Out There :: This Charming Man

Morrissey's "Autobiography" (Penguin Classics) is to typical pop-star memoirs as "Bleak House" is to the Kardashians. We know we are in the hands of a natural born writer from its very first pages, about Stephen Patrick Morrissey's childhood in the hardscrabble North of England. "Birds abstain from song in post-war industrial Manchester, where the 1960s will not swing, and where the locals are the opposite of worldly."

When the paperback deal was announced, there was some general guff expressed about its immediate induction into the Penguin Classics series, unusual for a contemporary memoir. But the reason for its inclusion in this storied imprint becomes clear upon reading. Dense and full of illustrative detail, it reminded Out There of the thick tomes of Victorian literature captured in squat Penguin paperbacks that we read in grad school.

The book's first hundred pages (there are no chapter divisions) describe Morrissey's miserable beginnings. He also fairly extensively catalogs the poetry and music that mattered to him. In the former category, he cites and gives exegesis to W.H. Auden , A.E. Housman, and, supremely, Oscar Wilde. In the latter, we get paeans to the New York Dolls, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Jobriath, and the Ramones. "Bare-chested in tight silver pants, Iggy defined the new manhood that the world so badly needed, lest we die beneath the wheels of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. 'Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell' has a quality of emotion in line with Paul Robeson, and this is why I am still writing about it 40 years on."

Finally, on p. 141, he is set up as on a blind date with guitarist Johnny Marr, and the die is cast: The Smiths are born. The Moz proceeds to chronicle the stupidities and rampant greed attendant to record companies specifically and, in general, corporate capitalism. We never would have suspected that M. cared quite so much about where on the charts his latest single landed, but there's rather a lot of score-keeping about Billboard and the like in these pages. Oddly, the Smiths breakup is mentioned only in passing, dealt with perfunctorily in one paragraph. The later High Court trial in which his bandmates sued for a share of royalties is extensively dissected, and the 60 or so pages devoted to a bitter take-down of the trial are Morrissey's revenge and the book's nadir. Judge John Weeks' ruling is refuted clause by clause, blow by blow. "Beware, I bear more grudges/than lonely High Court judges."

Still, the Moz cannot be faulted for lacking self-knowledge. "Whenever I'd overhear how people found me to be 'a bit much' (which is a gentle way of saying the word 'unbearable'), I understood why. To myself I would say: Well, yes, of course I'm a bit much - if I weren't, I would not be lit up by so many lights." And for a public figure who has long been coy about his sex life, he is surprisingly forthcoming about his romantic connections. "Conversation is the bond of companionship (according to the Wilde an scripture), and Jake and I neither sought nor needed company other than our own for the whirlwind stretch to come, and for the first time in my life the eternal 'I' becomes 'we,' as finally, I can get on with someone." The hills, it appears, are not always alive with celibate cries, and Jake seems a babe.

P.S.: Hat tip to fellow Moz fan Matthew S. Bajko, who pointed us to some fantastic creations by fan Kate Park, who has knit several versions of a Morrissey doll and is selling them online. There he is, in beguiling pose in the orchard, on the sofa bed. Park even has a Johnny Marr doll. giving the important former bandmate his due. Because there ain't never going to be a Smiths reunion, that's for sure.

Still 'Looking'

"Looking" cast members were in the house last Tuesday night at the Castro Theatre for the premiere of the HBO series' second season. Actors Raul Castillo, Murray Bartlett, Frankie J. Alvarez , Jonathan Groff and others graced the movie palace, and then the Terra nightclub downtown for the afterparty. Out There enjoyed the Looking episodes and the glamorous soiree, and wants to personally thank the HBO publicity team for the new season's slogan referencing us, "There's more Out There." Yes, there certainly is.

Finally, we have advance word on the 13th Noir City film festival at the Castro Theatre, "Til Death Do Us Part," playing Jan. 16-25: Namely, that it's the queerest year ever for the festival. In its first week, the films feature bisexual or gay actors including Cary Grant, Raymond Burr, Charles Laughton, Cesar Romero, and writer Arthur Laurents. Our coverage begins this week, and continues with next week's issue.