Rating: 
Summary: Ray is the one to read!
Review: Best Autobiography I ever read! Way more fun to read than a typical, "I was born to a poor immigrant couple back in..." bio. I read "Kink" and as much of a Kinks fan as I am, I couldn't wait for it to end. It was funny and interesting at times but I got sick of Dave Davies preachin' and ended up throwing the book across the room. I reluctantly read "X-Ray" while babysitting my little cousins. I was afraid it was going to be like his brother's and was quickly shocked and pleased by what I read. I thank the insane Kinks fan at Borders who wouldn't let me leave until I ordered it.
Rating:
Summary: Ray is the one to read!
Review: Best Autobiography I ever read! Way more fun to read than a typical, "I was born to a poor immigrant couple back in..." bio. I read "Kink" and as much of a Kinks fan as I am, I couldn't wait for it to end. It was funny and interesting at times but I got sick of Dave Davies preachin' and ended up throwing the book across the room. I reluctantly read "X-Ray" while babysitting my little cousins. I was afraid it was going to be like his brother's and was quickly shocked and pleased by what I read. I thank the insane Kinks fan at Borders who wouldn't let me leave until I ordered it.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly well written!
Review: Considering that he is, in my humble opinion, one of the finest writers of his generation, I knew it would be good, but it blew me away. Definitely not your run of the mill autobiography, and although people who aren't Kinks fans might miss out on some of the references, he tells a wonderful story. A must for any Kinks fan!
Rating: 
Summary: An educational experience; it only finished too soon.
Review: Fantastic! I managed to be reading this history while I was travelling around England. It was an educational experience to be reading of Ray's youthful adventures while sitting on a parkbench in Hamstead Heath. I searched out the many clubs and pubs that hosted Ray's early encounters with the Beatles, the Stones, and the Who. I lunched in High Gate and wandered over Muswell Hill, all the while thinking about the Kinks early adventures and travels. The book is a great reading of the way Ray remembers his past. It may not be accurate, but it fulfills the romantic beliefs of any fan.
Rating: 
Summary: good songs, bad book
Review: I have been a Kinks fan for decades. Ray Davies is a wonderful songwriter -- God bless him. This is also one of the WORST books I have ever read. Self-pitying, self-indulgent ... awful. A monstrous ego must be necessary for success in the vicious world of pop music, but it shouldn't be shown in public. Buy a few Kinks CD's and enjoy yourself, or buy this book and suffer.
Rating:
Summary: Ray, you really got me!!!
Review: I should point out that Ray Davies is a bit of a hero of mine. His insight into the day-to-day lives of the people around him along combined with his songwriting prowess and his unique brand of cynical wit makes him the sort of person I would just love to emulate. So it is fitting that his autobiography 'X-Ray' should contain all these qualities. Not only that, but his refusal to conform with what is popularly received as 'the norm' has resulted in a book that, intentionally or otherwise, finds itself so far removed from the usual rock biography that it comes close to becoming as much a work of art as his songs. The story is told through the narrative of an unnamed 19-year-old journalist some years into the future. He is employed by his bosses, known only to us as 'The Corporation', to write an article about the life of Raymond Douglas Davies, now a wizened old recluse. As Davies relates his tales of family life, early fame, disillusionment of authority and the music industry, and coming face-to-face with depression and despair, the narrator becomes aware of Davies' obsession of playing mind games, and as such, we are left guessing as to what may be, and what may not be the whole truth. As a devoted Kinks fan, it is truly compulsive reading, one of the best books I have ever read. But for those unfortunate enough not to be initiated into the band's work, the imagination and often thought-provoking images and scenarios that this book conjures up, along with a constant stream of humour and light-hearted quips, should mean it appeals to anyone intelligent (and cynical) enough to comprehend Davies' viewpoint.
Rating:
Summary: If you like the KINKS, you might enjoy this.
Review: If you like the KINKS, or the music and talent of Ray Davies, leader of the Rock group the KINKS, you might enjoy the sometimes hard-to-follow ramblings of this book.
The book is cleverly written as a biography told by one Raymond Douglas (Davies) of himself as told to a young man investigating Davies for his employer. The young man is employed by the "corporation" - a not-so-subtle reference to the Music Industry. Davies obviously has alot of resentment of the industry, and details the troubles he and the rest of the KINKS encountered in their 30-year career.
An enjoyable read without the "kiss and tell" of most rock autobiographies.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: It took only five days to get to Spain and it's like new. Fine.
Rating: 
Summary: Add 2 stars if you're a Kinks fan
Review: Kinks fans will love this. But I would have preferred to hear Ray's account of the Kinks' history without the Orwellian structure in which an older Ray recounts the tales to a younger Ray. Also, unlike Dave Davies's "Kink", this book stops short of telling the whole history . . . as though the Kinks ended sometime in the early 1970s. We never get to hear Ray's account of his relationship with Chrissie Hynde, his battles with Dave, and so much more. This book begs for a sequel which is more straightforward and tells the whole story rather than hiding behind a fictional framework.
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal Subversive Welshman
Review: Perhaps you had to be there, but in a certain state of mind it becomes easy to track the underneath parts of this Sorcerer Kink's little ditty, and it's not so much about what it appears to be about, me thinks.What, is it a Welsh thing? Davies nearly outdoes Geoffrey of Monmouth, and who knows, maybe he's talking about the same thing. I read Davies' book on a trip to Mexico, accidentally, starting right after I spent a few minutes staring at the night ocean wondering how much effort it would take to conjure a red dragon. The day I arrived home, I serendipitously saw Davies was in town for a concert that night, got a ticket, arrived late and as the theater attendant with a flashlight was seating me, Ray looked up from the stage and waved. Yikes. Read this one with your senses open, your antennae up and a fresh drink nearby... the ice will definitely melt.
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