Mick Middles' book 'Factory:The Story Of The Record Label'

I was given this book for Christmas by a member of my family a few years back .I obviously thanked politely but inwardly though oh no not another book telling the story i've heard a million times and chucked it on the shelf for years.Recently though i've taken a flick through and read some sections and was really pleasantly surprised.It's actually quite good.Middles details JD gigs he attended and NO gigs in the 80s and even apparent interviews in the studio, for example it seems he was in the studio at the recording and mixing of Shellshock and quite a revealing and interesting interview with Barney.Anyone read this book?

I haven’t. Yet.

I think this is the one that was released under two separate names, wasn’t it?

I absolutely loved his and Lindsey Reade’s ‘Torn Apart’, so should certainly give this a go.

If anyone is unsure about trying the latter, just do it. It’s fantastic. Full of detail. Second only to the Jon Savage ‘This Searing Light..” book, but not by much.

perspexorange wrote: I think this is the one that was released under two separate names, wasn’t it?

I've got "From Joy Division to New Order" by Mick Middles sitting unread on my shelf! I don't suppose it's the same book?

perspexorange wrote: I haven’t. Yet.

I think this is the one that was released under two separate names, wasn’t it?

I absolutely loved his and Lindsey Reade’s ‘Torn Apart’, so should certainly give this a go.

If anyone is unsure about trying the latter, just do it. It’s fantastic. Full of detail. Second only to the Jon Savage ‘This Searing Light..” book, but not by much.

OK,from what info I can find on the interwebs it was originally titled Factory and New Order on its first publication in 1996.Apparentley a new final chapter was written and added after the death of Tony Wilson in 2007 and this is the 2008 version I have .Retitled Factory: The Story of The Record Label. It seems a lot of the gig accounts and band interviews stem from Middles' time as a music journalist.

Yep, that Torn Apart book is fab. Read it a long time ago but it stuck in my memory as one of if not the best book on Ian Curtis. As with Middles' Factory book, there's lots of stories and details I'd never previously read or known about .

Lyndsay Reade's Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl is another great bool.About her and Tony.

Debaser wrote:

perspexorange wrote: I think this is the one that was released under two separate names, wasn’t it?

I've got "From Joy Division to New Order" by Mick Middles sitting unread on my shelf! I don't suppose it's the same book?

I would guess that's the same book yes .So yes, another different title?

Edit: oh hang on, it looks like that's the title of the original 1996 release. I thought I'd read the original was titled Factory and New Order. But anyway. The one you have on your shelf is the original publication its the same book

Thanks for the info, Fotz. I probably should’ve done the research myself, but I was a bit inebriated last night (typical Saturday, eh?).

I have both books, I think. Can’t remember if I read the original version back when it was released. I suspect not. I certainly haven’t read the updated version, so will check it out.

I’ve heard that it’s mainly on Factory (although I appreciate that the two subjects are intrinsically linked). However, you mention some pretty cool NO stuff that’s in it, Fotz. So, it does sound good.

I did think it was a little sneaky of them to rename it. It might catch people out and get them to buy the book twice (which I suspect happened to me).

Still, I’ll definitely get around to reading it soon. I have that ‘Mr Manchester’ book too. Again, not read it yet (I’m rubbish, I really am.). Will read that too.

Incidentally, if anyone doesn’t know, there’s another NO book that had two different names:

True Faith: An Armchair Guide To New Order, Joy Division… etc.(2005) A Legacy In Wax: Listening To Joy Division And New Order, 1976-2016 (2016)

On this occasion, I definitely did know this was an updated version, so went in with eyes open.

To be fair, the second book is quite an update to the first, although I miss the little record sleeve pictures that were in the first book. It’s pretty much ‘trainspotter territory’, but I like things like that. 😀

Yes I have read that True Faith one though I no longer own a copy.

