Living in the States, I find it next to impossible to get my hands on any legitimate news or information about Robbie Williams. Only recently a fan, I have been fascinated by his on-stage presence and consequently curious to discover what he's really all about. 'Somebody Someday' I don't think was ever intended to be a full-fledged biography. It is rather a running commentary by journalist Mark McCrum who joined Williams on his European 'Sermon On the Mount' tour from late 2000 thru early 2001. In truth, for all practical purposes it is quite simply the literary companion to the video documentary for those same shows, entitled 'Nobody Someday.' Therefore, although it provides occasional vignettes about Robbie's past as well as those of his crew and managers, it is more a description of the events surrounding the tour, not an comprehensive analysis of the star.
The book is more reactive than insightful, but that is for the better: there are few if any platitudes and virtually no excuses for what the author witnesses. The narrative also moves quickly and is so true to what occurred that I actually began to feel the rigors of the hectic schedule myself. To that end, there are vivid portraits of just how unglamorous life 'on the road' can be, despite the girls, the glitz and the excitement (including the life-threatening incident in which Williams is thrown off stage by a crazed German fan). The author occasionally splices in bits from his interviews with Robbie, but this is primarily a shot of the megastar in the moment. Given that the tour coincided with yet another attempt by Williams to swear off drugs and alcohol, there are no descriptions of debauchery or outlandish public displays that were known to characterize other times in his life. If anything, after the author briefly recounts some regrettable incidents in the past, you hear how Robbie is successfully fighting to stay sober. In fact, that item is part of a larger underlying theme that slowly emerges: it is that Williams is coming of age. Starting out with a show for a German Bank group in London, he is cynical and frustrated, but by tour's end, he has become less troubled, more grateful for his good fortune, and more enthusiastic about being a performer. He can more easily reconcile Rob, the private person, with Robbie, the musical celebrity. However contrived that transformation may have been, McCrum seems to provide his honest impressions of it. For a guy like me who knew virtually nothing about Robbie Williams two months ago, the book also serves as a practical introduction to the pop phenomenon (note: before March 2004, I had never heard of Robbie Williams or Take That or Rock DJ -get the picture?). This work doesn't answer all the questions, but I recommend it if you want to begin to become familiar with the enigmatic performer who is number one in the world outside the US. Having done that, I submit that you'll discover that you still don't know him at all.
