This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else: Joy Division: The Oral History - Hardcover

Savage, Jon

4.35

1,026 ratings by Goodreads

9780571345373: This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else: Joy Division: The Oral History

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571345379 ISBN 13: 9780571345373

Publisher: Faber & Faber Social, 2019

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An exciting new book on Joy Division, featuring never before told stories.

NamedLA Times Buzz-worthy Books to Look Forward To.

Jon Savage's oral history of Joy Division is the last word on the band that ended with the suicide of Ian Curtis in Macclesfield on 18 May, 1980. It weaves together interviews conducted by the author, but never used in the making of the film Joy Division (2007) which told the story of the band in their own words, as well as those of their peers, collaborators, and contemporaries.

Here are 15 or so vivid witnesses to the band's genesis, meteoric rise, and tragic demise, including Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner, Annike Honore, Deborah Curtis, Paul Morley, Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannet ... It is the story of young men driven to create and cause rock n' roll havoc inspired by literature, radical ideas, and the wasteland that was post-industrial Manchester in the late 70s. It is as intense and funny and alive on the page as only an oral history can be, recalling masterpieces like Edie by Jean Stein and Meet me in the Bathroom by Lizzy Goodman. It is essential reading.

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About the Author:

Jon Savage is the author of the bestselling book 1966, England's Dreaming: Sex pistols and Punk Rock and Teenage: The Creation of Youth, 1875–1945. He has written sleeve notes for Wire, St. Etienne, and the Pet Shop Boys, among others, and his compilations include: Meridian 1970 (Heavenly/EMI 2005); Queer Noises: From the Closet to the Charts 1961–1976 (Trikont 2006); and Dreams Come True: Classic Electro 1982-87 (Domino 2008).

Review:

“Excellent ... it’s the ultimate oral history of one of rock’s most haunting legends” ― Rob Sheffield Rolling Stone

“Excellent ... it’s the ultimate oral history of one of rock’s most haunting legends”―Rolling Stone

"Fans of the band will delight in the intimacy of the many stories and anecdotes, some of which are being shared publicly for the first time.... This Searing Light, The Sun And Everything Else represents the consolidated authoritative history of this important band, and as such it may in fact prove to be the last word on the topic. For fans of Joy Division, and of punk, post-punk, and British music generally, this is a must read."―Brooklyn Rail

"English music writer Savage turns his eye to one of the most iconic bands of the post-punk era. More than a dozen observers, including Joy Division members Peter Hook and Bernard Summer, tell the story of Ian Curtis' short-lived but endlessly influential band."―LA Times (Buzz-worthy Books to Look Forward To)

"As much as the story of this band has been pillaged, This Searing Light proves that there were still more Joy Division stories to be told." ― Popmatters

“These are some of the nearly 40 people from Joy Division's inner circle whose accounts Savage, who was also there at the time, has deftly woven into an almost detective-style MRI of the band and the forces and factors that formed it. Almost particle by particle, from descriptions of Manchester's industrial beginnings to the area's cultural void, Savage makes you understand that the members of Joy Division were driven to create something of immense beauty, as if there were no other choice.” ― Los Angeles Times

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