I used to keep abreast with most JD/NO/ Factory books , read most of them but these days I don't bother so much. A question of time and have heard the same stories too many times. Didn't buy John Aizlewood's Decades book and didn't buy Paul Morely's recent Tony Wilson book either. I'm sure there's other relatively recent books that I've forgotten also. Once upon a time I would have snapped up a copy.Of course, I bought Steve's 2 books and they're fantastic and Hooky's JD and NO ones and if Gillian ever writes her side of the story I'll grab a copy but apart from that... well it'd have to be something quite special for me to find the time and money.

I know what you mean about the same old story.

I do buy all of the books, but I don't always read them. At least, not immediately.

I bought the Aizlewood 'Decades' book, but (again) admit I haven't read it yet. It does have some nice, big, colourful photos in it though. So makes for a very decent 'coffee table' book. Nice that it's a hardback too. I also bought signed copies of both the Morley-penned biography of Wilson and the Cummins 'Juvenes' book last year.

I did read Steve's two books and the Hooky JD & NO books, and all four were excellent (although I think the Hooky NO one was quite, surprise-surprise, bitter in parts and went on a bit, IMHO). I really hope Gillian does decide to write a book. I think her perspective on the band would be pretty unique.

I know we've probably had this conversation many times before about favourite books, but as it's pretty quiet on the boards these days, I don't think it'd harm to mention a few of my favourites:

'From Heaven To Heaven' (Dec Hickey's magnificent tome; although this list list isn't in any particular order, this book will always be top of my list)

'An Ideal For Living' (in the pre-internet days, this was invaluable to me. Plus it had some great info on gigs and some lovely photos)

'A History In Cuttings' volume 1-2 (again, invaluable information and, like Dec's book, a labour of love by the compilers)

'This Searing Light' (Jon Savage's definitive Joy Division story, with him having interviewed everyone involved)

'Torn Apart' (fantastic JD history, second only to Savage's, imho)

'Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division' (Hooky's JD book)

'Substance: Inside New Order' (Hooky's NO book)

'Record Play Pause' (Steve's JD book)

'Fast Forward' (Steve's NO book)

'Joy Division' (Kevin Cummins JD book)

'New Order' (Kevin Coummins' NO book)

'Juvenes' (Cummins' other JD book; Cummins never misses an opportunity to show off his work but, to be fair, they are great photos)

'1-Top Class Manager' (Gretton's copious notes)

'So This Is Permanence' (Ian's lyrics)

'The Blue Monday Diaries' (Michael Butterworth's mostly excellent account of the making of PC&L)

Omega Auctions catalogues of Hooky's two auctions (a wealth of interesting items, good photos and some nice recollections from the bearded bass-god)

The two box set books - 'Movement' & 'Power, Corruption & Lies' (great info and lovely pictures; looking forward to the others)

There are probably a few others, including 'Form (& Substance)' by Heylin & Wood, Deborah Curtis' book, and I rather like Brian Edge's 'Pleasures & Wayward Distractions'.

Also, although a 'fan made' item, Neil Woodvine's JD biography was great. In the pre-internet days, he detailed a lot of information that wasn't readily available at the time (stuff that wasn't in the 'official' books). I conversed with Neil a bit back in the early 1990s. He was a lovely chap who would always answer any questions about the band and seemed to genuinely love chatting to other fans. He lived not far from me, over in Telford, about 12 miles away, but we never met. He sadly dies a few years back, I believe. May he rest in peace.

