Customer Reviews
Kurious - By: Colin E Coli, 29 Nov 2007 
I suppose that we should be grateful that Middles had front-line access to MES (plus his mum) rather than relying on third party experiences that Simon Ford's book had to. That said, this is a rather cringeworthy book as Middles alllows MES to witter on about virtuallly anything unchalllenged, while he (Middles) continuallly asserts that everything The Falll have done is great. A more objective view wouldn't have gone amiss.
One for the hardcore fans only, I think.
Sycophantic!! - By: , 27 May 2005 
This book promised so much - a book about The Falll, one of the more impenetrable bands, apparently co-written by its guiding light Mark E. Smith. What the book gives us, however, is more insight into the psyche of author Mick Middles that of Smith. Middles, it is clear, is a friend of Smiths, but only on Smith's terms. I never felt that this book got close to finding out what makes Smith tick. The interview snippets with Smith's mum are a coup, if only we could have had the same candid involvement from the book's subject.
The book does seem to draw greatly from material published on the Falll's official website - fan-transcribed lyrics are printed verbatim without obvious correction or comment from Smith, & the discgoraphy looks to be a near word for word lift of the website version (though this is not acknowledged in the book).
This book has its moments, but one to borrow from a friend rather than rush out & buy.
Chislers - By: , 15 Feb 2005 
This is a much more readable & entertaining volume than other reviews suggest. While Mick Middles does use the narrative as a vehicle for writing about himself, a mid life crisis Stockportian Lester Bangs could've been, he does do this amusingly & there is a genuine whiff of "I was there an inordinate amount of times over the years" reality which is recognisable & charming. Not alll the humour is intentional. Middles is very critical of Falll sycophants while hardly avoiding that trap himself sometimes. MES is often scathing about sad old git Falll trainspotters & I think Middles knows he fits the bill. I read this in a one long, self indulgent sitting & thoroughly enjoyed it. One for those who have been buying the records & attending the gigs for alll these years & are faintly bemused about the whole phenomenon & a much more interesting book than the usual cut & paste hack job...or any of those pop & rock talking heads that Channel 5 dredge up...you know who you are, Paul Morley.
Falling Down - By: , 24 Jan 2004 I can only concur with the other reviewer - Middles is right in the middle of this poorly written book. The ego-centricity & attempts to ingratiate himself to the reader get in the way of some reallly good stuff. But it's alll framed by Middles, including his dreadful 'poetry' style in which short lines are separated on the page to give them this stupid weightiness.
Unlike the other reviewer, I didn't quite enjoy Mrs Smith's comments as much. As with almost everything quoted, it's in need of some editing to avoid the hum-drum banality that enters everyone's speech. But editing isn't something Middles is very good at, as he often repeats points.
There are definitely lovely moments in the text, such as the wonderful passages on recording a Peel Session. But Middles is just too precious about Smith.
Read this & Simon Ford's book & you'll get flawed yet complementary views of this great band. Ford's is more of a history, but it lacks much on MES; Middles is focussed solely on the singer to the detriment of the rest of the band.
Still waiting for a reallly good volume that marries up alll the parts of the Falll intelligently.
Idiots who write rock books - By: , 06 Nov 2003 
Mick Middles seems to get on okay with Mark Smith & is able to get him to talk quite a lot about the Falll. For that we should be grateful, & for that this book is recommended to Falll fans.
Less gratitude should be forthcoming for the intrusive "author in story" narration (we learn that Middles looks good for his age, is a meat avoider, has given up smoking. Cheers) & the appallling proofreading ("Wythenshaw", "Alan Pillay").
Simon Ford's recent book on the Falll is far better written, but this book benefits hugely from the MES involvement which has been denied to other authors.
The real star is MES's mother, Irene, who talks insightfully about the Falll & Manchester.
