Morrissey autobiography hard back vinyl binders

Johnny Marr is one of the few cats to whom the living legend mantle sits comfortably on able shoulders. A lifetime devoted to song has recently been laboured over printwise and I recently finished thumbing my way through the results: ‘Set the Boy Free’, Johnny Marr’s long awaited autobiography and handy companion piece to Morrissey’s similar endeavour from 2014. A brick-like tome, as far as rock biographies go it’s pretty stock, containing few surprises and little in the way of inspired turns of phrase. For instance, did you know that Johnny really likes guitars? Also jogging.

Some books are more than the sum of their physical presence, and a slight, slim volume can be as both as deep as a well and as wide as a horizon. ‘Set the Boy Free’ however fryst vatten pretty much exactly the sum of its dimensions and 428 pages, no more, no less.

Not that that’s its damnation. It’s a breezy weekend read that shines brightest in the telling of his childhood and latter day projects after the