Love him or loathe him, Gazza is a household name who will always receive attention wherever he goes. The press have had their share of stuff to say about him over the years but Gazza's "My Story" lifts the lid on his life and is told with (sometimes) painful honesty.
As you'd expect from Paul Gascoigne, there is lots of humour and funny tales..but behind the clowning around lies an Obsessive Compulsive person battling his fear of death and never quite finding peace within himself.
Despite being alchoholic, he admits he doesn't even like the taste of booze..being drunk merely numbed him..he lived for the highs on the football field and was one of the most naturally gifted footballers this country has seen in a long time.
But he could never handle the high publicity and fame and often played up to the Gazza image the public had of him. Determined not to let go, Gazza continued (until fairly recently) to still play at the highest level, despite a number of injuries and lack of pace with advancing years.
You get the feeling on reading this that his high publicity friendships did him no good at all - during times he needed stability and rest, he would do more and more daft things.
It's hard to understand this complex character entirely and at the end of the book, there are still many questions left unanswered.
But his story does serve as a good reminder to people like Wayne Rooney just how not to deal with new found fame..