Quote:
Originally Posted by pocketcat
Hi all,
I posted not so long ago asking if anyone knew any of the people who were interviewed for Withdrawn Traces, as I was writing a takedown of the book. If you're in Manics fan circles or communities on other social media like Twitter or Facebook, you might have seen my project mentioned there as well.
I finally finished it. It is a full critical review of the book, summarising each chapter and documenting inaccuracies, problematic theories, weird portrayals of Richey and the rest of the band, poor journalism and the like. I started it in March 2022 and finished it last Friday. As irritating as the book's content was, I had a lot of fun writing this whole piece. Hopefully you all will like it or at least get something out of it.
I've posted it in in 6 parts on WordPress, for anyone who might be interested in reading it. It can be found here: https://jesuisgourde.wordpress.com/2...traces-part-1/
(Again, for transparency's sake, this is not my FDF account. I am borrowing a friend's login because new account registration here has been closed for a very long time. You can find me on most social media sites with the username 'jesuisgourde'.) |
I've only recently gotten around to reading Withdrawn Traces - maybe because I'm back in a bit of a 'Manics mode' lately - and couldn't believe how bad it is.
If I was being kind, I'd describe it as a massive missed opportunity - especially to paint a more human and accurate representation of Richey. If I was being honest, I'd describe it as the work of two utter hacks - full of lies, misinformation and nonsensical ramblings.
Reading the book motivated me to look it up on here as I was intrigued to read a few other opinions, which in turn lead me to reading your essays and examinations. What you've produced is a truly impressive volume of myth busting, debunking and outright bullshit detecting, and I commend you for it. Your research is exhaustively comprehensive - making even more of a mockery of the authors own hack work.
In a literary sense, you've rubbed Roberts and Noakes faces in their own vomit and forced them to look in the mirror. Well done.