Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys Hardcover – October 11, 2016

I found this a highly enjoyable book. It doesn't go too deeply into details about the making of The Cure's albums or insight into the songs, if that's what you're looking for. But what this book does is share Lol's life experiences, starting from his childhood. It's extremely vulnerable and heartfelt. I enjoyed the casual conversational tone that he keeps consistent throughout. It felt like Lol and I were hanging out in person. My biggest accolade goes to the fact that he's very honest, even at the expense of not making himself look too good all of the time. It's a journey through life's struggles and losses, achievements and joys. And in the end, it's a book about redemption. It's about looking back at your life, about what you find when you acknowledge your failures as your own responsibilities, and what you find about yourself then. It was more than one of those stories about an ex-alcoholic who figured out his way in life by quitting the bottle - but what he finds can be applied to all of us, even those who aren't ex-alcoholics.Additionally, I enjoyed that while telling the many stories he shares of The Cure's early tours, Lol often quickly frames events with a bit of social, political, and/or economic history. It helped greatly to understand the worldview of a specific time and place. The anecdotes of youthful debauchery were also fun; they weren't generic (as in roll my eyes because ugh it's the same old rock band story in every rock band book), yet at the same time very relatable. I found myself laughing out loud when he'd remind me of the silly things my friends and I used to do when we were kids.Being that this book is about TWO imaginary boys, it's also a reflection on the complexities of the relationships between people. It delves quite deeply into Lol's friendship with Robert. Sometimes it did feel like Lol talks more about Robert than he does about himself, but I think by talking about Robert so much, he actually reveals a lot about the kind of person that he is. When he's not battling his demons, he's extremely observant, very much in tune with his surroundings without needing to be in the spotlight all of the time, and a very loyal friend. I was so impressed by the amount of respect and trust he had for his friend Robert, and when he notices the good in people, it never comes across as being fake. Sometimes I read memoirs by people I like, that unfortunately leaves me with a less than stellar impression and makes me like them less. This book was quite the opposite. The Cure is one of my most favorite bands ever, but I never cared TOO much about Lol. However, this book really changed my impression and made me like him a lot more.

Cured is a unique and eye-opening account of the band's earliest years, life on tour, and Lol's own disintegration into alcoholism. Surprisingly well written and captivating, and with beautiful cover art designed by former band member Pearl Thompson, the book reads as a conversation with an old friend. I found myself laughing, smiling, and even crying as I read Lol's version of events. My heart breaks for little Lol growing up with a distant father. I feel his teenage angst as he describes the desire to escape his dismal surroundings and carve out a space for himself in the fascinating world of rock and roll. And I ache when I read how it felt for him to have been pushed out of the band when alcoholism got the best of him. The real triumph of this story comes in the form of his inspirational journey back from destruction. For years we fans have heard the rumors, seen the mockery that has been made of Lol, and wondered how it all truly went down. Tolhurst proves, much to our delight, that things are never so one-sided. A must read for any die-hard fan, this remarkably personal look into his life will turn you into a Lol Tolhurst fan if you're not already.

I enjoyed Lol’s memoir for the most part. His writing style is good, and I managed to finish the book in just two days. In it, you’ll find lots of interesting, occasionally funny, tidbits about The Cure’s history, like the Billy Idol toilet incident, or he and Robert’s constant altercations with skinheads. Lol does a good job setting up a dynamic between him and Robert- one of best friendship, followed by a bitter sacking and lawsuit, and ultimately reconciliation after Lol recovered from his crippling alcoholism.The reason I have to deduct a star is that Lol's recounting of 1985-1989 seems insufficiently thorough. This can be blamed in part on Lol’s out-of-control alcoholism and diminishing role in the band, but there are three omissions I find particularly odd. First, while Lol discusses songs like Killing An Arab, Let's Go To Bed, The Walk, and Love Cats at length, he has nothing to say about any of the prolific songs which emerged during the 1985-1989 period like Inbetween Days, Close To Me, Just Like Heaven, or Lovesong, let alone the colorful videos Tim Pope made for Close To Me and Why Can’t I Be You? He mentions Robert's room catching fire during the Disintegration sessions, but stops just short of saying this was the inspiration for Pictures Of You. Nor does Lol state which of his, albeit few, ideas made it to the Disintegration album (Homesick is rumored to stem from one of his demos). Second, Lol doesn’t even mention Roger O’Donnell (“a midterm addition to the band”) until the book’s last chapter on the 2011 Reflections shows. In reality, Roger joined in 1987 because of Lol’s incompetence, and even filled in for Lol at shows where he was too drunk to perform. Third, I’ve read many articles describing Lol as the butt of vicious abuse by other band members in the late 80s- Robert even penned Shiver and Shake and Babble about him. Lol has nothing to say about this either.That being said, do get this book if you’re a Cure fan, because you’ll probably learn something. I emerged with a newfound respect for both Robert and Lol. Robert, the enigmatic figure who’s “part of this world and also not part of it,” and someone who fought hard for his success, as well as Lol’s protection. Lol, someone who while not very technically proficient, served as the band’s “X Factor,” and likely kept Robert from disbanding The Cure altogether circa 1983/84.

