Some like to bathe in the debauchery that entertainers have gone through. This isn't a tell-all book, which is refreshing for me.
I agree with some of the reviewers, that there is quite a bit of repetition of ideas and thought, but for me, it wasn't very troubling. This was an interesting biography of Bernard, starting with his youth and going through to present day (about 2014). Witty, fascinating and surprisingly moving, Chapter and Verse is an account of insights and spectacular personal revelations, including an appendix containing a complete transcript of a recording made of Ian Curtis experiencing hypnotic regression under the Sumner's amateur guidance and tensions between himself and former band member Peter Hook.
Sumner recounts Ian Curtis' tragic death on the eve of the band's first American tour, the formation of breakout band New Order, and his own first-hand account of the ecstasy and the agony of the 1970s Manchester music scene. Heavily influencing U2 and The Cure while paving the way for post-punk revivalists like Interpol, Sumner's has left an indelible mark on punk and rock music that endures to this day.įamously reluctant to speak out, for the first time Sumner tell his story, a vivid and illuminating account of his childhood in Manchester, the early days of Joy Division, and the bands subsequent critical and popular successes. Instead, he says it "has the mild-mannered charms of Sumner's vocals - clumsy, earnest, endearingly tongue-tied."Īs of this writing, Amazon suggests buying "both books together" in time for the holidays.Bernard Sumner pioneered the post-punk movement when he broke onto the scene as a founding member of Joy Division, and later as the front man of New Order. Reffing the fued, Rob Sheffield writing for the New York Times Book Review summarized Chapter and Verse as not being able to match the "wildly entertaining…loutish zest" of Hook's book. Hook, who published a well-received tell-all a couple of years prior, has already taken to bashing Sumner's memoir, claiming a great deal of Sumner's attention goes toward "vitriol" to the bassist. The band is being sued by former bassist and founding member Peter Hook for unpaid royalties.
Sumner's memoir comes during a tumultuous period in New Order's history. The 352-page book takes the reader from Sumner's childhood, through the formation of Joy Division, Sumner's grief over the loss of Ian Curtis and tentative assumption of the role of frontman for New Order, and the act's enormous success before in-fighting splintered the group. Now, in time for the crazy shopping madness of the holiday season, Chapter and Verse is finally seeing a stateside release from US publisher St. Back in June, an imprint of Random House UK published guitarist and singer Bernard Sumner's memoir Chapter and Verse.
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