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Excavate!  By  cover art

Excavate!

By: Tessa Norton,Bob Stanley
Narrated by: Dean Williamson,Maxine Peake,Pat Nevin
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Publisher's Summary

This is a book about Mark E Smith and The Fall - or more precisely, their ever-influential world. The Fall were so many things, so many worlds; if you got it (and not everyone did), they represented everything.

This is not a book about a rock band. This is not even a book about Mark E Smith. This is a book about The Fall group - or, more precisely, their world.

Over a prolific 40-year career, The Fall created a world that was influential, idiosyncratic and fiercely original - and defied simple categorisation.

Their front man and lyricist, Mark E Smith, spun opaque tales that resisted conventional understanding; The Fall's worldview was an education in its own right. Who wouldn't want to be armed with a working knowledge of M R James, shipping-dock procedures, contemporary dance, Manchester City and Can? The group inspired and shaped the lives of those who listened to and tried to make sense of their work.

Bringing together previously unseen artwork, rare ephemera and handwritten material, alongside essays by a slate of fans, Excavate! is a vivid, definitive record - an illumination of the dark corners of The Fall's wonderful and frightening world.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2021 Tessa Norton and Bob Stanley (P)2021 Faber Audio

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Frustratingly pretentious

This book is less about Mark E Smith than it is about the writers performing a pretentious academic wankfest :( I bailed halfway through.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Voice of reason
  • 05-22-21

Disingenuous

Promising at the outset but descending into a pretentious semiotic tsunami at which point the exit sign seemed to be the only salvation.

2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Murmur
  • 09-12-22

Disappointed read. Love the Fall but not this.

Too much waffle and the book could have been much shorter and much more gripping if they'd concentrated on the characters in the band more. Mark E would've found this incredibly boring.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Mr. A. J. Curran
  • 07-10-22

Mrs Merton?

Not sure why Maxine had decided to do a Mrs Merton impression with the narration? Great listen though nonetheless.