Boy George is getting personal about his life—again.
On Monday the website of People magazine shared an exclusive excerpt from the Culture Club frontman’s new book, Karma: My Autobiography. The book follows up on his 1995 memoir, Take It Like a Man, though George (born George O’Dowd) told the magazine that there’s room for still more storytelling. Karma, he said, is a more conversational take on his relationships, history of addiction, and role as an ’80s icon and LGBTQ+ standard-bearer.
“I’ve just stuck to things that I think were funny observations about meeting other people,” he said. “It’s just kind of more chatty—it’s not a history book.”
In the excerpt, George recalls his upbringing in southeast England, where his hot-tempered and abusive father was often at odds with his mother. He recalls one incident where his mother was cowering under a table, arguing with his father, who was holding knife.
“You would come home from school and almost feel the pain through the front door,” he writes. “Mum would be in her dressing gown and the milk would still be on the doorstep. I would say to Mum, ‘Why do you let him treat you like that, why don’t we leave?’ The few times Mum did leave and went to her mother’s in Birmingham, she was sent back the following day.”
Karma: My Autobiography will be published tomorrow by Mango Publishing. An audiobook, read by the author, will be released simultaneously.
Mark Athitakis is a journalist in Phoenix.
