The best recent celebrity memoirs: May 20 Along the Way (Simon & Schuster, £18.99) is an unusual two-ply memoir in which actors Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez take it in turns to tell their life stories. The epic ordeal of filming Apocalypse Now lies at the dark heart of this overlapping narrative, ending with a fight that was broken up by Marlon Brando. The result is both fascinating and moving. Carole King's A Natural Woman (Virago, £20) portrays its author as a daughter, mother, wife and activist. However, what makes this tapestry (the title of her record-breaking 1971 album) special is that King downplays her genius for songwriting - despite the fact that many of her songs - Will You Love Me Tomorrow, It Might As Well Rain Until September - have entered the public consciousness. King has made 25 solo albums. Tim Burgess and his band The Charlatans have had three chart-topping albums. Telling Stories (Penguin, £12.99) is an amusing account of how a boy from the Cheshire Plain grew up to live the rock "n" roll dream to the point where, blissed out on E, Madonna took one look at him and said something like: "Oh gross!" Tellingly, he can't remember the exact phrase. As a cruel talent show judge, Simon Cowell is well-known for leaving no turn unstoned. Tom Bower's Sweet Revenge (Faber, £18.99) claims to be an "intimate" life of the never-say-die pop music marketeer. But, shackled by its subject's co-operation, this bloated book turns out to be an enervating catalogue of small-screen meetings and tabloid affairs. The man behind the smirk and bad haircut remains a mystery. In When I Left Home (Perseus, £17.99) blues guitarist Buddy Guy appears to dictate his story to David Ritz. For hepcats only.