SPOILERS: John Illsley will publish a book about Dire Straits

[vgonis]

Just reached the middle of the book. They just finished recording Communique. I like his easy flow, but I like the band as well, so not the best of judges.
I think that people who like band biographies will be thrilled with :"In the All-Night Café: A Memoir of Belle and Sebastian's Formative Year" by Stuart David.
It takes him a whole book to write down about just one year in the life of a band and he stops exactly when the first album is issued. It is quite a lovely read.
And  dusty it seems to be right up your alley.

As a well know writer used to say, :"It is not what you say, but how you say it", while another one said:"Dylan is a great lyricist, but I don't think anyone would knew him if there was no music involved" and a third one said:"This is not an argument" and dusty's favourite director used to say something about opinions, which I dare not repeat.

What I mean is that we get to experience the same things in different ways, and the more removed one is from the actual facts, the more he can enjoy the ride or the actual writing, instead of looking thirstily about new facts. I just go with the flow, as if I am reading a fictional story, (which in a way it is, since it is just his side of things)  sometimes trying to see the man behind the story, rather than the story behind the man. If I get glimpses, it is fine, but I do not trouble myself too much. I enjoy the music without knowing anything about an artist. All this drugs, sex and rock n roll the Led Zeppelin conveyed, is just another story. Music is music and a excesses are excesses, not ways of life. Both are rather ways to deal with boredom.

BTW, he refers to mary jane quite often in the book, so...

[vgonis]

Finished the book 10 days ago, on a day off work,  but had to let it sink in before I write about it.
I have to admit that it was a pleasurable reading, and this is why I devoted an afternoon to finish the second half,  in one go. I also have to admit that I  found very few new pieces of information in it. If people read it to get  a new perspective and many hidden stories, I expect it would be a disappointment for keen fans like the ones in AMIT, who already know (or believe they know) unfiltered things and gossips and things that the artists in question don't even know. For example the much talked about  exit  of David and Pick were described in a manner that left plenty to the imagination, I guess, but it is human relations, friendships, so I didn't expect more from the book. You can read between the lines about David and Pick,  less so about Terry, Hal  or Jack and no Alan.  Indeed the book seemed to be a little hurried towards the end, after 1984,  (he repeats it quite often, that the tours are a big blur - so no surprise that are only a dozen of incidents from the tours)  although I have to admit that I don't really care about details of a puzzle that I never really cared much about. Personal life should remain personal.  The songwriting process would interest me most of all, but it seems that he had no access to such anecdotes (or permission  to share)  from MK, apart from a couple of stories from the first album, that were already out in the open (In the Gallery and SOS)
 The way I see it, the title of the book is very well chosen, as it is in fact an autobiography of Illsley, 1/3 of his youth and 2/3  while he was in DS, so every detail he offers (or doesn't offer) could be seen as a statement of what he considers worth sharing, having in mind that it is a public statement and having to preserve the balance with all the concerned parties. Political correctness  is a very peculiar and dangerous game lately and he tries not to play it. By the way, his personal life is given in more detail and in  a humble  apologetic manner, which reveals something of his character.
All in all I found it quite interesting, as it gave me a fuller picture of Illsley, and how he viewed and views  the world, in the context of my favorite band.