Morrissey's memoir tops book chart
Morrissey’s memoir has outsold the latest Bridget Jones novel to top the best seller charts in its first week.
The paperback, called Autobiography and published by Penguin Classics, sold just short of 35,000 copies according to sales figures in trade magazine The Bookseller after its release on Thursday.
Helen Fielding’s new Bridget Jones novel, Mad About the Boy, sold around 32,000 copies.
Morrissey’s book sees the famously private chart star disclose details of how his first relationship with a man came in his 30s and grumble at length about the injustices of a court case about the royalties from his former band The Smiths.
The 457-page book also includes his brushes with famous names including writer Alan Bennett.
The 54-year-old also talks about his strong attachment to Iranian-born friend Tina Dehghani, whom he met while living in Los Angeles, saying of her: “Tina is my first experience of uncluttered commitment.”
“We take our place together almost without noticing,” he wrote. And of their discussion about children, he said: “Tina and I discuss the unthinkable act of producing a mewling miniature monster.”
The star talks about the group’s naivety when signing early contracts and is scathing about the sound of the band’s first self-titled album recording.
Morrissey also talks about refusing to answer the door to singer Sandie Shaw - whom he speaks about with bitterness despite often being considered a friend - which resulted in her sidling along a ledge outside his flat to talk to him through the window.
And he revealed that guitarist Johnny Marr told him at one stage he was ready to reform The Smiths.
But dismissing such a move, Morrissey said: “Surviving The Smiths is not something that should be attempted twice.”
A spokesman for Waterstones said it was the store's "fastest-selling rock memoir ever''.
He said: “As for why it’s so big, there are probably a few reasons. One is that his is the great untold story from the 1980s generation of British music heroes. He has a deeply committed and very large fan base. And despite regularly being in the public eye – recent tours and albums have been well reviewed – and being regularly outspoken in interviews, he has never given that much away, so fans really want to know what he has to say.”
