ONE Smiths or Moz book...which should I buy?

[FallOfFingolfin]

Hello all,

Going on a cruise next week, and I'd like to take a break from all the Nick Hornby for a while and try a Smiths/Moz book. Is Severed Alliance the best, or are there any other suggestions?

 

[Practising Troublemaker]

Hello all,

Going on a cruise next week, and I'd like to take a break from all the Nick Hornby for a while and try a Smiths/Moz book. Is Severed Alliance the best, or are there any other suggestions?

I enjoyed Severed Alliance, it is long enough to last you some time too. I would recommend that one to be honest.

Love PTxx.

 

[Worm]

Hello all,

Going on a cruise next week, and I'd like to take a break from all the Nick Hornby for a while and try a Smiths/Moz book. Is Severed Alliance the best, or are there any other suggestions?

I rate The Severed Alliance very highly, but for me the best book to buy is Simon Goddard's The Songs That Saved Your Life. It's the best, clearest, most relevant collection of information.

Len Brown's new book of interviews is also great.

(I'd recommend my favorite books of all, "Those Charming Men" Parts 1 and 2, which collect all the music weekly articles from 1983-1987, but those are out of print.)

 

[Uncleskinny]

Songs That Saved Your Life, the second edition with the Amanda Malone stuff in. Oh, if you can wait a month or two, The Mozipedia, also by Simon Goddard promises to have everything you ever wanted to know about The Smiths and Morrissey.

Peter

 

[yesitis]

(I'd recommend my favorite books of all, "Those Charming Men" Parts 1 and 2, which collect all the music weekly articles from 1983-1987, but those are out of print.)

i didn't know such things existed. do they ever pop up on ebay?

i probably should have checked before asking. too steep for me right now though.

 

[One of your children]

Morrissey in conversation is a lite read and u get to read some funny quotes and answers to the questions i found it hard to put it down!

 

[Worm]

i didn't know such things existed. do they ever pop up on ebay?

Not very often. You can see scans of the covers here at (where else?) Passions:

Scroll down a bit to find Those Charming Men

You can of course read the text of all the articles online, they're just scattered about. The enjoyment of the books is that they are photocopied from actual editions of the NME, etc. The archivist(s) also included small bits like ads for gigs and new singles. The look is black and white, grainy, and cut-up, very DIY, but the two volumes are treasures if you love both The Smiths and the weekly papers.

 

[Interesting Thug]

Saint Morrissey

 

[VIVALaMorrissey]

The Wrong Boy is a very good Smiths related book
Written by Willy Russel the play write

 

[No Place Like Rome]

Hello all,

Going on a cruise next week, and I'd like to take a break from all the Nick Hornby for a while and try a Smiths/Moz book. Is Severed Alliance the best, or are there any other suggestions?

Whatever you do, do not buy morrissey's manchester. Should curiosity get the better of you, steal it from empire in manchesteer.

 

[Jukebox Jury]

The Wrong Boy is a very good Smiths related book
Written by Willy Russel the play write

I was just going to say the same thing...... 'Songs That Saved Your Life' is an excellent book, but not one to read all in one go.... way to heavy..... I love dipping in and out when listening to a song or doing a bit of research. Severed Alliance has that same feel for me too.

The Wrong Boy is definately a holiday book to take and enjoy, it's the only book I've ever read twice (with a six year gap in between).

Failing that, I hear ''Morrissey's Manchester'' 2nd edition is quite good

Jukebox Jury

 

[JulieDurham]

What about 'Meeting Morrissey'?

 

[ganglord in ny]

Songs That Saved Your Life

 

[mozza5426]

For me Simon Goddards 'songs that saved your life'. It is full of information about how all the songs were written as well as what was happening around the time of when songs were written. It goes into good depth of the bands unity during different periods, as well as a better written theory behind the bands demise in my opinion, compared with Severed alliance.

 

[sistasheila]

for a cruise/ short holiday the severed alliance might not be the best choice..the lengths on irish history and the detailed life of moz`s teachers i found a bit tiring to say the least,,,so even though its a "must read " its not a book for reading inbetween..in my opinion
.
.i found morrissey`s interviews wonderful,, witty, charming. and a joy to read
.i havent read "MORRISSEY IN CONVERSATION"which includes several interviews over the years
but some of them printed in there i have read already(online),so def you cant go wrong with that
.otherwise i like simon goddards book ..concentrates on the music and how it was created, the studio situation etc like the very last session etc
and not on the personof morrissey
lots of people have written about him..i personally found mark simpsons(saint morrissey) style quite entertaining and its a good book for inbetween , check out his blog...
i havent read the new book by len brown on moz but its very good ive heard

 

[marred]

Peepholism

lots of pics and very few words. Just my type

 

[Emotional Guide Dog]

What?!

The Wrong Boy is the most depressing novel I've ever read in my entire life.

Can anyone recommend Johnny Rogan's 'Morrissey: The Albums?

I can

 

[Oh my god. it's Robby!]

good thread topic
and i even enjoyed some of your anwsers

 

[Mozzer's Left Eyebrow]

What?!

The Wrong Boy is the most depressing novel I've ever read in my entire life.

Can anyone recommend Johnny Rogan's 'Morrissey: The Albums?

I can

Yeah, The Albums is really great as long as you can listen to the albums at the same time otherwise it's just frustrating. Severed Alliance is good too, but you feel like you're doing GCSE Moz studies at times (I wish that had been available when I was 15).

I like Morrissey In His Own Words, you can just dip in and out of it at will and it's dead funny too.