Reams of stuff have been written about me in the past, but never in my own words: this is the proper one' Mark E. Smith Still going after thirty years, The Fall are one of the most distinctive British bands, their music - odd, spare, cranky and circular - an acknowledged influence on The Smiths, The Happy Mondays, Nirvana and Franz Ferdinand. And Mark E. Smith IS The Fall. For the first time we get to hear his full, 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 has endured prison in America, drugs, bankruptcy, divorce and the often bleak results of a legendary thirst.