Fotz wrote:

Edit: oh hang on, it looks like that's the title of the original 1996 release. I thought I'd read the original was titled Factory and New Order. But anyway. The one you have on your shelf is the original publication its the same book

Hmmm. Looking into this, I think there might be three different versions of this book:

'From Joy Division To New Order: The Factory Story' (1996) (black cover) (see here https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/mick-middles-from-joy-division-to-new-order-the-factory-story--203717583120185079/)

'From Joy Division To New Order: The True Story Of Anthony H. Wilson And Factory Records' (2002) (yellow cover) (see here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Joy-Division-New-Order-Paperback/dp/B0168T2DEM/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2PKPKV7WDEW&keywords=From+Joy+Division+To+New+Order%3A+The+True+Story+Of+Anthony+H.+Wilson+And+Factory+Records&qid=1651407091&sprefix=from+joy+division+to+new+order+the+true+story+of+anthony+h.+wilson+and+factory+records%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-2)

'Factory - The Story Of The Record Label' (2009) (yellow cover) (see here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Factory-Story-Record-Mick-Middles/dp/0753518252/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2642T2DBTL5M9&keywords=Factory+-+The+Story+Of+The+Record+Label&qid=1651407232&sprefix=factory+-+the+story+of+the+record+label%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1)

I think I have all three, so probably fell for the 'renaming' trick twice! [eek2]

perspexorange wrote: I know what you mean about the same old story.

I do buy all of the books, but I don't always read them. At least, not immediately.

I bought the Aizlewood 'Decades' book, but (again) admit I haven't read it yet. It does have some nice, big, colourful photos in it though. So makes for a very decent 'coffee table' book. Nice that it's a hardback too. I also bought signed copies of both the Morley-penned biography of Wilson and the Cummins 'Juvenes' book last year.

I did read Steve's two books and the Hooky JD & NO books, and all four were excellent (although I think the Hooky NO one was quite, surprise-surprise, bitter in parts and went on a bit, IMHO). I really hope Gillian does decide to write a book. I think her perspective on the band would be pretty unique.

I know we've probably had this conversation many times before about favourite books, but as it's pretty quiet on the boards these days, I don't think it'd harm to mention a few of my favourites:

'From Heaven To Heaven' (Dec Hickey's magnificent tome; although this list list isn't in any particular order, this book will always be top of my list)

'An Ideal For Living' (in the pre-internet days, this was invaluable to me. Plus it had some great info on gigs and some lovely photos)

'A History In Cuttings' volume 1-2 (again, invaluable information and, like Dec's book, a labour of love by the compilers)

'This Searing Light' (Jon Savage's definitive Joy Division story, with him having interviewed everyone involved)

'Torn Apart' (fantastic JD history, second only to Savage's, imho)

'Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division' (Hooky's JD book)

'Substance: Inside New Order' (Hooky's NO book)

'Record Play Pause' (Steve's JD book)

'Fast Forward' (Steve's NO book)

'Joy Division' (Kevin Cummins JD book)

'New Order' (Kevin Coummins' NO book)

'Juvenes' (Cummins' other JD book; Cummins never misses an opportunity to show off his work but, to be fair, they are great photos)

'1-Top Class Manager' (Gretton's copious notes)

'So This Is Permanence' (Ian's lyrics)

'The Blue Monday Diaries' (Michael Butterworth's mostly excellent account of the making of PC&L)

Omega Auctions catalogues of Hooky's two auctions (a wealth of interesting items, good photos and some nice recollections from the bearded bass-god)

The two box set books - 'Movement' & 'Power, Corruption & Lies' (great info and lovely pictures; looking forward to the others)

There are probably a few others, including 'Form (& Substance)' by Heylin & Wood, Deborah Curtis' book, and I rather like Brian Edge's 'Pleasures & Wayward Distractions'.

Also, although a 'fan made' item, Neil Woodvine's JD biography was great. In the pre-internet days, he detailed a lot of information that wasn't readily available at the time (stuff that wasn't in the 'official' books). I conversed with Neil a bit back in the early 1990s. He was a lovely chap who would always answer any questions about the band and seemed to genuinely love chatting to other fans. He lived not far from me, over in Telford, about 12 miles away, but we never met. He sadly dies a few years back, I believe. May he rest in peace.

