My Family and Other Rock Stars

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What to expect

A book of the year for the Times, the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Guardian and the Daily Mail


'Charming . . . heartbreaking, sometimes both funny and unsettling, and always - from start to end - very, very good' RODDY DOYLE

'Magical . . . as scrumptious as the home-made mayonnaise, pumpkin soup and game pie coming out of Joan's kitchen' DAILY MAIL, BOOK OF THE WEEK

'A love letter to a remarkable childhood. A total joy' SARAH WINMAN

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In a small corner of a field in Wales, Tiffany Murray is hiding with Boggle the dog, dreaming of her mum's moussaka, blackberry and apple crumble, and, if she's lucky, ice-cold lemonade. A sheep bleats. The smell of hay tickles her nose. The twang of a guitar and crack of a snare carry on the breeze.

It's the late 1970s and Tiff lives with her mum, Joan, at Rockfield, the iconic recording studios. This place of legend, where some of the most famous rock albums of all time were recorded, is the background to a freewheeling, ever-changing whirlwind of a childhood. Tiff's days are spent running around the farm, making friends with local wildlife and helping out with the endless array of dishes her mum creates to keep the bands fed. She's looking for a dog, she's looking for a father; but the one constant throughout is her and Joan, building an unconventional family in the most unlikely of locations.

My Family and Other Rock Stars is Tiff's remarkable, truly unique story of growing up in a rural idyll, of Cordon Bleu cookery and of a childhood where the chances of bumping into Freddie Mercury playing piano, or a group of Hell's Angels turning up to record for Lemmy, or even the hope of David Bowie appearing, were as normal as hopscotch and homework.
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'You will fall in love with Tiff, her hilarious non-nonsense mother Joan, and a cast of hungry rock stars from Freddie Mercury to Siouxsie Sioux. An utter treat' RACHEL JOYCE

'Full of pop gossip that'll leave you starry-eyed, and written with a warmth and precision you'll want to savour for as long as you can . . . I didn't want it to end' SÉAMAS O'REILLY

'Enchanting' INDEPEDENT, 20 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Longlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize

