Morrissey-solo
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posted by
davidt
on Thursday July 15 2004, @09:00AM
Barrie writes:
Thought you might like a review of the book signing event that Pat Reid hosted yesterday evening for his new book, 'Morrissey', in Bristol. Unlike the usual book signing saga where some old has been (or never was) sits in the local W H Smiths wryly signing books for old aged pensioners who have no idea who the person is but assume that they must be famous. All in a last ditched attempted to make some money, before they totally disappear from the public's consciousness, by disclosing the sordid details of their nights of passion with other more famous celebrities, fantasy or not - 'Read how I was sexually abused by all three Atomic Kittens'. This was slightly different. The venue, Il Bordello, was a boat in Bristol that passed as a bistro/club on other nights, and was an excellent choice as the subdued lighting and restricted space made for an intimate evening. Turn out was good although it was obviously a local haunt for some of the people there, and the relative lack of space certainly helped to give an impression of a reasonable crowd. We got the distinct impression that the majority of the crowd were close personal friends of Pat's, and our suspicions were further aroused when he referred to people by their Christian names during question time. But then why not - you have to assume that he is proud of his new book and wants his friends to join him in celebrating it's release - anyway it gave the evening a very relaxed friendly atmosphere. An advantage of having this venue over a book shop was, apart from the lack of pre-pubescent girls trying to find copies of Gareth Gates' latest autobiography, the selling of alcoholic beverages. A fact obviously not wasted on Mr Reid who we noticed consumed the odd beer or two assumably to fight off the advancing nerves. Not that it worked as Pat Reid was clearly nervous as he stood in front of the crowd to read extracts from his book, although once he overcame the initial few minutes he became visibly more relaxed and even appeared to be enjoying himself. The evening consisted of Pat Reid reading a number of extracts from the book, followed by a question and answer session. However to be truthful I felt that most of the questions were rather inane, in particular the question about why Johnny Marr left the Smiths - jeez every book ever written about the Smiths has covered this topic and it's hardly a mystery. This was followed by Pat Reid cheerfully signing copies of the book for anyone asked. Overall it was an enjoyable evening although anyone expecting to hear new revelations about Morrissey would have been disappointed. And Morrissey himself would most likely have been disappointed at the large bias on the readings discussing his sexuality. After all who cares, it is no-one's business but his own. The only downside to the evening was the location of the toilets. These were placed directly behind the microphone so there was no quiet slipping off to the loo once the reading started as you almost had to barge past Pat Reid to get to them! Hope you enjoyed reading my review. Photo of Pat Reid at the signing. ---
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Bristol Book Launch (Score:0)
You were also right about me being extremely nervous. I had about 20 friends there, but there were maybe 30 unfamiliar faces, so I was pretty terrified at first.
From where I was standing, the questions and answers session seemed to be extremely lively, though. Personally, I was surprised and pleased by the calibre of the questions - even the one about Southpaw Grammar!
I did involve my friends in the debate - specifically Russ, who was a Smiths superfan in the '80s, but who now edits a DJ magazine and considers Morrissey 'a wanker'. I did my best to convince Russ of the merits of Morrissey's solo work and I informed the non-believers in the crowd that I could burn them a Morrissey compilation that would 'rock their tits off'.
People certainly seemed to enjoy the music we played at the party. I included tracks like 'Skin Storm', 'Trouble Loves Me' and 'The Never Played Symphonies'.
All in all, I had a blast. The response to the book has been positive and people seem to accept that it's written with sincerity. I'm hoping to do other readings in Liverpool, Manchester and London. If anyone's interested, email me via my website: www.kidvampire.com
Best wishes,
Pat Reid, Bristol