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A review by itsgg
Anger is an Energy: My Life Uncensored by John Lydon
I'm only about 1/4 through this book, but I'm not sure I'm going to finish it. First of all, it's tough to get through because of all the antique British slang: Yobs, demob suits, teddy boys, the Paddies... I suppose I could stop to google all of these but then the going would be even slower.
Secondly, Lydon introduces characters and events with no factual context, as if you should already know who they are and why they are significant. I haven't read any other books about the Sex Pistols, who were slightly before my time (I was born in 1974), so when he begins a chapter with (for example) "We didn't even ask for the Bill Grundy Today show thing" and then proceeds to discuss it in detail, the reader is left to wonder what "the Bill Grundy Today show thing is" and why it matters. Elsewhere, characters are introduced by first name only with no historical context of who they are in relation to Lydon. He introduces topics by railing against something apparently erroneous that other people have said about people and past events, without even telling us what was said that made him so incensed.
All of this, combined with the fact that it's 500+ pages of Lydon's grating writing style, which attempts to sound extremely casual but just comes across as self-conscious, makes it a very disappointing read so far. I may pick at it until my library Kindle loan expires, but I don't see myself finishing it.
Secondly, Lydon introduces characters and events with no factual context, as if you should already know who they are and why they are significant. I haven't read any other books about the Sex Pistols, who were slightly before my time (I was born in 1974), so when he begins a chapter with (for example) "We didn't even ask for the Bill Grundy Today show thing" and then proceeds to discuss it in detail, the reader is left to wonder what "the Bill Grundy Today show thing is" and why it matters. Elsewhere, characters are introduced by first name only with no historical context of who they are in relation to Lydon. He introduces topics by railing against something apparently erroneous that other people have said about people and past events, without even telling us what was said that made him so incensed.
All of this, combined with the fact that it's 500+ pages of Lydon's grating writing style, which attempts to sound extremely casual but just comes across as self-conscious, makes it a very disappointing read so far. I may pick at it until my library Kindle loan expires, but I don't see myself finishing it.