His book - how sad

[Playcat2000]

Not really. Just not one long, tiresome whine. You must have got sick of the court stuff. I suppose it was funny in the end - blaming Joyce's lawyer, then Marr's, then Weeks, then his own lawyers and then going for an appeal and yet again choosing inept lawyers yet again - Morrissey...you have some blame there. I loved the School stuff but post Smiths it was whine after whine, often with little substance. As I said I have been following his music since seeing the Smiths in '84 and really wasn't expecting such a dull read. I'm just expressing disappointment. If that annoys you don't respond. As I said some 'heroes' don't disappoint you - Neil Young, for example. But Mozzer has disappointed me and I was expecting it.

Then there’s nothing left to say. Except for how much that must suck for you.

 

[Velvis]

Mozzer has disappointed me and I was expecting it.

Sounds to me as if you would have been disappointed not to have been disappointed. I'm not disappointed... I can tell that you do have genuine feelings here but come on... if you are as tuned-in to Morrissey as you claim then you should have known that he was going to put his side of the story. He feels he has been wronged - that wasn't exactly a secret. I'm with playcat here who basically said 'What did you expect?'

I actually got more than I was expecting! The beautiful poetic early chapters then to get the low-down on his feelings for Jake, the hilarious stuff about Siouxsie... brilliant. Incidentally I do actually feel quite sorry for Geoff Travis, the Rough Trade man, he got quite a severe and relentless bashing which was a bit over the top, in my opinion, but whatever, it was all juicy stuff. So come on... get real... up until a few weeks ago we didn't even know this book even existed. Never mind a Penguin Classic!

 

[Girlmostlikely]

I love Morrissey even more after reading the book. I do. I know this sounds like the ultimate butt-kisser statement but that's really not the case.

I never thought Morrissey was perfect or even close. There are many aspects of his personality (as I have seen it) that I don't care for. This however is no different than anyone I love in "real life". No one's perfect. I don't need Morrissey to be. He is endlessly interesting to me. I have never tired of his music. I have loved many artists and bands and many come and go from my interest or at least there is an ebb and flow of my intensity. With Morrissey it is different. Once I got into him there was no turning back. I know it's cliched with Moz/The Smiths but the music has been there for me through many phases of my life and times I though would never lift.

Reading Autobiography was an unexpectedly emotional experience for me. I felt like Morrissey was in the room with me and it was almost too much. It's kind of embarrassing to admit, really. After reading the book I feel "closer" to Morrissey. I appreciate his candor, as frustratingly limited as it was. I appreciate the book. I appreciate Morrissey...even if he can be a big bitch

 

[Charlie Cheswick]

This is the most pitiful thing I have read on these forums. I am not kidding. In other words, in order to be a happy, successful fan, you must leave your critical thinking skills at the door.

f*** off you pompous old windbag. Let's be straight, if you were half as smart as you think you are you wouldn't spend every single moment of your life on here. Pathetic.

 

[Peterb]

I love, adore and understand him. He can do no wrong in my eyes. I have always been and am still completely devoted to him. I can’t go a day without his voice haunting me. You can puke now.

Playcat, I respect you and what you say.
Thank you for addressing my question. I was unsure whether to ask as the internet
can be a blunt instrument for conveying nuances but I thought, well if I was sitting with with Playcat
over a coffee and danish I would ask the question so why not here.

- - - Updated - - -

Either you're being deliberately belligerent or a little dense, Peter. Surely, Morrissey's distinctiveness can't have escaped you entirely.

Good Lord! Lots and lots of artists are distinctive.

 

[realitybites]

f*** off you pompous old windbag. Let's be straight, if you were half as smart as you think you are you wouldn't spend every single moment of your life on here. Pathetic.

 

[the raytownian]

People seem to need gods and heroes for some reason. Too bad they can't seem to find the hero within themselves.

yeah, bro.

yeah.


someone give me thhis book for xmas anyway... i am a drunkard and spend all my money on wodka. who can afford books?!!!

 

[Anaesthesine]

John Lennon (the only other singer/songwriter who has had such an outsized impact on my life) has been characterized by his friends, family and peers as a miserable, angry, deeply insecure malcontent. His laziness was legendary. Still, he sang with conviction, passion and great vulnerability and, like Morrissey, he was sainted in his lifetime. Both men were able to plumb their depths and dredge up a kind of beauty that keeps us company in our darker moments. They shared the best of themselves in their work, and thank goodness. As Qvist pointed out, history shows that great art is often spun from mean stuff.

Still missing my point. In the book Morrissey comes over as whining, paranoid and delusional. It's everyone else's fault - Britain, America, Tony Blair, all the judges, all the Smiths, his lawyers, my lawyers. Yes, that's what we expect from curmudgeonly, old Mozzer. What I didn't expect was for him to be a whinging bore. His moaning was dull. For Morrissey being a bore is surely the biggest insult. I should have expected it after his increasingly desperate attempts too shock - the Royal Family, the Olympics. But I didn't expect to be bored by the man. Yes, he's human, yes, he's quite dull. All in all very disappointing.

I'm forced to agree with you (up to a point). I found the book to be an unexpectedly engaging read (given his rather reprehensible pronouncements of the last few years I was expecting far worse). I laughed out loud plenty of times and I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of his insights. The voice that come through was dry, wry and engaging, with a campy facade. However, the book truly is one long complaint - a Basil Fawlty-like shaking of the fist at the gods.

I was only bored by the court case, but all those pages of carefully-observed complaints do, ultimately, serve a purpose. As others have pointed out, a document presented at the appeals process does establish that there was, indeed, evidence of a preexisting contract (acknowledged by Mr. Joyce). I have it on good word from a legal eagle who had little previous interest in the court case that Morrissey did, in fact, present enough evidence to show that he was in the right (post facto unfortunately).

Ultimately Morrissey's somewhat ungenerous nature will probably be his undoing. Nonetheless, he's a singularly peculiar individual. I deeply respect the fact that all his eccentricities are utterly authentic.

 

[Anonymous]

Ultimately Morrissey's somewhat ungenerous nature will probably be his undoing. Nonetheless, he's a singularly peculiar individual. I deeply respect the fact that all his eccentricities are utterly authentic.

Very well put. Throughout the book he's as intriguing and interesting as ever - in different ways, rightly or wrongly.

The court case is undoubtedly a slog, however coming to the end of it I did feel that a very clear case was made for Moz being in the right (albeit through his own account of events). My interpretation is that the whole 50 page section is intended to illustrate the case being a huge leap in this lengthy journey of self development; him standing up where others didn't, taking the establishment on in their own back yard etc.

If it should take 50 pages to do that or 140 pages to get to his Smiths days is a question of editing the thing, not the skill with which he's written it.