Author to the slaughter
Posted: 26 Oct 2009, 8:26am
Wot ho, IMCTers!
I see you've noticed that my new book on the Clash is here or hereabouts.
I owe some of the people here (mostly past but some hardy souls still present) a big thanks for helping me with information and, uh, discussion over the years. I won't name and shame, but manly hugs all round.
So. I'm making myself available to answer any questions you may have, and will endeavour to take the inevitable sweeping dismissals of my skills as a researcher, critic and writer in good spirits.
FYI, though, I'm setting my dog's abuse toleration level at 5 and dickhead thread hijackometer at 7: you go much above that for too long, and I'm gone like the cool breeze.
There will probably be gaps between my visits. We're using a small part of the publication advance to have a new swimming pool installed in the main house, so we're living in the gatehouse and I'm only willing to yomp all the way up here to check messages a couple of times a day.
To kick off: the book was originally going to be a wee short 100 page thing to coincide with the 25th anniversary. But real life intervened. When I came back to it in 2008, I decided to really get in there with the detail freakery. Which I know is not everyone's cup of tea, but, y'know, I won't make comments about your attention span if you don't make them about mine.
This version was originally supposed to be 300-and-something pages, but I overrran. So it's 500-and-something. Though that's hardly necessary: they've gone with 415 words per page, but could have comfortably fit 500-550 words per page without trying your eyes too much, which would have brought it in around 400 pages.
It was supposed to be published in early October, but we held it back so we coud give it an extra proofread and fine tune some of the detail. Officially, the release date is 5 November (I think) - just in time to light your bonfires - but that's to try and get a couple more reviews in the monthly music magazines. The book's available this week.
I should qualify that: available in the UK and the rest of the English speaking world serviced by Random House UK. There is no American edition as yet. So the edition on Amazon.com is a UK import.
It's a 6-part book. Part 1 is background. Part 2 writing and rehearsing. 3 recording. 4 comprises about half the book, and is a story-of-the-song breakdown. Part 5 is about the cover, the press reaction and promotion generally. Part 6 is about the ways the Clash attempted to reclaim the magic of the LC period over the years, and about the acclaim heaped on the album, and its legacy.
Much I would love his money and little black contact book, John S, I'm not MG the erotic artist. He stole my identity. I'm fairly sure at least one ageing aunt has stopped talking to me since she learned how to Google and made the usual assumptions.
There's some extra material at http://www.marcusgray.co.uk with more to come over the next few weeks. I'll probably be sticking an errorlog up there, too, and I'm sure you'll be giving me plenty to put in it.
Over to you,
Marcus.
I see you've noticed that my new book on the Clash is here or hereabouts.
I owe some of the people here (mostly past but some hardy souls still present) a big thanks for helping me with information and, uh, discussion over the years. I won't name and shame, but manly hugs all round.
So. I'm making myself available to answer any questions you may have, and will endeavour to take the inevitable sweeping dismissals of my skills as a researcher, critic and writer in good spirits.
FYI, though, I'm setting my dog's abuse toleration level at 5 and dickhead thread hijackometer at 7: you go much above that for too long, and I'm gone like the cool breeze.
There will probably be gaps between my visits. We're using a small part of the publication advance to have a new swimming pool installed in the main house, so we're living in the gatehouse and I'm only willing to yomp all the way up here to check messages a couple of times a day.
To kick off: the book was originally going to be a wee short 100 page thing to coincide with the 25th anniversary. But real life intervened. When I came back to it in 2008, I decided to really get in there with the detail freakery. Which I know is not everyone's cup of tea, but, y'know, I won't make comments about your attention span if you don't make them about mine.
This version was originally supposed to be 300-and-something pages, but I overrran. So it's 500-and-something. Though that's hardly necessary: they've gone with 415 words per page, but could have comfortably fit 500-550 words per page without trying your eyes too much, which would have brought it in around 400 pages.
It was supposed to be published in early October, but we held it back so we coud give it an extra proofread and fine tune some of the detail. Officially, the release date is 5 November (I think) - just in time to light your bonfires - but that's to try and get a couple more reviews in the monthly music magazines. The book's available this week.
I should qualify that: available in the UK and the rest of the English speaking world serviced by Random House UK. There is no American edition as yet. So the edition on Amazon.com is a UK import.
It's a 6-part book. Part 1 is background. Part 2 writing and rehearsing. 3 recording. 4 comprises about half the book, and is a story-of-the-song breakdown. Part 5 is about the cover, the press reaction and promotion generally. Part 6 is about the ways the Clash attempted to reclaim the magic of the LC period over the years, and about the acclaim heaped on the album, and its legacy.
Much I would love his money and little black contact book, John S, I'm not MG the erotic artist. He stole my identity. I'm fairly sure at least one ageing aunt has stopped talking to me since she learned how to Google and made the usual assumptions.
There's some extra material at http://www.marcusgray.co.uk with more to come over the next few weeks. I'll probably be sticking an errorlog up there, too, and I'm sure you'll be giving me plenty to put in it.
Over to you,
Marcus.