The Washington Post - Justin Moyer
…in Unknown Pleasures Hook wrestles with Joy Division's failure to recognize the obvious: that the sick young man singing songs center stage about death was actually ready to die. It's compelling.
Publishers Weekly
One of the progenitors of what became alternative rock, Joy Division pioneered a sound that would reverberate for decades, inspiring a litany of bands in its wake. The recording career of the band was tragically cut short by the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis . Founding member and bassist Peter Hook recounts the history of Joy Division, offering insight, righting wrongs, and separating fact from fiction. Hook is humble and affable (he's the first to admit he's not the world's greatest bass player), and his tone is more like that of a lengthy discussion with a pal at the pub, rather than a studied, academic assessment of the band and its legacy. This warts-and-all approach results in a warm, occasionally melancholy reminiscence, as Hook discusses the band's process, as well as its members' willful ignorance of Curtis's declining mental state. While the book ends on a sad note, Hook's fond recollection of various moments in Joy Division's short life, such as meeting a young U2, wrestling with a temperamental van on early tours, and a track-by-track commentary on the band's albums (he recommends readers put on the album in question when reading about Closer and Unknown Pleasures) will likely give readers a deeper appreciation for the people behind the music. Hook has written one of the warmest, most honest musical memoirs in recent memory. Agent: Matthew Elblonk of DeFiore & Co. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
An NPR Best Book of 2013 — NPR
A SPIN Best Music Book of 2013 — Spin
The most colorful and intimate account of Joy Division ever written . . . Hook evokes the spirit of the age with a bluff authenticity that no outsider could hope to emulate…explaining the creation of his band’s remarkable music with all the passion and insight it deserves. — Keith Cameron, MOJO
“A bittersweet, profanity-filled recollection of their brief existence . . . recalled with Hook’s winning Manc gallows humor . . . If you like Joy Division you really have to read it.” — Ian Harrison, Q Magazine
“An immense account of Joy Division’s rise, cataloguing the group’s struggle for recognition, their rapidly gained superiority on the Manchester scene and the epic numbness following Ian Curtis’ shock suicide. Having read Hook’s book, you’ll feel like you were he fifth member of the band.” — GQ (UK)
“It’s a window like no other into the reality of life in this most aloof of bands.” — Metro London
“Vivid, funny, and unexpectedly touching, Peter Hook’s memoir strips away the shroud of myth surrounding Joy Division to offer a refreshingly gritty perspective on the story of four ordinary young men who together made extraordinary music.” — Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-84
“Unflinchingly honest . . . Hook peels away the romantic sheen colored by its dark history and gives unfettered insight into the band’s origins and inspirations . . . this is required reading for anyone who ever felt moved by Joy Division’s cold, dark music.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A tiny gem written by a monster musician. It’s the best document yet to be produced on Joy Division. There’s nothing like hearing the story straight from Hooky’s foul mouth.” — Rock Cellar Magazine
“Honest, punchy, and rough-hewn . . . a portal into a vivid moment in rock history . . . the life and times of a working band . . . and, in the middle of it all, the transformative power of music.” — Los Angeles Times
. The passages where Hook details the recording of the Unknown Pleasures album are fantastic and insightful . . . . the book itself is gorgeous. . . — A.V. Club, The Onion
“A surprisingly funny-and gleefully profane-portrait.” — Entertainment Weekly
“Rich in detail.” — LA Weekly
“A comprehensive, illuminating portrait of the band that often takes the piss out of its doom-ridden legacy.” — Cincinnati City Beat
“Intimate.” — San Francisco Chronicle
“Like talking to a bawdy uncle after his fourth beer. Apparently being in the saddest post-punk art-goth band in history can occasionally be pretty fucking funny.” — MTV Hive
With Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division fans can finally hear the band’s story from someone who was there from the very beginning-iconic bassist Peter Hook.” — SF Weekly
You don’t have to be a hardcore fan of Joy Division or New Order to appreciate Hook’s wry evocation of Britain’s 1970s punk scene and his street-level remembrance of the tragedy and ecstasy . . . that went into building the foundation for the next few decades’ alternative rock scene. — Neda Ulaby, NPR Best Books of the Year
Simon Reynolds
Vivid, funny, and unexpectedly touching, Peter Hook’s memoir strips away the shroud of myth surrounding Joy Division to offer a refreshingly gritty perspective on the story of four ordinary young men who together made extraordinary music.
|Los Angeles Times
Honest, punchy, and rough-hewn . . . a portal into a vivid moment in rock history . . . the life and times of a working band . . . and, in the middle of it all, the transformative power of music.
