Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith

The only way to truly appreciate the legendary Mark E. Smith is to encounter the man in his own words.

'Ranting, raging, burning...relentlessly splenetic, a long and sustained rant... may also be the funniest music book ever written' - Observer

'Unutterably funny... a riot of aimings and blamings and score-settlings. Smith manages to have a right laugh, and reveal himself as a figure of dazzling sociological import' - Independent on Sunday

The Fall are one of the most distinctive British bands ever, 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 — 66 members came and went over the years, yet he remained its charismatic leader until his death in 2018.

'If it's me and your granny on bongos, it's The Fall.' - Mark E. Smith

Mark was a professional outsider and an all-round enemy of compromise, a true enigma. There have been several biographies of the legendary Smith, but this marks the first time he opened up in a full autobiography. For the first time, we hear his complete, 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 endured prison in America, drugs, bankruptcy, divorce, and the often bleak results of a legendary thirst.

'Remarkable, brilliant. A provocative joy. Smith's rant gushes like a furious fountain of razor-sharp invective over his childhood and the early days of The Fall, relationships/marriage, the record industry/musicians and his views on everything from football to mobile phones, from drinking and drugs to driving, from books to bankruptcy, from Paul Morley to pubs. Unbeatable' - Time Out

'Engrossing, exhausting, dense with fascinating detail. As both memoir and cultural history, *Renegade* is a remarkable achievement' - Daily Telegraph