Yep , i have Dec's 'Heaven To Heaven'.Fabulous book though the text is a little small for my ageing eyes.Think i needed a torch as well as my specs to read a lot of it.Used to have 'An Ideal For Living' back in the 80s but stupidly sold it and a lot of stuff off way back. Must get round to hunting down another copy if any on ebay anytime.It was the first JD/NO book i ever bought when i was a teen and finding any info on the band back then was very rare! Same with 'History In Cuttings', i had the physical copies of volume 1 and 2 back in the day but now only have as PDFs, think it was you Perspex who sent them to me a few year back? Again, back in the mid 80s the cuttings books were invaluable to a newbie fan eagerly trying to find out as much as possible about the band. I don't own and have not read that John Savage 'Searing Light' one.Torn Apart - yep, as i said ,i have that and it remains one book i vividly recall as being one of the best i've read on JD and Ian Curtis.Hooky's 'Unknown Pleasures' and 'Substance' i own and have read, both pretty damn good .Same for Steve's 2 books.I have Kevin Cummins' New Order photos book but not his JD one.I don't have and never held a copy in my hands of 'Juvenes' , same for the book of Gretton's notebook '1 Top Class Manager' , never got round to those. I have ' So This Is Permanence'.I have Michael Butterworth's 'Blue Monday Diaries', quite a little gem that one and rarely mentioned amongst all the other books.I bought and read Deborah Curtis' book way back when it was first published in 1995, my copy is quite battered and yellowing now.It was quite a massive thing at the time for fans, after 15 years at the time since Ian Curtis died we finally got the story from his wife , her side of the story.

I also have and read David Nolan's biography of Bernard titled 'Confusion' and also his biography of Tony Wilson ' You're Entitled To Your Opinion' and various others including the Twenty Four Hour People book by Tony Wilson with silver cover, Hooky's Hacienda book and oh nearly forgot, Bernard's autobiography! 'Chapter And Verse' Reading that one had a weird almost spaced out effect on me, hard to explain..Probably a few more on my shelf i've forgotten and yeah if we're including the books in the Definitive box sets then yes.Oh and i have the 'New Order Music 1981-1989' book though i don't know how to read music, great pics though! And i have 'Factory Records:The Complete Graphics' book, a big hardback of pics of all the sleeves.And also Saville's 'Designed by Peter Saville' which i picked up at the exhibition back in 2003.

Oh and i have 'New Order + Joy Division : Pleasures and Wayward Distractions' by Brian Edge.Think this one i have is a revised edition and largely forgotten about these days?

Oh and i have Paul Morley's 'Joy Division Piece by Piece' book.A collection of his reviews and writings on JD from his NME and stuff days.

Yep. Got all of the ones you listed. There's some great ones in there. Sadly, I only have the softcover of the Factory book. I missed out on an original hardback. There was that limited release of the hardback a couple of years back , but decided against it. A lot of money, plus it's storing the damn things, Got to try and cut down on purchases (which I am slowly).

I have two copies of the Deborah Curtis book. The first I bought at Waterstones, here in Salop, on a sunny Sunday afternoon. This was a few days before the official release. not sure why they were selling it early. The second copy is signed by Debbie. Think it's made out to me too, which is nice. I was really annoyed that I didn't get this in person. I was meant to go to the signing with David Smith of 'Paradise' fanzine, who I was good friends with. But, long story short, my boss was being an arse and wouldn't let me have the day off. So I missed meeting her. Still, David kindly got a copy signed for me in my absence.

It was around the time of that release that I saw a photo of Debbie and Natalie in the NME (or similar). I couldn't believe how much Natalie resembled her father (based on the photos of him).

Another book that I liked was the Mike West 'Joy Division' book. It had some info that I hadn't seen printed else, such as the band's equipment list.

