Every now and again you come across a book that has a profound impact on how you view the world and the people around you. For better or for worse, what's written on pages has the potential to have a serious impact past the realm of mere entertainment. Those kind of books are rarely, if ever, sporting autobiographies.
Don't get us wrong, we love hearing the tidbits that were covered up during a player's prime but more often than not, those stories are hidden deep in a pile of bland nothingness. The sporting autobiography has become another cash cow that has been bled dry long ago.
However, sometimes you do get an autobiography that would have been worthy of publication at a time when the idea of James McClean's memoirs would have been laughed out of town.
In other words, you get an autobiography from someone who deserves to write an autobiography. However, that's not to say worthiness is the only mark of a great memoir. Roy Keane is certainly worthy, but the problem is, you know exactly what you're going to get when you pick up a copy of one of his books.
The same can't be said of Brian O'Driscoll. The former Ireland captain has a near impossibly clean cut persona for someone of such standing. That takes an awful lot of work to develop and maintain. No matter what anyone might profess, we're all human and the cleaner someone looks, the easier it is to make a slight smudge look very dirty.
Of course, that's not to say O'Driscoll has dirt to hide. However, if the extracts published in today's Sunday Times are anything to go by, he certainly has stories to tell.
Reading the extracts, it's clear to see how much the untimely death of his close friend affected him in 2008. That was followed by a jaunt to New York which was designed to help him and some friends move on. It certainly allowed him to forget about his grief for a short time but for all the wrong reasons.
Up in front of a New York judge after a wrongful arrest for assault and what looked like a possible conviction is not what Ireland has come to expect of Brian O'Driscoll, the family man and rugby hero.
That is certainly not vilifying him for being in the situation, far from it. Instead, the fact that he managed to keep it under wraps is credit to the man. There's not too many people in the spotlight who have the ability to surprise the public by revealing a previously unknown side of themselves.
Obviously, there's no requirement for anyone to do such a thing but if you're going to release an autobiography, at least make it a worthwhile read. With the snippets released so far, it looks as Brian O'Driscoll has done exactly that.
You can see the full four page extract in today's Sunday Times by subscribing here.