A good read for all Cure fans, although perhaps a bit brief. Lol starts off with details of his upbringing, fractured relationship with his alcoholic father, and life in the stifling suburbs, and the escape route that music brought uplifting.His friendship, fallout and redemption with Robert Smith is the central tenet of the book. His affection for RS shines through. Tales of scrapes, booze and rock and roll excess are covered, though there scope for more depth.Having read this off the back of Peter Hook's substance, which went into the minutiae of each album, gig and so on, made me want to know more about what happened during Lol's time in The Cure.His honesty and openness in coming to terms with his alcohol problems was touching. The acknowledgement of stupid decisions such as the court case with Robert Smith refreshing.At times the book is a little twee (perhaps too many references to Imaginary Boys). As a fan of the band who has every album and seen them first in concert in 1979 I'm glad that he's written the book and more importantly that Lol has found peace and happiness without a bottle.A good good read, I just wish there had been a bit more content.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a cracking read - very well written and with plenty of interesting recollections. Fans of The Cure (including myself!) will love it. There's clearly the mother of all bromances between the author and the legendary Robert Smith - it's akin to that between Laurel & Hardy! It's all pretty candid and better than your standard rock star book. Where it fell short, in my eyes, is that there's not enough about what matters most - the songs. I wanted to know how a band that came up with "Bananafishbones" or "Shake Dog Shake" could also devise "Just Like Heaven" or "Friday I'm In Love" - it's a bit like Camila Cabello following "Havana" with "Thunderstruck" or "Ace of Spades"! This eclectic genius, though, is one of the many facets which makes The Cure such a great group - I guess we can only hope Mr. Smith one day shares his own visionary thoughts with the post-pandemic world...

