Product Description

Joy Division remain the perennial cult post-punk band. Author/TV broadcaster Paul Morley wrote extensively and evocatively of the 'mood, atmosphere and ephemeral terror' that enveloped this unique group and their doomed front man, vocalist Ian Curtis. These are his complete writings on Joy Division, both contemporary and retrospective, forming a close personal account of the band's brief, turbulent history: from primitive beginnings as Manchester punk band Warsaw, to Curtis' near-fatal epileptic seizure following a London concert, and his tragic suicide in May 1980. As Morley says, 'The more that time moves on, the more I have to say about them.' In addition to collecting all of the author's journalistic writings on the band from the late 1970s/early 1980s (including his eloquent obituary for Curtis), this unique work includes retrospective articles on the significance of the group, framed by an extensive essay. Contemporary elements include Morley's critique of the acclaimed new film 'Control', recounting the brief life of Ian Curtis, for which the author visited the set during production. Most movingly, Morley includes the original text that grew into his literary work 'Nothing', paralleling the two suicides that marked his life: those of his own father, and his young contemporary Curtis. He also evokes the late 1970s zeitgeist and the 'psycho-geography' of Manchester, which combined to produce the most uniquely intense rock group ever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36347 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
Joy Division: Piece by Piece offers a fascinating insight into what it feels like to have a rock legend crystallise inside your own head... A remarkable achievement. --The Independent on Sunday

Another book about Joy Division? No, the book... One engages here with a master of his craft. --The Spectator

METRO
"Illuminating, even revelatory. This book is a quixotic scripture for true believers."

Q
"[Morley's] engagement and insight are unmatched... If you fancy a sometimes inspirational, sometimes maddening labyrinth of ideas... well, this is the way, step inside."

Customer Reviews

A unique insight
This is a marvelous account of Joy Division's brief but significant career, chronicled by the writer most closely associated with the group.

Over the last thirty years Paul Morley has accumulated an impressive corpus of writing about Joy Division - and this book collects it all, arranged in the most effective manner to evoke the time, the place and those involved.

This is not a dreary procession of dull facts and descriptions of guitar solos - 'Joy Division: Piece By Piece' gets inside, beneath and around its subject matter in a manner that no other contemporary music writer but Paul Morley could achieve.

Neither is it packed with photographs that we've seen time and time again. This is a book about words, thoughts, feelings and a moment that passed far too quickly.

The best rock journalism of it's era
Joy Division were the most significant band of the post punk era and Paul Morley the most accomplished music journalist of the period.

Collecting Morley's writing on the band together is a wonderful idea, although I am a little surprised that it hasn't been done before. Like Martin Hannet's production on the Manchester quartet's recordings, Morley's rich prose enhances and highlights the significance of this groundbreaking group.

Morley's insistance on using the full spectrum of language and syntax may go over some reader's heads, but he is a master craftsman and the topography of his development can be charted in this fascinating book.

In an era that sees books by so many writers who have little connection or empathy with their subject matter, it is refreshing to discover a book about a group written by the most appropriate person to chronicle their history.

This is not only a book for fans of Joy Division, it is also recommended for anyone who appreciates well constructed descriptions and prescient observations that sit well among the best music journalism ever committed to print.

Impeccable
I was standing next to Morley at the ULU gig in 1980. Timing is everything and Morley was in exactly the right place at the right time to be the ideal person to have reported on Joy Division. A must have book. Perhaps, finally, I can get all this Joy Division stuff straight in my head. I somehow doubt it.