New Richey book due - a novel this time

[Slideling]

Originally Posted by Ermintrude_the_Cow

Myers also makes a lot of 'Richard' feeling that his personality has been taken over by "Richey Manic;" but the book concentrates solely on that "Richey Manic" person and his traits

Yeah, exactly! I'm glad someone else has said what I've been thinking. I like it when writers add more layers, even at the risk that they might get who they're writing about wrong. I feel as if Ben tried hard to play it safe in order to please others (not sure who, but I wish to point out, I do think Richey had flaws, but some people only take it as far as saying his inability to cope and being too hard on himself were his main flaws.)

I feel the same about my own writing, actually, I worry I don't flesh out people's characters much, because the two dimensional portraits I've seen of them are a lot more convenient to me and don't cause me any internal conflicts. I write about the Manics, and I consider it to be my main interest.

[Little Troll]

Originally Posted by Ermintrude_the_Cow

I also couldn't warm to the character of "Richard." To me, he wasn't Richey - and the rest of them were drawn so 2-dimensionally that I just didn't get a feel for their relationships etc. Given how close Richey was to his family and the band (esp. Nicky) I felt a lot of that warmth was missing.

I definitely agree about the other characters - they aren't portrayed as best friends, just as work colleagues or something, like people he has to see because they're in the band with him but doesn't really care about. There's no depth given to them.

[MarilynRoxie]

This is from back in May 2010, but I don't think it's been shared here - an interview with Ben Myers from Mike Frankel of Dead Kids appearing in Beat the Dust: http://www.beatthedust.com/downloads...ue-may2010.pdf

[Little Troll]

I finally finished it!
I have mixed feelings, haha. Some bits I really liked but some bits I absolutely hated.

[StarBright]

I was compelled to read this but it really is just trash and very much an opportunity to exploit. The people I want to talk about Richey are the remaining manics.

[Slideling]

There's a new cover:



I prefer the one where the picture that was used wasn't so tweaked with.

[Lydia]

Can he really be described as a reluctant pop idol? I mean, I don't think he liked the attention towards the end, but at the start he was defunitely all about selling out and being as big as possible. That's hardly reluctant. I doubt he wanted to be the martyr he became, but that's hardly the same thing.

Also, that cover is seriously fugly. The old one was much nicer. Not nice enough to make me actually buy it, but still

[Slideling]

The words 'pop idol' are just funny to me, TBH. But yeah, I also doubt he was reluctant about getting recognition when he was in the band. It's also funny when you compare it with how much he's been accused of seeking attention.

[keeley]

The second (and final) Manics fans interview with Ben Myers is up at the Cult of Richey site now: http://cultofrichey.com/2011/05/21/m...myers-part-ii/

[Little Troll]

Originally Posted by keeley

The second (and final) Manics fans interview with Ben Myers is up at the Cult of Richey site now: http://cultofrichey.com/2011/05/21/m...myers-part-ii/

Thank you, I've been looking forwards to this

[exopotamie]

in Richard I made an anecdotal reference to Nicky Wire having a large penis, a claim that was unfounded and unsubstantiated,

Mr. Myers could easily have asked a number of fans who were in the audience at a certain gig...

[hummingbird]

finally read it. The ending was ridiculous. I assume he lifted all his info from interviews? Cos his portrayal of Sean was non existant. Sean aparently talks to no-one and spends all his time with headphones on playing video games

[Rudolph]

Sean Moore - forever staring out of windows and eating crisps.

[Benny Hiroshima]

Read it and absolutely hated it from beginning to end.

"Middle of the road, fence sitting and a pile of shit" should have been the quote on the cover. I mean why the fuckness would someone put together a semi-fictional account of a real person? Either write a complete work of fiction (which requires an imagination, difficult I know) or put together a biography. But for the love of Richard Nixon, don't do both. It looks lazy, inept and sloppy.

Overall this book did not offer any real insight or depth on the perils of being in a successful rock band, mental illness or one of the 20th century's greatest writers/poets.
It ranks up there with that shite fictional book on Princess Diana, where she was living in America.

The only merit in this book, is that it makes me appreciate good writing all the more.

Surely someone out there must be capable of putting together a decent book about Richey?

[Ermintrude the Cow]

Originally Posted by Benny Hiroshima

Read it and absolutely hated it from beginning to end.

"Middle of the road, fence sitting and a pile of shit" should have been the quote on the cover. I mean why the fuckness would someone put together a semi-fictional account of a real person? Either write a complete work of fiction (which requires an imagination, difficult I know) or put together a biography. But for the love of Richard Nixon, don't do both. It looks lazy, inept and sloppy.

Overall this book did not offer any real insight or depth on the perils of being in a successful rock band, mental illness or one of the 20th century's greatest writers/poets.
It ranks up there with that shite fictional book on Princess Diana, where she was living in America.

The only merit in this book, is that it makes me appreciate good writing all the more.

Surely someone out there must be capable of putting together a decent book about Richey?

The problem is, doing any kind of book on the Manics is a thankless task because whatever someone says, the fanbase will always pick it apart. I'm sure to someone who knows v little about him and isn't as "close" to the whole thing the book was probably quite enjoyable...