A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of the Smiths by Tony Fletcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
For a long time fan of The Smiths, and the post-punk 80’s in general, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Fletcher’s prose is tight, concise, very elegant at times and very witty, which made it an experience in form as well as content. Some reviewers have stated that Fletcher buries his story underneath “endless minutia”. If you are a true music fan, there is no “minutia” here. The author is just very careful to examine how The Smiths, but most notably Morrissey and Johnny Marr, fit into the Mancunian panoplia of bands emerging in the late 70’s/early 80’s.
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