Although, mostly in Italian, I quite liked the 'From The Centre Of The City' book that came with a bootleg CD of the band's first 'Warsaw' demos. This was mainly interesting for some of the photos posted in it, including one or two other photos from Ralph Gibson's 'Somnabulist' collection that featured on the Unknown Pleasures inner sleeve:

http://www.ralphgibson.com/1970-somnambulist.html

Other photos included one of Ian's memorial stone, the original photo of the boy being arrested by Nazis from 'The Ideal For Living' inner sleeve, photos from the Staglieno cemetery of the various statues used in by Bernard Pierre Wolff in JD artwork and a couple of stills from 'Strozcek'. I found this stuff pretty interesting at the time and not things you could find in official publications.

Similarly, this was also the case with the aforementioned 'Form (& Substance)' book having things like a photo of the cover for 'House Of Dolls', along with the relevant extract from the book, plus photos from Ian's wedding etc.

^ Oh ok, not sure i know and certainly don't have that Mike West JD book.

Thanks for the link to those Somnambulist photographs.Liked a lot of them.Think i've seen or read something about them before and was aware the pic on the inner of Unknown Pleasures was taken from that collection.

No probs. Glad you found them interesting.

They are pretty cool.

This discussion has given me an idea for a new thread on 'collecting stuff that influenced the band'. Will start it off now.

In the appendix in the So This Is Permanence lyrics book there's some great photos of some of the books Ian Curtis owned like Nausea by John Paul Sartre, Twilight Of The Idols The Anti-Christ by Nietzsche, The Idiot by Dostoyevsky, Dada and Surrealism by Dawn Ades, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess among many others.Ashamed to say the only one of those i've read is Brave New World.Would love to get round to reading some of the others.If i ever got time!

Fotz wrote:

Debaser wrote:

perspexorange wrote: I think this is the one that was released under two separate names, wasn’t it?

I've got "From Joy Division to New Order" by Mick Middles sitting unread on my shelf! I don't suppose it's the same book?

I would guess that's the same book yes .So yes, another different title?

Edit: oh hang on, it looks like that's the title of the original 1996 release. I thought I'd read the original was titled Factory and New Order. But anyway. The one you have on your shelf is the original publication its the same book

Ah yes it says, first published 1996, reprinted 2002 & 2003 (£3.99 in HMV!)

perspexorange wrote:

Hmmm. Looking into this, I think there might be three different versions of this book:

'From Joy Division To New Order: The Factory Story' (1996) (black cover) (see here https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/mick-middles-from-joy-division-to-new-order-the-factory-story--203717583120185079/)

'From Joy Division To New Order: The True Story Of Anthony H. Wilson And Factory Records' (2002) (yellow cover) (see here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Joy-Division-New-Order-Paperback/dp/B0168T2DEM/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2PKPKV7WDEW&keywords=From+Joy+Division+To+New+Order%3A+The+True+Story+Of+Anthony+H.+Wilson+And+Factory+Records&qid=1651407091&sprefix=from+joy+division+to+new+order+the+true+story+of+anthony+h.+wilson+and+factory+records%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-2)

'Factory - The Story Of The Record Label' (2009) (yellow cover) (see here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Factory-Story-Record-Mick-Middles/dp/0753518252/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2642T2DBTL5M9&keywords=Factory+-+The+Story+Of+The+Record+Label&qid=1651407232&sprefix=factory+-+the+story+of+the+record+label%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1)

I think I have all three, so probably fell for the 'renaming' trick twice! [eek2]

Ha! Looks like I have the middle one of your three Perspex. Repackage the records and fans will buy 'em again. Repackage the books and fans will buy 'em again too!

(are NO fans the suckers from a certain Harry Enfield sketch?)

The ISBN for the middle one (mine) is 07535 06386. It looks like it's different for the other two versions. Seems a bit cheeky.

Fotz wrote: Nausea by John Paul Sartre

Haven't read that one, but No Exit (Huis Clos) by Sartre is a short play by him which put forward his notion that "Hell Is Other People". The book title can also be translated as Behind Closed Doors (!). Worth a read. You may remember we had a discussion in the Behind Closed Doors (!) section here about The Returned tv series (soundtrack by Mogwai) that was on C4. That definitely had "Hell Is Other People" undertones about it.

