Pete Doherty has announced that he is to publish his intimate diaries in March next year, through the Orion Publishing Group. Well, actually, despite the fact that the press event was described as an "important career announcement", Doherty, not surprisingly, didn't actually turn up to it to make the announcement, so really it was Orion's commissioning editor Ian Preece who revealed the news.
The book charts his rise to fame, his drug addiction and his relationship with supermodel Kate Moss. The aforementioned Preece explained: "From the early books a fascinating and very entertaining picture emerges of the young poet, broke in London, serving popcorn at the Prince Charles Cinema, dreaming of creating a band infused with the 'spirit of Albion'."
The book, consisting of 20 volumes (exercise books?) condensed into one hardback, includes drawings, photos, film reviews and poetry. Doherty, does, of course, have a previous record as something of a poet - the singer visited Russia on a British Council tour as a teenager, after winning a poetry competition. Preece told reporters: "Some of it is quite funny. But some of it is very, very dark. All of it is incredibly readable. It is intimate and honest stuff and a complete antidote to a lot of what you might have read about him."
On the Babyshambles frontman's no-show at the launch event, held at traditional Doherty hang-out, The Boogaloo pub in Highgate, Preece added: "It's probably because Holland v Argentina is on. That's rock n roll." Actually, it's football, but we see what he means.
A statement from Doherty himself read: "I am very happy to have a book coming out with Orion and to share a bookshelf with H G Wells, Ian Rankin and Stan Bowles. I've always wanted to have a book published and it's all very exciting for me personally."