"One Train Later" by Andy Summers

In addition to the "ADD" affliction mentioned in an earlier post I think I may have a tiny bit of obsessive-compulsive behavior as well.  I will go through stages when I "obsess" on a certain topic.  The most recent one has been the rock group the Police.  At the height of their success in the period 1980-1983 I was focused on my girlfriend, graduating from college, getting that first job and the early years of being married (to previously-mentioned girlfriend).  I was certainly aware of the Police through their big hits and their MTV videos but I can't say I was a big fan.  I'm not sure what kicked off the most recent interest, perhaps it was seeing one of those old videos, but in any event I started to look at them a little more closer; watching concert footage from the early 80s, footage from their reunion tour in the mid-2000's and various interviews they gave over the years.  All of that led me to this book, written by the lead guitarist.  It's the story of Andy Summers life growing up in Britain, getting involved in the music scene there, his struggles pre-Police, meeting Sting and Stuart Copeland, joining the band, and their enormous success.  He also details the growing tensions within the band and Sting's growing dominance over the decisions on what material would appear on the albums, but it's done in a non-accusing way.  It's not a gossip memoir, it was simply a "this is what happened".  This book was released prior to their reunion tour, so there's a "we never got closure" feeling at the end.  As Andy points out they were not "over the hill", they were not on their way out, Sting simply wanted to go off on his own so he did after a hugely successful tour in 1983 (I believe that Andy got his "closure" in the reunion tour, one of the most successful tours ever).  It's a very entertaining book written by an obviously talented individual (he's also a very skilled photographer) and I highly recommend it.  The part I liked best was what happened between him and his second wife.  They were married just prior to him joining the Police and they had a baby girl.  But the demands of being in the band...the tours to build their name recognition prior to their big success..and then the tours to promote their albums and meet the demands of their fans, put an understandable strain on the marriage.  He was away on tour all the time while she was a single mom.  Finally it reached the point where she couldn't deal with it anymore and divorced him.   In a recent interview he said the parting was on good terms, and they both agreed that it was important that he be allowed access to their daughter as she grew up.  That's exactly what happened, and by doing that the door between Andy and his ex-wife was left open a crack.  In 1986, three years after the Police break-up, four and a half years after their divorce, they reunited, remarried, had twin boys and moved to California.  And they've been together since.  A nice love story.