Rock Cellar Magazine
A tiny gem written by a monster musician. It’s the best document yet to be produced on Joy Division. There’s nothing like hearing the story straight from Hooky’s foul mouth.
Keith Cameron
The most colorful and intimate account of Joy Division ever written . . . Hook evokes the spirit of the age with a bluff authenticity that no outsider could hope to emulate…explaining the creation of his band’s remarkable music with all the passion and insight it deserves.
NPR
An NPR Best Book of 2013
GQ (UK)
An immense account of Joy Division’s rise, cataloguing the group’s struggle for recognition, their rapidly gained superiority on the Manchester scene and the epic numbness following Ian Curtis’ shock suicide. Having read Hook’s book, you’ll feel like you were he fifth member of the band.
Metro London
It’s a window like no other into the reality of life in this most aloof of bands.
Ian Harrison
A bittersweet, profanity-filled recollection of their brief existence . . . recalled with Hook’s winning Manc gallows humor . . . If you like Joy Division you really have to read it.
Spin
A SPIN Best Music Book of 2013
Los Angeles Times
Honest, punchy, and rough-hewn . . . a portal into a vivid moment in rock history . . . the life and times of a working band . . . and, in the middle of it all, the transformative power of music.
Cincinnati City Beat
A comprehensive, illuminating portrait of the band that often takes the piss out of its doom-ridden legacy.
Entertainment Weekly
A surprisingly funny-and gleefully profane-portrait.
LA Weekly
Rich in detail.
Neda Ulaby
You don’t have to be a hardcore fan of Joy Division or New Order to appreciate Hook’s wry evocation of Britain’s 1970s punk scene and his street-level remembrance of the tragedy and ecstasy . . . that went into building the foundation for the next few decades’ alternative rock scene.
A.V. Club
. The passages where Hook details the recording of the Unknown Pleasures album are fantastic and insightful . . . . the book itself is gorgeous. . .
San Francisco Chronicle
Intimate.
MTV Hive
Like talking to a bawdy uncle after his fourth beer. Apparently being in the saddest post-punk art-goth band in history can occasionally be pretty fucking funny.
SF Weekly
With Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division fans can finally hear the band’s story from someone who was there from the very beginning-iconic bassist Peter Hook.
San Francisco Chronicle
Intimate.
Kirkus Reviews
The propulsive bass guitarist for Joy Division puts his fingers on the beating pulse of one of the U.K.'s most influential bands. After the cinematic portrayals of the band's tragic central figure Ian Curtis in the films 24 Hour Party People and Control, it's easy to lose track of their central influences. In an unflinchingly honest memoir, Hook (The Hacienda: How Not to Run a Club, 2009) peels away the romantic sheen colored by its dark history and gives unfettered insight into the band's origins and inspirations, as well as its comedies and tragedies. From Hook's first vision of the Sex Pistols, the young musician-to-be was hooked. After recruiting mates Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris, they sought out the sensitive, artistic Curtis to lead them forward. Hook captures his lead singer well: "A poetic, sensitive, tortured soul, the Ian Curtis of the myth--he was definitely that. But he could also be one of the lads--he was one of the lads, as far as we were concerned." What the author does even better is to remember the whole outrageous scene, from the tabloid outcry over the band's murky name to the explosive shows dominated by bands like The Clash and Throbbing Gristle. Even the expected recollection of writing "Love Will Tear Us Apart" comes with decidedly unexpected truths. From the manifold perils of life on the road to his ongoing guilt over the band's treatment of Curtis, Hook never pulls a punch. Add in a comprehensive timeline and track-by-track notes on the band's two sole albums, and this is required reading for anyone who ever felt moved by Joy Division's cold, dark music. Electric transmissions from a bygone era, etched in blood by someone who was there in body and spirit.
