'Cured' Memoir of The Cure Goes Sky High, Hits Rock Bottom, Finds Perfect Equilibrium

The rock 'n' roll memoir is not a genre typically known for its subtlety. The most popular memoirs tend to revel in the sex and the drugs and the ridiculousness of a given time in a band's life, anecdote after anecdote forcing the reader to wonder at the marvel of the human body's ability to survive horrendous and constant abuse. Despite the presence of these elements in Lol Tolhurst's memoir of the first ten years or so of The Cure, they are not the focus. Tolhurst is not interested in reveling in the excesses of the past; rather, he is shamed by them. By shifting the focus from what happened to who it happened to, Tolhurst crafts a memoir that is actually refreshing in its honesty and satisfying in its resolution.

The book is called Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys. The "imaginary boys" of the title are, of course, Tolhurst himself and Robert Smith, force of nature and frontman for The Cure. The book hinges on Tolhurst and Smith's relationship with one another, and how.

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