You could also do worse than read Sartre's famous book/lecture, Existentialism Is A Humanism. It's short and to the point. Not too tricky, but will make you feel smarter after you've read it!

Fotz wrote:

The Idiot by Dostoyevsky,

I think I read this (or parts of it) at Uni. May I also suggest The Double by Dostoyevsky, and if you can't be bothered to read the book (well it's a short novella), watch the 2013 film. Jesse Eisenberg can be an acquired taste, but I think he was perfect for this.

Fotz wrote:

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Great isn't it? I read this around the time that Dolly The Sheep had been cloned and it felt like it had been wrtten last week. Not a stuffy book at all; a genuine page turner.

Fotz wrote:

and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Another short book. You could probably read most of it in the time it takes to watch the film. Easy peasy!

^ Thanks Debaser.Like perspex says in his Influences On The Band Thread, would be great to try collect all these but that way lies madness.That book and/or film The Double interests me though, something like that is quite up my street.I'll maybe try one or two of the books you mentioned if they're actually fairly short and not at all stuffy.

Well i've gone ahead and ordered a few books, a couple of which from your recommendations, Debaser.

Existentialism is a Humanism by Sartre

The Double by Dostoevsky

The Idiot by Dostoevsky

Dada and Surrealism by Dawn Ades

Might get round to reading them all, might not!

Debaser wrote:

Fotz wrote:

The Idiot by Dostoyevsky,

I think I read this (or parts of it) at Uni. May I also suggest The Double by Dostoyevsky, and if you can't be bothered to read the book (well it's a short novella), watch the 2013 film. Jesse Eisenberg can be an acquired taste, but I think he was perfect for this.

The Double, The Idiot and Existentialism is a Humanism arrived through my door the other day.Have finished reading The Double over the last day or so.Quite a difficult read but i felt that was maybe down to the translation to English from the original Russian. The translation made odd and sometimes confusing reading.Maybe the original in Russian is like that too.As it is, i don't understand Russian (!) so have to settle for the English translation.Still, an intriguing story and the stuff of nightmares really., disturbing.A doppelganger enters your life and whom is way more charismatic and popular and not only that, fucks with your life and entire existence.Or has Mr Golyadkin just gone insane and it's all hallucinatory?.....

The film version is something i'd be interested to see.Though did they change the story quite a bit for that? It appeared that way from the trailer i watched. They just took the basic idea from the book and adapted it for the film?

Next up i'll read Sartre's Existentialism is a Humanism

Fotz wrote: The Double... The film version is something i'd be interested to see.

Film available to stream on All 4 for the next 19 days.

Debaser wrote:

Fotz wrote: The Double... The film version is something i'd be interested to see.

Film available to stream on All 4 for the next 19 days.

Woah! Fab! I'll try check it out.Many thanks, D.

Books... it amazes me that in the last couple of years I've bought three or four (or five) books on JD/NO... in my teenage years I'd struggle to catch a mere photograph of any band member on some magazine, or a glimpse of them on the videos?... I actually had to pay a guy to flick through a copy of the Paradise fanzine back in '89 I think. Now there are PhD dissertations available to read.

Very nice collection, Mr Disco!

I think the only ones I don’t have are those Helena Uehara and ‘In Aeternum’ books. I’m guessing they’re in a language I can’t read though (I’m a typical Brit who only speaks English, sadly).

I didn’t know that ‘Torn Apart’ was available in hardback. May try to hunt that down myself.

Is your ‘Shadowplayers’ hardback or paperback? Mine’s blue (rather than pink), and is a paperback. Just wondering how yours differs.

Finally, I now have signed copies of all the band autobiographies (3x Hooky, 2x Steve and 1x Bernard). Quite pleased to have these.

