Tracey Thorn, Bedsit Disco Queen: How I grew up and tried to be a pop star.
(2014): http://www.amazon.com/Bedsit-Disco-Queen-grew-tried-ebook/dp/B0091LLMXI/ - print and ebook
In reviews and interviews, my favourite book of 2014,
Viv Albertine’s Clothes, Clothes,
Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys., was often compared to
Tracey Thorn's Bedsit Disco Queen, so
I was keen to read that as well.
And though it is a much less dramatic book than
Albertine’s, I enjoyed it. Tracey Thorn is the best part of a decade younger, grew
up in musical genres less vivid than punk, and comes across as a much more
reserved and contained character. But she writes very well about her life, her
stubborn determination to pursue her music, and the career somewhere just south
of fame she has maintained.
Though Bernard Sumner does not write as well as Viv
Albertine or Tracey Thorn, I still found his memoir fascinating - both because
I love the music of Joy Division and New Order, and because his origins in
Salford in the 1950s have many parallels with my own in Grimsby a few years
later.
New Order were famous for their hedonism, but I was pleased
that in this memoir he dials that down to focus more on music and
personalities. If you are interested in the music of the post-punk and acid
house eras, or if you are keen to read an English perspective that is
distinctly Northern, I think you'll enjoy this book.
This essay, part of Rosa Mira Books' 10K series,
likens taxi drivers to Hermes, the wing-footed messenger of the Gods - hence
the title. Winged Sandals may be only
10,000 words long, but it's a fascinating meditation on taxi driving, writing,
the ways they are alike, and the complex relationship between the work writers
do to make a living and the effect doing such work has on their writing and on
their self-image as a writer.
Artists will identify with Martin Edmond’s struggle to balance his passion with his finances. Whether you’re facing the same struggle, or would like to know what it feels like for people who are, this is recommended.
Artists will identify with Martin Edmond’s struggle to balance his passion with his finances. Whether you’re facing the same struggle, or would like to know what it feels like for people who are, this is recommended.
I read ShameJoy on a
recent trip from Wellington to Auckland. Reading on planes isn't usually my
thing - I get bored and distracted easily - but that wasn't the case with ShameJoy - I very much enjoyed both the
style and the substance of this book. These deftly constructed, sardonic
stories often edge from the real into the surreal and back again, but Julie
Hill’s humour is a constant to be relied upon. A fine debut for both the author
and for Giant Sparrow Press, another impressive new New Zealand publisher.
1 comment:
Latika loved the Tracey Thorn book; I might have a crack at Bernard's book one holiday. Interesting selection, Tim.
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