Morrissey autobiography waterstones ireland

The new book by British singer Morrissey is a classic. It says so right on the cover. The memoir from the former frontman of The Smiths — titled simply &#;Autobiography&#; — is the first rock bio published under the venerable Penguin Classics imprint, home to Aeschylus, Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde. Morrissey has said he insisted on the &#;classic&#; label as a condition of signing with Penguin.

That has horrified some people in the publishing industry, but not the singer&#;s many fans, who drove the book to the top of Amazon&#;s U.K. chart the day after it was published Thursday.

Jon Howells, spokesman for the Waterstones book store chain, said Friday that the book is destined to be a Christmas-season best-seller.

&#;In Britain, he is one of our icons,&#; Howells said. &#;His is the great untold story from the &#;80s generation of music heroes.&#;

The Smiths and their enigmatic, gladioli-waving singer had a huge impact in s Britain with alternately giddy and melancholy songs such as &#;How Soon is Now&#; and &#;This Charming Man.&#; They weren&#;t quite so popular in the United States, where &#;Autobiography&#; does not yet have a publisher.

The quartet broke up in , and Morrissey has used up some of his fans&#; goodwill with increasingly curmudgeonly pronouncements during his solo career.

&#;Autobiography&#; opens with a vivid, verbose evocation of Steven Patrick Morrissey&#;s childhood as part of a sprawling Irish family in the damp, industrial northern English city of Manchester, and his awakening to the bright joys of pop music.

Fans will find mordant wit and evocative turns of phrase, while critics will see boundless self-indulgence and the absence of an editor&#;s trimming hand in the page, single-chapter volume.

Reviewers have been sharply divided. Rock critic Neil McCormack gave the book a five-star review in the Daily Telegraph, calling it &#;the best-written musical autobiogr

To begin with, the elephant in the room must be addressed, or to qualify, the penguin in the room. As most people are aware at this point, Autobiography by Morrissey has been released under the iconic imprint of Penguin Classics, taking its controversial place amongst the canonical representatives of Western literature. Penguin Classics state that, &#;Most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status that Morrissey has reached in his lifetime&#;; hence, Morrissey is an icon, a pop star of great importance, whose status is assured, and in his lifetime no less. Yet, can he write? Certainly most can accept his stature as a good, dare it be said, even a great lyricist of pop songs. But does this talent transcend writing formats? Are we now also to regard Manchester’s Steven Patrick Morrissey as a great prose writer, just because Penguin argues his first work is a ‘classic in the making’. For some this is too big a pill to swallow, so arguments have raged about apparent – and let’s face it probable – Morrissey insistence that his work be released under this superior banner of Western literature. Some have screamed of the death of Penguin Classics, demanding the head of Morrissey, while others cheered a new brave approach to canonical literature, with Morrissey eternally duking it out for the nation’s affection with Chaucer, Dickens and the like; and so and so on …

However, if examined in the cold light of day, the reason for the Penguin Classic imprint is almost certainly economic. In publishing terms, was a bad year financially, with only Sir Alex Ferguson and Helen Fielding putting a smile on booksellers’ faces. Then along came Morrissey and a Penguin, and smiles appeared again, as Waterstones and other high-streeters stacked tables high with copies of Autobiography, and a best seller was born; selling a record 20, sales on its first day of release, and to date, sales have surpassed , which has generated over a million pounds through the tills

This is the extraordinary story of Jerry Morrissey’s journey of hope in the face of adversity. Jerry’s childhood was marred by the trauma of domestic violence at the hands of his birth father. Then in his teenage years, he developed an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) on his face that caused dramatic and life-threatening bleeds.

Because of his disfigurement, Jerry believed he would never find love. Jerry endured a series of extensive surgeries, including one likened to a post-mortem. One surgeon actually described it as ‘killing Jerry’, as his heart and lungs were to be put on a bypass machine while the surgery was taking place. Although Jerry survived, he emerged from surgery blind, unable to drink, eat or speak, and paralysed on his right side. Jerry was trapped in his own body, with only his senses of smell and hearing intact.

At the age of 25, Jerry had to learn how to function all over again. In an incredible turn of events, he found love right there in the hospital in the form of Pat, the nurse who cared for him throughout that time.

'Embracing My Scars' is about hope and resilience, emphasising that our greatest battles are often waged within our minds. It offers a profound insight into Jerry’s experience as he grappled with suicidal thoughts born from the immense pain and psychological suffering he endured. The book thoughtfully illustrates how one can wrestle with such pain, yet ultimately find solace and acceptance in one’s own skin.

Jerry’s wish is that his story may save even one person from taking their own life or guide them from the depths of despair to a place where they can embrace life fully.