Renegade

The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith

Mark E. Smith

The first autobiography by the legendary leader of The Fall

Still going after thirty years, The Fall are one of the most distinctive British bands, 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. For the first time we get to 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 has endured prison in America, drugs, bankruptcy, divorce and the often bleak results of a legendary thirst.

Mark E. Smith grew up in Prestwich, Manchester. He founded The Fall at the age of nineteen and for thirty years has been the hub around which the band has operated. The term 'living legend' is used too easily, but in the case of Mark E. Smith it is entirely appropriate.