The Fallen in Observer rock reads of the year

Something of a triumvarite: following similar accolades in the Times and Sunday Times, The Fallen is now also an Observer book of the year courtesy of Caspar Llewellyn-Smith. This Mr Smith prefers The Fallen to the other Mr. Smith's Renegade, although naturally I couldn't possibly comment in case I found myself being blindfolded and turfed out of a Transit van. In Peru.. 

The Fallen in Sunday Times books of 2008

After last weekend's honour in the daily paper, the Sunday Times has followed suit in including The Fallen among their Books Of 2008. Reviewer Robert Sandall describes the book as "a hoot."

Marvellous.

The Fallen in Times music books of 2008

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5250866.ece

I'm really chuffed with this... one of the music books of 2008/recommendations for Christmas. The writer, Bob Stanley, is of course in the very wonderful Saint Etienne, a band I often retreat to after listening to too much Fall.

There's a really good review in Time Out this week as well - they're still coming in, two months after publication. And there's an absolutely incredible review by Everett True ("A brilliant book: better than two thirds of the Fall's output, pst-1983 at least") in this month's Plan B. Meanwhile, I'm preparing to see The Fall this evening. I fancied a change :)

The Fallen on Radcliffe and Maconie

I'll be on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's excellent Radio 2 programme this Thursday from 9pm, talking about The Fall and The Fallen. 

[Update: you can listen to it at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/radcliffemaconie]

This was a brilliant night. I'll blog more about it later.

The Fallen comment on The Fallen

"That book will  go down in history as one of the maddest of all time. It is so accurate as to be uncanny. That is how it was. People who read it will be stunned" - Tommy Crooks

"Absolutely loved it. You captured the essence of The Fall, particularly the Smith, which is no mean feat. It was so funny as as the book 'marched on' it got more psychotically humourous. John Godbert who has known the Smith for 30 years and did the Live At The Witch Trials cover says it's the best stuff he has ever read on The Fall" - Kay Carroll

"A real Jimmy Page turner" - Craig Scanlon

"Really enjoyed it. Brought back a lot of memories, mostly good. You captured what it was like really well. A great book" - Steve Hanley

"I loved the cover, and the crazy montage of words that conveyed general insanity. You definitely captured some indefinable thing" - Una Baines

"I feel a road movie of the book coming on.... The Search For Karl Burns' Disembodied Head!" - Simon Rogers

"You didn't stitch me up!" - Marc Riley

"Really enjoyed it. Thanks for not making me look/sound a twat" - Dingo

"I enjoyed the book... although am vexed that you didn't find Karl Burns! I've known him since I was 12 years old" - Martin Bramah

"Chancer author on the make" - Julia Nagle

The Curse Of The Fall

I've got a feature in today's Guardian which leans towards the human costs of my search - a car, my health, my girlfriend. I still shudder at the aesthetic costs - when I saw The Fall at Leeds Fforde Grene, I was sporting a hideous curly perm that had gone wrong. I blame the influence of Terry Hall's Fun Boy Three-era barnet for that one!

www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/sep/17/popandrock.music

The Fallen reviewed in Q

The Fallen gets a four star review and "Q recommends" tag in the October issue of Q magazine, which is apparently on sale in London but has yet to penetrate the North of England.

"Riveting stuff", they say of the book, the third time the word "riveting" has been used by a journalist to describe The Fallen. Which is great, although I'm starting to wonder about this obsession with rivets. Are they all working as steelworkers on the side?

THE FALLEN - reviewed

30 days ahead of publication, The Quietus get there first....

www.thequietus.com/articles/fired-from-the-fall-john-doran-reviews-dave-simpson-s-i-the-fallen-i

Stewart Lee on The Fallen

Stewart Lee - one of the few people thus far to have seen a pre-copy of The Fallen, has this to say about it:-

"Three decades of personal stories, of social change, shifting cultural landscapes and minimum wage slavery, seen through the eyes of a random collection of people whose only constant is that at some point, for some reason, they were members of The Fall. A Canterbury Tales for the mp3 generation."

Thank you very much, Stewart!