Customer Reviews
Thanks to the family - By: A. I. McCulloch, 29 Dec 2008 
One of the joys of listening to both John Peel's Music (as I didin the 70s & 80s on BFBS) & Home Truths was that you were never sure what was coming next. In listing the articles alphabetically, rather than chronologically, John's family have captured that experiencein print. The vagaries of titling lead one from Disc to Sounds to The Guardian, The Independent & The Radio Times, hoppingin time from the early 70s to pieces written shortly before John's death. These then, are non-chronological chronicles. Very Peelian.
John's writing style matured with him; some of the early pieces are very much of their time, with bizarre phrases thrownin at random. John never missed the chance to talk football, specifically Liverpool, so many pieces lead one unexpectedlyin that direction. There is a good index, which will no doubt prove useful as one tries to track down an amusing comment to read again.
Margrave of the Marshes, John's biography, was & is a wonderful book, all the more remarkable for being only partially written by John. This is pure John. I couldn't help wondering if there would be more to come. Not too many of John's Radio Times columns were featured, & I can remember that they were the reason I chose the RT over 'the other listings magazines that are available'. Many weeks I wiped away tears at John's musings. Could the family - or the BBC - have something else yet to come for us?
A mIxed Bag - By: Mr. Peter Steward, 18 Dec 2008 
Peel was always something of an enigma - very much the maverick, trend setting DJ but also strangely part of the establishment & that comes outin this book, which collects together many of his articles & columns for a variety of sources from Disc & Sounds magazines to the Radio Times.
The fact that the articles are notin chronological order tends to lead to confusion as you suddenly realise that he has jumped 20 years. Peel's strengths werein writing about music & it's interestingin the cold light of day to look back on his musings on the likes of the Fall & Captain Beefheart.
Unfortunately his general writing can be very obtuse & quite aggressive & I found this at times quite confusing & even obtuse. There is no doubt that when Peel died we lost a gem of a man who brought so much raw & new music to the public's attention. Sadly his columns written on his old Olivetti typewriter (hence the title) are not quite the art form that publications employing him would have us believe. And I have to put him right on one aspect. He regularly refers to Ipswich as a city. Ipswich is a town, it has never been awarded city status.
Great Stuff - By: Richard Casburn, 01 Dec 2008 A great nostalgic read. Perfect for the 40 somethings who can recall many of the events featuredin the articles which were writtenin the 70s. It will jog your memory to forgotten bands, such as Snafu. I can remember them playing the Ipswich Gaumont around 1975. Livingin Suffolk, I still find it hard to believe that John is not around, I used to see him accommpanying Sheila to matches at Portman Road on occasions. Such a great man.
The best book since the last one - By: Dave, 23 Oct 2008 I loved the last John Peel book, Margrave of the Marshes, & was horribly sad to think there could never be another one. Well, happily, I was wrong. Here is another one. A whole volume of Mr Peel's finest writings from over the years on all sorts of brilliant, bizarre & very Peelie subjects. A complete & utter joy from start to finish. You need thisin your life!
Ipswich - a black hole. - By: Moony, 22 Oct 2008 
I read the article entitled Ipswich, from this collection the other day, on the basis that i was born & brought up there. It details a Peel DJ gigin the town....in which nobody turns up. He is back home & having his dinner by 9.30 having turned the wheels of steel to no-one at all. This just about sums up my disdain for my home townin terms of cultural pursuits & its inability to embrace anything at all beyond Jim Davidson & Frankie & Benny style chain diners. Its a black hole for entertainment & enjoyment. So its funny that Peel should have lived so close to it. Whats the rest of the book like? What do you think? Its Peel. He's the don. Stick it on your chuffing christmas list.
