks has made him admired, copied and in some quarters, revered. It is also a picture of England from the fifties to the present day - and after.