Will Self review of Alexandra Palace

[lightupvirginmary]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/...ing%20Standard

This is such a lazy review- check the overuse of long words to conceal the fact he has knocked it up in ten minutes, the fact he thought the set started with 'you have killed me' (clearly when he arrived and stood at the back) and ended with 'how soon is now' (when he buggered back off to his mansion).

It is such an untruth that people only care when Moz plays Smiths songs; he has a solo career going back since the late eighties! It's just an insult.

'Balding heads' of the audience is a load of crap; it was a real mixed bunch. A girl next to me didn't even know what 'Still Ill' was!

It is offensive to say Morrissey only has fans that liked the Smiths, personally I prefer Morrissey solo and the sales of YATQ and ROTT say otherwise.

Self is clearly hard of hearing.

[Danny]

Will Self is still smarting from that time he interviewed Morrissey, then turned up at his gig after and Moz didn't come out to have a pint with him.

[spleenhead]

He's a self-important w*nker! And it's spelt S-T-E-V-E-N!

[Worm]

I'm a fan of Self's, and this piece was sorely lacking his usual insight and wit. I'll chalk this one up to late show/early deadline. It reads like a rough draft written by a man fiddling with a Blackberry while on the run from muggers.

But, hey, it did have the virtue of including that wonderful "Brideshead Revisited" quotation.

Despite this misfire, I would encourage anyone with access to, uh, books to read Will Self's 1995 article about Morrissey, which has some fun little gems to go with the usual flaws. Self is definitely a fan.

Self is also a fine writer. As an American, I haven't witnessed his televised transformation into a Celebrity Intellectual. I scratch my head about comments referring to his blatant flogging of 'big words'-- in my experience he knows how to use them and use them well. For me he is still the brilliant narcotropic chronicler of modern anxiety in "The Quantity Theory of Insanity", "My Idea Of Fun", "Grey Area" and the fantastic hijacking of Wilde, "Dorian". Although he never quite surpasses his heroes, Burroughs and Ballard, his fiction and journalism-- and cartoons!-- are still unique pleasures in themselves.

[Orson Swells]

Well, I know two people who know Will Self. One says he's a nice guy. The other says he's a complete idiot: very pretentious and rude and self-important - he was a fan until he interviewed Will and now he can't stand him. So I don't know who to believe!

[Jones]

That bit about Brideshead made me laugh.

It's like he thought to himself, "now what can I say in this review to really piss Morrissey off. I know, I'll think of the gayest character that's ever been on telly and say Morrissey is just like him. That should do it".

[dazzak]

Bret Easton Ellis summed up Self perfectly when he said he tries to be too intelligent. He's still a very accomplished author. But, yes, this article is quite badly written.