Review by: Oli Saunders
I stumbled across this book in the Punker Bunker last Saturday and bought it on a bit of a whim. I loved reading both Evasion and The Avow Anthology a few years back and this looked along similar lines. I was right. The book tells the story of Chris Johnson of Plan-It-X records and the amazing adventures he’s been on. It’s about discovering punk, starting bands and a label. It’s about making friendships and losing friendships, running scams to get free pizza, living in a van or shop or wherever. And mostly, it’s about his best friend Sam/Samantha who has a big part to play in most of these adventures and his life.
‘Free Pizza For Life’ transpires to be largely dedicated to Sam. The things they get up to are pretty eye opening and often hilarious. The honesty of the author shines through throughout. Highlights include the scams on Mad Mushroom Pizza and, later, Chris working at Rockitt’s Famous Pizza. Harder reading includes Sam’s letters from jail and his mental health problems. The book ends abruptly and sadly, not unlike the The Grass Arena which is another autobiography favourite of mine about a homeless alcoholic who discovers a talent for chess in prison. Still, Plan-It-X continues to this day with a fantastic ethos and it’s nice to see that Secret Sailor is running as part of this community, releasing books. Highly recommended.
19th December 2014