Re: Father Figure (was Re: RARA-AVIS: Positions still open)

From: John Williams (johnwilliams@ntlworld.com)
Date: 13 Aug 2008

  • Next message: DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net: "RARA-AVIS: "halfassed blackmail plot""

    > By the way, John, I recently read your Faithless and enjoyed it
    > immensely. Although I circulated on the periphery of the US punk and
    > postpunk circles, unlike the book's London setting, the great little
    > bits about the scene and record collecting still resonated, gave me a
    > lot of laughs. I also liked how you threaded the few crime elements
    > through the book, as the ramifications of the halfassed blackmail plot
    > near the beginning would occasionally reappear, or be inflated in the
    > memory of the narrator. So Ross was based on Green Garthside, right?
    > (I was really proud of picking that up with the mention of a song titled
    > GrammeATology.)
    >

    Good spot Mark. Green is most certainly is. I wrote and edited a fanzine back in 1978 and we were very keen on the early Scritti Politti and very self-indulgently betrayed when he went all pop on us. And as you doubtless suspect I served my time working in the second hand record stores of Camden Town, which provided plenty of comedy material. It's the one book I've written with bits of auotobiog in it. It also sees me learning to plot on the job, thus the exceedingly halfassed blackmail plot.

    John



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