I have been a rabid fan of The Cure since only last year, 2019, when I discovered there was much more to the band than their most famous commercial hits like In Between Days, Close to Me, Friday I'm in Love and many others. Going through and discovering their back catalogue of their late 70's beginnings and subsequent early 80's classic albums, their mid 80's transitional period, their true greatness in albums like The Head on the Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Disintegration and Wish, their frequent shifts between band members who joined, left, then came back again, others who were there for a while then left for good, the diversification of their music encompassing post punk, alternative rock, pop, sensitive melodic ballads and even a little jazz, their very humble backgrounds of middle class suburban young men who morphed into very individual artistic personalities that embodied the whole gamut of human emotion in their work and grew to appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds from countries all over the world from Europe to the Americas to Australia....all this totally fascinated and stunned me and eventually led me to purchase founder member and drummer/keyboardist Lol Tolhurst's book Cured which encompasses the whole story from the very beginnings through all the first tumultuous decade of the band and beyond up to the writing of this book in 2015. But this is not only a written record of the band's experiences during the late 70s up to the late 80's during which Lol was a member of the band. It is a very humane, sensitive, emotional and intelligent telling of a very personal story of a young boy who suffered loneliness and the problems of having an alcoholic father to discovering his love of books and music as his solace to making friends with schoolmate and musical soulmate Robert Smith (who is an essential factor of the book) and later with Michael Dempsey (who formed the first real band The Cure which had morphed out of their very early schoolfriend bands Malice and Easy Cure); to being introduced to alcohol at the age of 13; to the first teenage experiences of meeting girls and falling in love; to the early tragic death of his mother whilst touring in 1981 and enjoying the first great successes with the band; to the dark shadows of his increasing alcoholism which takes up huge chunks of the book as Lol struggles hopelessly to get out of the hole he was digging and subsequently finding himself getting more and more out of control, ending up being discovered by the police and put in a prison cell (though only for a night); the added feelings of helplessness and hopelessness which seriously affected his musical career, causing problems during recording and touring which broke down the close relationship he had with Robert and with the rest of the band members which were his second family; to his leaving the band during the late 80's in acrimonious circumstances; to his futile experience of taking the band to Court after seeking help for his alcoholism; to the death of his first newborn daughter after living for just a few days and the breakdown of his first marriage which had always been a troubled relationship; to his subsequent financial problems; to his relocation to the USA for good; to the desperate emotions of severe depression as his whole life broke down; to his eventual spiritual salvation in the American desert location of Death Valley; to his meeting the love of his life, his second wife Cindy; to the chance to be a good father and have a close relationship with his son Gray (from his first marriage) and to the subsequent reinvention of himself as a contented man with peace in his heart and a great desire to put all the bad experiences of the past behind him and reconcile with the people whom he had hurt with his former behaviour and who had meant so much to him, which meant Robert and the rest of The Cure, to such an extent that he performed live on stage with them again in 2011, 25 years after he had left the band for good. It is an incredible story and one with which many people who have struggled to fight the demons in their own life can truly engage and empathise with. Lol has a great gift of describing the atmosphere of a pub, town, concert venue, country, human beings and above all genuine emotions in just a few words and sentences written in very erudite, expressive and intelligent English. He is economical and yet all encompassing and that has been one of the wonders of the book for me. It gave me much more than I originally expected. Lol also gives a no holds barred description of what it was like growing up in suburban England in the 1970's - the dullness and boredom, the underlying resentment of the adults living there, the endless grey clouds and rain of typical English weather which only added to the drabness and sadness of the environment, the unemployment which led to a social atmosphere of restlessness, endless drinking and violence which Lol and his friends/bandmates encountered everywhere they went in their home country and the politics of those times so in this sense he gives a very clear social picture of the era he was born into and brought up. This characteristic of the book continues in Lol's descriptions of the first European cities the band visited on their tours outside of the UK - Holland (where the naivety of the band members and their crew and friends was put to the test), France (whose food and climate he thoroughly enjoyed), the USA (New York which he disliked and Los Angeles which he loved), Germany (especially Berlin and the division of the Wall), Greece (where he witnessed first hand the violence that could erupt during large concerts), Argentina (which had a similar atmosphere due to the underlying tensions that still existed a couple of years after the demise of the military dictatorship that had dominated the country during the late 70's and early 80's) and Brazil (where he discovered a special tropical alcoholic drink which in his words proved "lethal"). There are several humorous and funny anecdotes of experiences that the guys went through during their innumerable live concerts in the UK and abroad which are related with a sarcasm and wit that is consistently enjoyable. These stories provide a foil to the ongoing tragedy of Lol's young life in his 20's and 30's when he had to cope with early family loss and his increasing alcoholism so the gamut of life and human experience is tackled, against a background of continuing and increasing success in his musical career. Lol demonstrates great affection for the many fans of The Cure, which are part of the band "family", and great admiration for Robert Smith, who he has watched grow from a young schoolboy, to a teenager with a weird sense of dress and a desire to escape from the drab surroundings of their hometown and an uninspiring future that society at the time offered to young men and achieve something worthwhile with the art that he loved, to a true musical master and genius, leading his band on a unique musical journey that has hypnotised countless generations of fans, creating a unique visual image of himself which is thoroughly individual and original and has stood the test of time, being consistent in his own life and music philosophy while proving willing to reinvent the musical style of the band to appeal to as many different emotions as possible, to an older man and generous entertainer who remained touring regularly with the band and performing live at various music festivals well into his middle age and up to the present and the cusp of old age , thus introducing the 40 year catalogue of Cure music to whole new generations of musical admirers. Of course, the best part of this book is that it has a happy ending and the final chapters, dealing with the reinvention of his life after freeing himself psychologically from all that he had been through, starting a new life with his beloved Cindy and Gray, his reconciliation with Robert and the exhilaration of performing live again with The Cure, and his realisation that the band would always be an essential part of his life and the greatest gift that had been given to him, really leave you on a high! I highly recommend this very special book not only for Cure fans but in general as a hugely intelligent read which is a veritable lesson of life.

I highly recommend this book. Writes the story of The Cure without being bitter or angry at what has happened in the past. Lol realizes and admits his own mistakes without denigrate his bandmates. It is a story of friendship who overcame many difficulties, and of Lol`s contribution to that The Cure became such a fantastic band. Run for it!

Great book. Wish it had been more in-depth about the music but it's quite endearing (a little tragic at times) and is a good companion to the music. It would be interesting to have Robert Smith's version as a companion work and the picture would be complete. Very enjoyable book for those who were fans of the early and golden years.