"I was shocked at the truths and magnificence of this biography; I didn’t think she (or anyone) had it in her. Throw all the Beats away: only the misunderstood colossus - Kerouac – remains. Who’s really read him, anyway? It’s all about that buffoon Cassady, and idiotic fanboy quotes… “the only ones for me are the mad ones” – yuck. Read the above for the real Weegee/Whitman ecstatic-horrific experience of genius, alcoholism, fame and the merciful, merciless Spirit that rules us."

"I was astonished to realize, relatively recently, that Charlie Chaplin had been a homeless teenager before he became the most famous film artist of his time — and that his character the Little Tramp was based, in part, on his past. As a child watching his films, I was merely entertained, but reading this book, not his “official” biography, (which I find slightly starchy), enlightened me on the daily sufferings and joys of what it was like for him before he became famous. It was published in 1916 — and yet is still so relevant today."

"There have been many biographies about The Who but this one is almost as entertaining as the group it documents. Dave Marsh, who was a founding editor at Creem magazine and an editor at Rolling Stone, writes as an unashamed fan of the band. No other writer, with the exception of Richard Barnes, has ever really understood The Who the way Marsh did with this work. In Before I Get Old the author analyzes their roots in "Mod" culture to their development into "the first avant-garde rock band". As a biography it is valuable piece of rock-music history."