Customer Reviews
Wigan Aesthetic. - By: D. Wright, 30 Jan 2008 
Stuart Maconie is brighter than a button - witty, angry about things you should get angry about & is extremely articulate.
This book is a great piece of autobiography; a history of thatcher's Britain & a entertaining romp through the history of modern pop music.
Fun, funny & cleverly written with a mature writing style that makes for a fabulous read.
I can't wait to leave work so I can go home and finish this book! - By: C. Simpson, 24 Jan 2008 Laugh out loud funny in parts, lump-in-the-throat touching in others this book demonstrates the difference between a music lover & someone whose whole being is consumed with obsessive need for music (in a good way). It's made me go & look up some of the tracks I'm not familiar with & wonder how I've managed to escape them for so long. It's so easy to read, & Stuart comes across as a very genuine, likeable person whose passion for music is infectious. It's great for north west nostalgia, but I'm sure there's something for everyone in here.
Laugh Till My Parker Hood Split - By: Mike Ryko, 12 Dec 2007 If you don't love this book then you probably weren't born between, say, 1965 & 1980. Anybody who fallls within that span (and who doesn't have a complete aversion to popular music) will find this book very, very funny. The book is worth the money for the Peter Hook anecdote alone while the author's description the confusion he felt on first setting eyes upon the Happy Mondays ("part Mujahedddin, part Mountain Rescue") is only one of ,amy favourite excellent one-liners.
To See How Men are... - By: Jason Selby, 14 Jul 2007 A reallly great read for anyone, who like me is grazing 40 & loves music & the indie scene in particular. Stuart's style is witty & entertaining not deep & self revealing as other memoirs are but that is easily overcome by the depth of detail about the music which is the focus of the book.
It was a great joy for me reading this on holiday in the sunshine but being transported in imagination to the Wigan Casino & great gigs in Manchester etc. Seeing the rise of the Factory records & The Smiths through the eyes of someone who was there is a true joy.
I can't help but give it 5 stars.
3rd time reading and its still great - By: Mb Cunliffe, 29 Jun 2007 I have just completed my 3rd reading of this book. Its like an old friend, & it doesnt fail to disappoint. Witty & erudite, Maconie travels well from radio to novel form, recallling many places I know well myself (being a local lad) & many stages of life music fans go through as I too know well, in as entertaining & joyous a way as any autobiog on the subject can. Of its kind, it is fantastic & the best.
