Autobiography
-
-
4.3 • 156 Ratings
-
-
- $5.99
Publisher Description
“Spend the day in bed” with Autobiography by Morrissey, whose new album Low in High School is out November 17th
Steven Patrick Morrissey was born in Manchester on May 22nd 1959. Singer-songwriter and co-founder of the Smiths (1982–1987), Morrissey has been a solo artist for twenty-six years, during which time he has had three number 1 albums in England in three different decades.
Achieving eleven Top 10 albums (plus nine with the Smiths), his songs have been recorded by David Bowie, Nancy Sinatra, Marianne Faithfull, Chrissie Hynde, Thelma Houston, My Chemical Romance and Christy Moore, amongst others.
An animal protectionist, in 2006 Morrissey was voted the second greatest living British icon by viewers of the BBC, losing out to Sir David Attenborough. In 2007 Morrissey was voted the greatest northern male, past or present, in a nationwide newspaper poll. In 2012, Morrissey was awarded the Keys to the City of Tel-Aviv.
It has been said “Most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status that Morrissey has reached in his lifetime.”
Customer Reviews
A real beauty
Of course it’s a penguin classic! It’s so well-written and captivating. Morrissey is the best!
Frustratingly interesting
I am a big fan of Morrissey and The Smiths, as well as a die hard devotee of biographies, so was really looking forward to this book. Morrissey’s mastery of metaphors and imagery, which makes his songwriting so brilliant, unfortunately gets in the way of writing something like a biography. There are whole sections of the book where the style of writing is so tedious it borderlines on being unreadable. Obscure references abound, people in his life come and go with little or no context and topics pop up out of nowhere, like someone starting to tell a story in mid-sentence. One might imagine this is simply Morrissey’s unique voice and accept it for what it is, until one reaches the section of the book recounting the famous legal case between the members of The Smiths (which seemed to be as long or longer than his actual rememberances of the band itself). Here, Morrissey’s writing becomes very concrete and lawyer-sharp, making his tangential style in the rest of the book even more frustrating. Still, the book has more approachable and fascinating elements such as his musical influences and a precious few pages where he was more detalied about the recording of “Strangeways…”, the last studio album from The Smiths, and his touring as a solo artist. Overall, this is still an interesting read, but I found myself constantly wishing for more clarity in learning more about someone who is a fascinating person and a musical genius.
Understanding Morrissey
This book is great. I am a die hard fan, but even I can admit Mom can act aloof and diva-esque at times. I really think this book gives insight as to why Morrissey is the way he is. It actually makes me like him more after reading it.