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.' 'Brilliant, breathtaking, vital, lyrical and poetic.' Observer 'He is so devastatingly articulate he could win the Booker . . . the kind of burnished prose no other singer on the planet could aspire to.' Guardian 'A book to be thankful for . . . a work of genuine literary class.' Independent 'A rich and substantial work, the figure emerging at its centre both compelling and complex.' The Times Literary Supplement 'Anyone who feels the poetry of Morrissey's lyrics should welter in his astonishingly well-written prose. His evocation of post-war Manchester - a chilling blend of social realism and the Gothic - is a triumph.' Times Higher Education
Industry Reviews
Five stars. With typical pretension, Morrissey's first book has been published as a Penguin Classic. It justifies such presentation with a beautifully measured prose style that combines a lilting, poetic turn of phrase and acute quality of observation, revelling in a kind of morbid glee at life's injustice with arch, understated humour ... It is recognisably the voice of the most distinctive British pop lyricist of his era -- Neil McCormick * Daily Telegraph *
A brilliant and timely book ... What is so refreshing about Morrissey's Autobiography is its very messiness, its deliriously florid, overblown prose style, its unwillingness to kowtow to a culture of literary formula and commercial pigeon-holing ... Autobiography is a true baggy monster, a book in which a distinctive prose style is allowed to develop ... A rococo triumph ... Overwhelmingly this is a book to be thankful for ... In the ways that matter, Autobiography reads like a work of genuine literary class -- Alex Niven * Independent *
Sharply written, rich, clever, rancorous, puffed-up, tender, catty, windy, poetic, and frequently very, very funny. Welcome back, Morrissey -- Michael Bonner * Uncut Magazine *
Rancorous, rhapsodic, schizophrenic: Autobiography delivers a man in full -- Andrew Male * Mojo *
If one is willing to accept that a Morrissey book could be a classic, then the book justifies its status remarkably early on. ... As a work of prose Autobiography is a triumph of the written word * Louder than war *
Funnier than the Iliad ... A triumph -- Colin Paterson * Today Programme, BBC Radio 4 *
One of the autobiographies of this or any year ... A wonderfully entertaining read. He's as witty, acerbic and opinionated as you'd expect, but there's a welcome self-awareness throughout that makes the dramatic flourishes and hyperbolic dismay all the more hilarious. He may have more flaws than Manchester's Arndale Centre but he's just brilliantly, uniquely Morrissey * Daily Mirror *
Morrissey's Autobiography is brilliant and relentless. Genius, really -- Douglas Coupland
Well, so far Morrissey's book is an absolute masterpiece; no doubt the whole stinking country will hate it. -- Frankie Boyle
This is the best book ever. Like ever * Wonderland *
Carried along on quite extraordinary prose * Time Out *
The Best Music Biog Ever ... In the world of rock autobiographies, Morrissey's is nigh-on perfect -- Ben Hewitt * NME *
Practically every paragraph has a line or two that demands to be read aloud to the mirror, tattooed on foreheads, carved on tombstones * Rolling Stone *
Morrissey is a pop star of unusual writing talent * The New York Times *
Autobiography is a rich and substantial work, the figure emerging at its centre both compelling and complex. Those who know his music will be unsurprised by the qualities of Morrissey's prose, which is ornate, windswept, elusive yet never tricksy, and full of unexpected twists and thrusts. He writes with understanding (albeit often with a tout comprendre c'est rien pardonner caveat) and is most of all straightforwardly moving; never more so than when writing about his childhood -- Gwendoline Riley * Times Literary Supplement *
Autobiography doesn't disappoint. In its pages Morrissey manages to perform the neat trick of deconstructing his own myth while at the same time adding to it. Old scores are settled and anyone who ever crossed the singer is neatly decapitated herein by withering, barbed prose. Things could have gone very differently for Morrissey. He could have ended up cleaning canal banks or delivering the post for a living. Both of these outcomes would have left the world a far duller place. Autobiography is the man in his own words and, Morrissey being Morrissey, this means that we are presented with an account that is real and fantastic, unapologetically romantic and brutally honest. The die-hard fans have read the book already but for anyone with even a passing interest in what makes one of the most individual and unflinching voices in British pop music tick, Autobiography is essential * Loud and Quiet magazine *
