good read - Rated 
most of the info i think comes from terry mason, a JD roadie who knew ian and the band well and participated in various pranks with them. some great insights from vini reilly and genesis P-orridge too, who ian seemed to open up to more than anyone else. ian gave vini an explanation of the lyrics to "the eternal" - about a disabled person who played with children near ian's house. gave me a whole new insight into that song, and just what a great person ian was. there are also contributions from ian's mother and sister. there are plenty of pics here (young and older ian) and letters he wrote to annik. along with debbie's book, i guess there is nothing more to be said. too sad, really. rip ian.
Torn both ways? - Rated 
Quite an interesting insight to the life of Ian Curtis - although I cant really work out whether is it ex Mrs Wilson or Middles who is contrbuting the most to this book..As said before, there is an ever increasing curiosty for all things Joy Division at the moment - which will get even stronger when 'Control' comes out in the autumn.
To be honest, I enjoyed 'Touching From a Distance' much more than this book, that to me was a personal, heartrending insight into living with and being with Ian Curtis. I doubt anyone apart from his familt could really write a truer account of his life.
A good read, but my advice is to read Deborah Curtis's book also..
More Bandwagon Jumping. - Rated 
There seems to be an ever increasing interest in Joy Division with each passing year, it is inevitable therefore that there will also be a succession of people cashing in on their links to the band and Ian Curtis. This book relies heavily on the memories of peripheral people many of whom appear to have had only the most tenuous links to the band. It is noticable that none of New Order or Rob Gretton's widow were contacted in the making of the book although it was they who were amongst the people who knew Ian the most intimately prior to his death.
The book oscillates between outright sycophancy (a common feature of biographies of this sort) and sheer banality. Reading this book is a real chore. It should be treated in the same way as 24 Hour Party People - merely based around real people with a large dash of fiction thrown in. Everybody seems to wnat to cement their place in the history of the Manchester music scene and Lindsay Reade is no exception. Formerly married to Tony Wilson she shares his indulgance in elevating their involvement in the evolution of the Manchester music scene (Wilson it was who without consulting other members of Factory Records turned down Oasis).
Wrong order - Rated
I have never come across a book with so many grammatical errors, which is a shame as it detracts from an otherwise well written and insightful book.
Scatology is just a part of it - Rated
There are some thoughtful and thorough reviews already on here that you don't usually get, even for Jane Austen, and I agree with much of what is said. In the book there are several stories about the band's proclivity for scatalogically minded japes that are a bit boring (disapointing even), but that's one way to have fun. There is much that is truly fascinating, including the effect of Ian's epilepsy on his life, the sheer hard work involved in being an indy band way back then, and the role of Martin Hannett in creating the sound that will live for ever. Most of all, Ian comes across as a thoroughly nice bloke, with his heart on his albeit guarded sleeve, and with higher values that truly transcended the situation he found himself in. I found that important, even though as a total fan I don't need any confirmation. But here was someone to admire, for his artistic purity, not just some chancer who got lucky by hitting the zeitgeist. Why else do we respond to his music (or lyrics anyway) as we do, now as much as then, if he had not tapped into some deep truths about all our conditions? This book helps explain some of that, better than the equally reccomendable Deborah Curtis book (that is good partly because it has all the lyrics in it). Buy and read. This will take you straight back to all the recordings, with new ears.
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