My Family and Other Rock Stars was the Daily Mail book of the week 17.05.2024

Critics Review

Murray, a sublime memoirist, has written the most beautiful of tributes to a fierce and indomitable spirit . . . This childhood tale, then, is Cider With Rosie, but fuelled with something far stronger - Lemmy's Jack Daniel's, perhaps
Observer, Book of the Day
Magical . . . My Family and Other Rock Stars is as scrumptious as the home-made mayonnaise, pumpkin soup and game pie coming out of Joan's kitchen
Daily Mail, Book of the Week
A delightful childhood memoir . . . full of anecdotes to make you smile
Independent Book of the Month
My Family and Other Rock Stars is Murray's gloriously tender and funny account of her unconventional upbringing, a music memoir that reveals as much about the mores of the 1970s and 1980s rock scene as a hundred serious surveys of mixing desks and demo tapes would . . . a playfully arranged account of a remarkable childhood that is testament to the love and connection that music and food can bring. With My Family and Other Rock Stars Murray has written a bohemian rhapsody of her very own
Sunday Times
Funny, vivid and touching, above all fizzing with joy, this is a tribute to an extraordinary childhood, both feral and advanced beyond its years. You will fall in love with Tiff, her hilarious non-nonsense mother Joan, and a cast of hungry rock stars from Freddie Mercury to Siouxsie Sioux. Tiffany Murray's skill is in capturing the changing world of a child with such giddy, heartbreaking enthusiasm, and not one tiny note of self pity. An utter treat
Rachel Joyce
My Family and Other Rock Stars is sometimes charming, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes both funny and unsettling, and always - from start to end - very, very good
Roddy Doyle
A love letter to a remarkable childhood. To the music that shaped it and to the two people who watched over it. Enchanting and unique. A total joy
Sarah Winman
I loved Tiffany's memoir, what an utter joy! Like a really great romp of a novel, a Hideous Kinky for Wales. I can think of at least ten people who must read it at once
Ella Risbridger, author of MIDNIGHT CHICKEN
Race to preorder Tiffany Murray's enchanting memoir, My Family & Other Rock Stars. It's a rock and roll Cider With Rosie cooked up by Elizabeth David at her most caustic and more than a touch of the blissfully feral childhood evoked in Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
Patrick Gale
One of the best I've read all year. Full of pop gossip that'll leave you starry-eyed, and written with a warmth and precision you'll want to savour for as long as you can. And it has recipes! My strongest possible recommendation. . . I didn't want it to end
Séamas O'Reilly
Give it up for My Family and Other Rock Starsin which Tiffany Murray tells the story of a childhood spent at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales, where her mother worked as a cordon bleu chef for artists including David Bowie, Queen and - yes - Motörhead. It couldn't sound more delicious if it tried
Rachel Cooke
Tiffany Murray disproves the saying that if you can remember what happened you weren't really there. Her memoir My Family and Other Rock Stars including Queen and David Bowie is one of the loveliest books I've read all year
John Crace
This book is the BEE'S KNEES. Exuberant, poignant, incredibly well-written, with fresh delights on every page. Rock stars and recipes, childhood and wonder. I wish more books were this good!
Lauren Elkin
Tiff's book is an insane amount of fun. And such good company. Everyone's here, from Freddie Mercury to Elizabeth David - and of course, Mum, the indefatigable queen of the show. It's witty and sweet, and perfectly captures the highs and lows of an extraordinary childhood. Reading it felt like listening to a piece of music (a nice fat side of vinyl) I hadn't heard in too long, and then, alone in the kitchen, and at risk of breaking glasses and God knows, starting to dance
Andrew Miller
I'm just tucking in and love it immediately. Who'd have thought there could be such a surprising tale to tell; rock stars and food is an addictive combination
Lindsey Bareham
It's a wonderful read, funny and true and life-affirming and joyous
Jim Lockhart
An entirely delicious memoir - as moving as it is funny and compulsive. You'll love these people, I guarantee it
Tom Bullough
A soaring, brilliantly written, adrenaline-fuelled rock anthem of a memoir. Tiffany Murray never hits a false note
Jonathan Lee, author of THE GREAT MISTAKE
An enchanting account
Guardian
Earthy, real and glowing with warmth and wit, this is a rock 'n' roll memoir unlike any other
Zoë Howe
This is a very special book, a memoir that is so particular it's almost expressionistic. It's also very funny
Dylan Jones
My Family and Other Rock Stars is full of joy, from start to finish. I kept wanting to return to Tiff, a quirky, endearing, funny child finding herself in the eccentric world of adults, food, music, love and dogs. An important record of the best days of pop and rock from a pint-sized perspective. This memoir made me laugh out loud. I loved every minute of it
Lily Dunn
A totally unique story that provides a kaleidoscopic, sensuous, and loving view of a seminal moment in musical history. A story that only Tiffany Murray could tell, written with her characteristic vivaciousness and humour; a richly satisfying, literary cordon-bleu meal with the best possible soundtrack
Fflur Dafydd
Tiffany's work is like you look out the window and there it is - the sun dancing in the sky. If Diamond Star Halo made you feel uplifted, My Family And Other Rock Stars will make you grow wings. Get out there now and buy it. The ghost of David Bowie says that you really must
Patrick McCabe
Beautifully done . . . quite unlike anything I've read, really likeable and funny with so many great stories . . . you imagine you know what a rock memoir is 'cos we've read so many of them, but this is from a completely different perspective, a charming, charming book
Monocle
It is hard to imagine a more idyllic childhood than Tiffany Murray's
The i
Uproarious . . . with a wonderful child's eye candour
Bookseller
An absolute charmer of a memoir . . . Give it to everyone
Perspective on the Week, Book of the Week
Charming
Guardian, Book of the Year
Huge fun
Daily Mail, Book of the Year
A world of wonder and happiness
The Irish Times, Book of the Summer
A coming of age story with a twist
Irish Independent, Book of the Summer
I was privileged enough to record my second album in Rockfield Studios and this memoir brings back the atmosphere of the place so well I can almost taste Joan's food. Yes, the food - recipes included!. As for the recording, that wasn't bad, either
Graham Parker
A world where Freddie Mercury 'smelled of sweet wood and oranges' and Julian Cope 'was pretty and dressed in a white sheet'. You see Black Sabbath, Siouxsie, Bowie and Motorhead in a whole new light. Touching, funny and deliciously revealing
Mark Ellen

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