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A Sting in the tale
Book by Berryman, James
191 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2000
About the author
James Berryman
5 books3 followersJames Berryman was born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, where he still lives. 'A Sting in the Tale' was his first book, since then he has gone on to convert the many stories in this book into TV scripts (available in ebook format - 'Three Sumner Tales').
Educated at St Cuthbert's Grammar School, where he first met Sting, he has had many jobs, including being a racecourse bookie. Turning his latent writing talent to other titles has broadened the scope of his writing genre.
James has a wry sense of humour and in his current and forthcoming titles, it is particularly to the fore. His slap-stick humour is sure to be picked up on and is sure to have many creased over in laughter as they read his works.
Educated at St Cuthbert's Grammar School, where he first met Sting, he has had many jobs, including being a racecourse bookie. Turning his latent writing talent to other titles has broadened the scope of his writing genre.
James has a wry sense of humour and in his current and forthcoming titles, it is particularly to the fore. His slap-stick humour is sure to be picked up on and is sure to have many creased over in laughter as they read his works.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 19, 2012
See the original review here: http://justanotherbooknerd.tumblr.com...
The only biography authorised by Sting himself, A Sting in the tale was written after Sting made a joke to life long friend James Berryman that he could probably write a better biography about him than anyone else has been able to so far.
The book details the early life of Sting through to his finding fame and then follows on to talk about later on in his life. It describes a lot of the harshness of going to Catholic School in Newcastle in the 1960s which is interesting in itself due to the complete overhaul of the UK school corporate punishment system in 1987. This means that the younger generation reading this book will be able to gain some insight into perhaps just how lucky they are to be educated in an institution where the worst thing that you have to worry about is detention.
On one hand this is a great book. It analyses Sting from a friend’s perspective, there is banter, there are tales of adolescent mischiefs, stories of grown up trials and many more anecdotes that go on to clearly show how Sting has changed since meeting Berryman including whippings, seeing the Beatles (Sting disputes this fact in his book) and the beginnings of a betting company.
On the other hand however, this is a book about a man that just so happens to know Sting, and as such is more of an account of his life than anything else. I believe he has just re-released this book with the title: Sting and I (don’t hold me to this information, I’m not sure if it’s been revised or is completely new) stating the book is about a man that knows Sting. This of course is the perfect way to describe this particular book, whereas the cover of this one calls it a biography, which is a title that I don’t think that it really deserves.
On the whole, once you get past the fact that a lot of the later parts of the book are Berryman rabbiting on about his financial woes, this book is a charming, witty portrail of a rather elusive pop megastar, showing a side to him that you might not even find in his own memoir: Broken Music.
If you want to know about Sting then read Broken Music, however if you don’t mind having a laugh at his expense, then A Sting in the tale is the book for you.
The only biography authorised by Sting himself, A Sting in the tale was written after Sting made a joke to life long friend James Berryman that he could probably write a better biography about him than anyone else has been able to so far.
The book details the early life of Sting through to his finding fame and then follows on to talk about later on in his life. It describes a lot of the harshness of going to Catholic School in Newcastle in the 1960s which is interesting in itself due to the complete overhaul of the UK school corporate punishment system in 1987. This means that the younger generation reading this book will be able to gain some insight into perhaps just how lucky they are to be educated in an institution where the worst thing that you have to worry about is detention.
On one hand this is a great book. It analyses Sting from a friend’s perspective, there is banter, there are tales of adolescent mischiefs, stories of grown up trials and many more anecdotes that go on to clearly show how Sting has changed since meeting Berryman including whippings, seeing the Beatles (Sting disputes this fact in his book) and the beginnings of a betting company.
On the other hand however, this is a book about a man that just so happens to know Sting, and as such is more of an account of his life than anything else. I believe he has just re-released this book with the title: Sting and I (don’t hold me to this information, I’m not sure if it’s been revised or is completely new) stating the book is about a man that knows Sting. This of course is the perfect way to describe this particular book, whereas the cover of this one calls it a biography, which is a title that I don’t think that it really deserves.
On the whole, once you get past the fact that a lot of the later parts of the book are Berryman rabbiting on about his financial woes, this book is a charming, witty portrail of a rather elusive pop megastar, showing a side to him that you might not even find in his own memoir: Broken Music.
If you want to know about Sting then read Broken Music, however if you don’t mind having a laugh at his expense, then A Sting in the tale is the book for you.
November 4, 2024
Sting as see by his friend
The factual side of this book was interesting, having liked sting and the police many years, but in my .mind it should have deeper than it was, and less rambling on about all manner of other things n people. I would have liked to have known more about sting or Gordon Sumner, his life as he grew up, his family home, if he ever had children. His Mam and Dad and sisters or brothers, relatives. Crowd's reaction was as he became more famous and popular . I would say this book is really not as good or up to the standard it should and could have been.
The factual side of this book was interesting, having liked sting and the police many years, but in my .mind it should have deeper than it was, and less rambling on about all manner of other things n people. I would have liked to have known more about sting or Gordon Sumner, his life as he grew up, his family home, if he ever had children. His Mam and Dad and sisters or brothers, relatives. Crowd's reaction was as he became more famous and popular . I would say this book is really not as good or up to the standard it should and could have been.
March 30, 2026
What an awful piece...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews