 Let
me start by saying this isn't the worst book in the world. With the
exception of a few silly mistakes, and some over intellectualising,
it's a pretty decent account of John's Lydon's post-Pistols career to
date. Though, possibly the biggest reason for this is that the majority
of the information and research is lifted from Fodderstompf. I can't
say I'm surprised…
The author,
claiming to be big fan and not journalist (a standard industry tactic)
contacted me last year and asked if he could use "some" stuff.
I said no. I wasn't gonna have all our hard work plagiarised or misused
without seeing it in context. And quite frankly, why should I do someone
else's job for them? Still, it didn't stop him. And to add insult to
injury he doesn't even credit the site, or any other site. The quotes
might be credited to other sources (if at all), but trust me I know
what I've wrote. When you spend 2 weeks typing up an interview you tend
to remember little things about it…
In truth there's
not really that much exclusive interview material lifted from the site,
but trust me it is there. The bulk of the research comes from the chronology
and archive press interviews (etc). And while much of that information
is not strictly ours, we found it and made it available. No one except
me knows how hard Karsten worked on the chronology, he deserves credit
(and not as a Dutch journalist). With the exception of chunks of John's
own book and The Filth &The Fury film - which are mysteriously
credited from other places - hardly any other sources are used for research
throughout the book. Of course, this is an unauthorised biography, you
do kind of expect that kind of thing…
The author seems
to genuinely respect and admire John and that does come through. Though
at no point did he actually speak to him. He claims he tried, and we'll
have to take his word on that. But at the same time he does say he has
no need to meet Lydon, which is a strange contradiction, especially
about someone you just wrote a book on.
Given many of
the misconceptions and mistakes in the book if I really wanted
I could tear this book to ribbons, but as I've said earlier it's not
the worst book ever. It's better than the normal pap written about John
Lydon. It's not bitter or snidey. And it also gives a potted PiL history
which doesn't resort to the normal "first three albums only"
cliche, so he gets pass marks for that, if nothing else…
I don't want
to sound overly bitter, cos honestly I'm not (well not that
bitter), the whole point of the site(s) is to spread accurate information.
At least now when journos do their research it’s taken from a good
source, but there is a limit, and in my opinion this book borders on
taking the piss. Above all it’s shocking lack of respect. And,
it's one thing to copy, it's another to actually understand…
If you read
Fodderstompf / Johnlydon.com regularly - and pay attention - this
book won't really tell you anything you don't already know. If you're
a fair weather fan it could be quite interesting, but you'll save yourself
£12.99 by just having a proper look round the site.
The written
word isn't necessarily a lie; more a fraud… |