For most of this ambitious book, Davies’s bold tell-all policy makes for moving and compelling reading. He has gone so much further than most: taken off his clothes, walked right to the end of the wubbering gangplank, stood there shivering for all to see. And although, finally, he fails to take the plunge, A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself is still admirable for the brave new things it has to say about shame, regret, fatherhood and love.