Rate this book

A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga Of The Smiths (2012)

by Tony Fletcher(Favorite Author)

4.02 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0307715957 (ISBN13: 9780307715951)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Crown Archetype

review 1: Great read if you're a Smiths fan, obviously. The author really gives you a comprehensive view of the band, especially the individual members' origins, including family history and even a history of Manchester itself. I was held in thrall throughout, not having been aware of all the particular details of how they came together and what broke them apart fairly early in their careers. I found myself reaching for my phone a lot to listen to a particular song as it was painstakingly described and analyzed, and it gave me a fresh perspective on the tunes I've come to know and love so much. Being a music layman, sometimes all the technical talk about how a particular effect was achieved on a certain song kind of went over my head, but it was interesting overall. The ending was a... more bit abrupt, though, and I didn't realize it was coming because I thought there were still quite a lot of pages left but it was all the footnotes, bibliography, acknowledgements, etc. I guess in that regard the ending of the book emulated the ending of the band.
review 2: To an adolescent stranded in the vast American Midwest, The Smiths were a beacon of light in the darkness. It was because of Morrissey's penetrating lyrics that I first read Keats & Yeats & Wilde. When the unenlightened used ugly epithets to denigrate my Mancunian heroes, I went into my room & defied them by maxing out the volume on "Barbarism Begins At Home."Fletcher's exhaustive (and sometimes exhausting) account of the rise & fall of Smithdom is delicious, compulsive reading if you are a fan who memorized every word, every shriek, every grunt while your dad stomped past your bedroom door in disgust. If one or two myths are exposed in the process, if I must accept that "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" is just a petty little song about a petty little A&R man (whatever that is!), not a giant "*bleep* you!" to my first boss, I will learn live with it. less

Download links for: A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of The Smiths

Advertising