Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith

The only way to appreciate the legendary Mark E Smith is to encounter the man in his own words.

''Ranting, raging, burning...relentlessly splenetic, a long and sustained rant... may also be the funniest music book ever written'' - Observer

''Unutterably funny... a riot of aimings and blamings and score-settlings. Smith manages to have a right laff, and reveal himself as a figure of dazzling sociological import'' - Independent on Sunday

The Fall are one of the most distinctive British bands ever, their music - odd, spare, cranky and repetitious - an acknowledged influence on The Smiths, The Happy Mondays, Nirvana and Franz Ferdinand. And Mark E. Smith IS The Fall - 66 members came and went over the years yet he remained its charismatic leader until his death in 2018.

''If it''s me and yer granny on bongos, it''s The Fall.'' - Mark E. Smith

Mark was a professional outsider and all-round enemy of compromise, a true enigma. There have been a number of biographies of the legendary Smith, but this is the first time he opened up in a full autobiography. For the first time we hear his full, candid take on the ups and downs of a band as notorious for its in-house fighting as for its great music; and on a life that endured prison in America, drugs, bankruptcy, divorce, and the often bleak results of a legendary thirst.

''Remarkable, brilliant. A provocative joy. Smith''s rant gushes like a furious fountain of razor-sharp invective over his childhood and the early days of The Fall, relationships/ marriage, the record industry/ musicians and his views on everything from football to mobile phones, from drinking and drugs to driving, from books to bankruptcy, from Paul Morley to pubs. Unbeatable'' - Time Out

''Engrossing, exhausting, dense with fascinating detail. As both memoir and cultural history, Renegade is a remarkable achievement'' - Daily Telegraph