Excavate!

The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall

By: Tessa Norton, Bob Stanley

Narrated by: Dean Williamson, Maxine Peake, Pat Nevin

THE LOUDER THAN WAR #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR
A ROUGH TRADE, THE TIMES, MOJO, UNCUT, THE HERALD BOOK OF THE YEAR

This is not a book about a rock band. This is not even a book about Mark E Smith. This is a book about The Fall group - or more precisely, their world.

'To 50,000 Fall Fans: please buy this inspired ### inspiring, profound ### provocative, beautiful ### bonkers Book of Revelations.'
DAVID PEACE

'Mind blowing . . . there is so much to enjoy in this brilliant book.'
TIM BURGESS

'A container sized treasure trove . . . I strongly advise you to buy it.'
MAXINE PEAKE

'The most wonderful, unashamedly intellectual, pretentious, ridiculous, exciting hymn to this incredible group.'
ANDY MILLER, BACKLISTED

Over a prolific forty-year career, the Fall created a world that was influential, idiosyncratic and fiercely original - and defied simple categorisation.

Their frontman and lyricist Mark E. Smith spun opaque tales that resisted conventional understanding### the Fall's worldview was an education in its own right. Who wouldn't want to be armed with a working knowledge of M. R. James, shipping-dock procedures, contemporary dance, Manchester City and Can? The group inspired and shaped the lives of those who listened to and tried to make sense of their work.

Bringing together previously unseen artwork, rare ephemera and handwritten material, alongside essays by a slate of fans, EXCAVATE! is a vivid, definitive record - an illumination of the dark corners of the Fall's wonderful and frightening world.

©2021 Tessa Norton (P)2021 Faber & Faber

The total lack of any information about Mark or the band

Almost entirely unbearable. Impossibly pretentious. Full of total speculation and faux scholarliness. It might’ve been an interesting book if they had written anything about Mark or the bands. As a frighteningly devoted fan of The Fall I can honestly encourage you to skip this one, sadly.

Essays by wannabe guardian journalists..

Dreadful just dreadful.. How has this got four stars? An awful lot of pretentious rubbish with occasional references to the fall..

Frustratingly pretentious

This book is less about Mark E Smith than it is about the writers performing a pretentious academic wankfest :( I bailed halfway through.

The Physical Book

The other reviewers sum this book up fairly well. The writting is not what anyone is looking for, but the hard cover book is filled with great pictures, and that in itself makes the Physical book worth purchasing.