Good Pop, Bad Pop: The Sunday Times bestselling hit from Jarvis Cocker

Description

The funny, revealing, surprising and highly original memoir from Jarvis Cocker **AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK** What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display? We all have a random collection of the things that made us - photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions- Who do you think you are? Are clothes important? Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here? From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process - writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft. This is not a life story. It's a loft story.

Jarvis Cocker is a musician & broadcaster from the north of England. He formed the band Pulp in 1978 whilst at secondary school. They went on to become one of the most successful UK groups of the 1990s. Between 2009 & 2017 he presented the BBC 6Music programme "Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service" as well as the ongoing, award-winning BBC Radio 4 documentary series "Wireless Nights". He has honorary doctorates from both Sheffield Hallam University & Central Saint Martin's School of Art (which he attended 1988-91). His lyric collection "Mother, Brother, Lover" was published by Faber in 2011. "Good Pop, Bad Pop " is his first work of long-form prose. He divides his time between Paris, London & the Peak District. His star-sign is Virgo.

Brilliant... accessible, pithy, lurid, entertaining, even laugh-out-loud funny... we can only hope that Cocker has enough tat for a second volume. * The Telegraph * Poignant in a subtle, understated way; Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time for the age of the Ford Cortina... This book is about a very normal childhood and the everyday detritus it left behind. Common people indeed. * The Times * Incredibly entertaining...a trip through the things that have made him who he is. * Evening Standard, *Books to Look Out For 2022* * Rummage through its pages - through the plastic and nylon, the tin and vinyl - and it's real gold, its shirts second-hand, of course, but its storytelling first class. * Sunday Times * Brilliant...Good Pop, Bad Pop is more than anyone dared hope for * i newspaper * Absolutely fabulous: at once very witty, self-depreciating and moving. * Evening Standard * Thoughtful and very funny... terrific * The Guardian * Engaging and evocative. He [Cocker] paints a vividly drab picture of the north of England under Thatcherism. And his book is beautiful to look at, too, set out like pop art. * Daily Express * Like a pop culture Proust... a testament to just how rich this junk is that Cocker can weave such a compelling take. * Record Collector * Insightful and delightful. * Hi-Fi Choice * Good Pop, Bad Pop... pulses with the thrilling energy of adolescence and early adulthood... Cocker uses his objects to tell real stories about the past, leaving in the dirt and disappointment around the moments of excitement. * Prospect * With laugh-out-loud passages of comedy and stylish illustrations... [this] is the story of how he [Cocker] made himself into who he is, his acquisition of a personal style and outlook... Hopefully we will not have to hang around long before his next trip to the loft. * Financial Times * Like little madeleines, each relic is offered up to the reader in the intimate, confiding voice familiar from Cocker's lyrics. * Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2022* * Good Pop, Bad Pop is a joy. * Choice * Good Pop, Bad Pop shows how he mapped out Pulp's path to glory at jumble sales and sparsely attended 1980s gigs... A winning formula on the page. * Uncut, *Book of the Year* * An entertaining quasi-memoir based on decluttering his loft. * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* * [A] nostalgic, playful, and beautifully designed book. * Daily Mail, *Christmas Gift Guide 2022* *