The two books I’d really like but are missing are the hardback edition of ‘An Ideal For Living’ and the original limited run of ‘From Heaven To Heaven’ (mine is a later ‘non-numbered’ print).

perspexorange wrote: I think the only ones I don’t have are those Helena Uehara and ‘In Aeternum’ books. I’m guessing they’re in a language I can’t read though (I’m a typical Brit who only speaks English, sadly).

They're both brazilian... and not quite good if you ask me.

perspexorange wrote: Is your ‘Shadowplayers’ hardback or paperback? Mine’s blue (rather than pink), and is a paperback. Just wondering how yours differs.

Mine is a hardcover. Got it back in 2010 (1st edition I suppose?)

https://www.ltmrecordings.com/shadowplayers\_book.html

perspexorange wrote: Finally, I now have signed copies of all the band autobiographies (3x Hooky, 2x Steve and 1x Bernard). Quite pleased to have these.

The two books I’d really like but are missing are the hardback edition of ‘An Ideal For Living’ and the original limited run of ‘From Heaven To Heaven’ (mine is a later ‘non-numbered’ print).

I also have the autobiographies signed, except for Stephen's 2nd book... never knew there was a hardback for An Ideal For Living tho.

Mr. Disco wrote:

Mine is a hardcover. Got it back in 2010 (1st edition I suppose?)

https://www.ltmrecordings.com/shadowplayers\_book.html

Ah. Thanks. Thought it might be. Struggled to find a copy of either the hardback or paperback for years (didn't get them at the time of release). Managed to pick up a paperback (like new0 about a year or do ago.

Mr. Disco wrote:

...never knew there was a hardback for An Ideal For Living tho.

Yep. Here you go:

https://www.joydiv.org/bk5.htm

I think the binding is marginally better than was on the on the paperback (my initial copy of the paperback fell to pieces), but it's still prone to coming apart. The paperback is absolutely terrible quality (as you probably know). Still, it's a good book, and would love to track down a hardback. There was even a hessian cloth, signed limited edition, which I would also love.

Looking through my JD/NO boxes, I have three copies of the paperback.

The first is the Bobcat reprint, which is the one that I originally bought and which disintegrated. I've actually got the receipt tucked away inside the front cover (£6.95), which says that I bought it on 18/06/90 (when 'World In Motion' was in the air). Weirdly, that's a Monday, but I distinctly remember buying it at Waterstones, Shrewsbury on a Sunday afternoon, when I was with a couple of mates (we'd have all been working on Mondays). I guess the cash register's date must've been wrong.

The second and third copies are both original Proteus paperbacks. I bought both about 3-4 years to replace my wrecked book. The seller of my first replacement said the book was in 'like new' condition but, on receiving it, it had a large crease on the front cover (apart from that, it was in great condition). I then got a third, just to have one in 'near mint'. And it is. To be fair, I don't think I paid more than £10 for either, so it wasn't a massive waste of money.

Mr. Disco wrote:

Very nice indeed!

Excuse all the typos. Can't edit my post, as it gets rejected as Spam.

perspexorange wrote: (my initial copy of the paperback fell to pieces)

Mine did as well! I ended up cutting a few pictures off it and gluing them on my university locker door, to my shame. Planned to get me another copy but life (and literally dozens of other books) happenned.

A great collection there, Mr Disco.A few I've never owned or read. I didn't know there was a hardback of Ideal For Living. I don't have a physical copy of Shadowplayers but read the digital version of it a few years back.

Fotz wrote:

Debaser wrote:

Fotz wrote: The Double... The film version is something i'd be interested to see.

Film available to stream on All 4 for the next 19 days.

Woah! Fab! I'll try check it out.Many thanks, D.

Found and watched the film today. There's a line towards the end when the Simon James' character yells in anger "Look at me! Look at me! Look at him! He stole my face!". Really bugging me now what artist or artists sampled and used that line in a track. Aarggh who was it? It's the kind of thing Future Sound Of London would often put in one of their ISDN live things back in the 90s. But The Double didn't come out til 2013. That line from the film. was definitely sampled in something....