Mark E. Smith’s Essential Reads: Books That Shaped The Fall’s Frontman
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Mark E. Smith was never one for convention—whether in music, interviews, or his literary tastes. The Fall’s frontman was an avid reader, drawing inspiration from an eclectic mix of books that shaped his lyrics and worldview. From classic literature to obscure philosophy, his reading habits were as unpredictable as his music. This list explores some of the books that influenced MES—whether he praised them in interviews, referenced them in lyrics, or simply had them stacked on his shelves.
August 15, 1981 edition of NME. “Portrait of the Artist as a Consumer”
READS
Gulcher – Richard Meltzer A Small Town in Germany – John Le Carré A Scanner Darkly – Philip K. Dick The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The Deer Park – Norman Mailer The Black Room – Colin Wilson Ritual in the Dark – Colin Wilson Cogan’s Trade – George V. Higgins At the Mountains of Madness – H.P. Lovecraft Beyond Good and Evil – Frederich Nietzsche
AND U.S. Civil War Handbook – William H. Price How I Created Modern Music – D. McCulloch (a weekly serial) True Crime Monthly Private Eye Fibs About M.E. Smith by J. Cope (a pamphlet)
Mark E Smith's Favourite Reads
The Fall by Albert Camus
The Stranger The Stranger by Albert Camus
Gulcher: Post-Rock Cultural... Gulcher: Post-Rock Cultural Pluralism in America 1649-1993 by Richard Meltzer
A Small Town in Germany A Small Town in Germany by John le Carré
A Scanner Darkly A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
The Sirens of Titan The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
The Deer Park The Deer Park by Norman Mailer
The Black Room The Black Room by Colin Wilson
Ritual in the Dark Ritual in the Dark by Colin Wilson
Cogan's Trade Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins
At the Mountains of Madness At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
Beyond Good and Evil Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
The Bible - God? Colours Of My Life - Malcolm Allison The Drowned World - JG Ballard Borstal Boy - Brendan Behan The Book of Thel - William Blake Jerusalem, The Emanation of the Giant Albion - William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - William Blake Fascist Scotland - Gavin Bowd Cities of the Red Night - William S. Burroughs The Fall - Albert Camus The Outsider - Albert Camus Breakfast At Tiffany's - Truman Capote Sartor Resartus - Thomas Carlyle A Small Town in Germany - John Le Carre Journey To The End of the Night - Louis-Ferdinand Celine North - Louis-Ferdinand Celine Killer in the Rain - Raymond Chandler The Fall of Crete - Alan Clark The Divine Feud - Shaun Considine Book of Lies - Alesteir Crowley A Clown Too Many - Les Dawson The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick The Man Whose Teeth Were All The Same Size - Philip K. Dick A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick Time Out Of Joint - Philip K. Dick The Circle - Dave Eggars British Tastes: an enquiry into the likes and dislikes of the regional consumer - D. Elliston Allen Faust - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol The Nose - Nikolai Gogol The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula Le Guin Hunger - Knut Hamsun No Retreat - Dave Hann and Steve Tilzey The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris Kingdom of Evil - Ben Hecht Tor!: The Story of German Football - Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger Cogan's Trade - George V. Higgins The Friends of Eddie Coyle - George V. Higgins Ghost Stories - M. R James Casting the Runes - M. R James Ubu Le Roi - Alfred Jarry My Autobiography - Kevin Keegan The Shining - Stephen King Immortality - Milan Kundera The Joke - Milan Kundera The Seven Pillars of Wisdom - T. E. Lawrence The Knight, Death and the Devil - Ella Leffland The Apes of God - Wyndham Lewis Blast 1 - Wyndham Lewis Rotting Hill - Wyndham Lewis Rude Assignment: An Intellectual Autobiography - Wyndham Lewis At the Mountains of Madness - H.P. Lovecraft The Call Cthulhu - H.P. Lovecraft The Colour Out of Space - H. P. Lovecraft The Dunwich Horror - H.P. Lovecraft Ultramarine - Malcolm Lowry Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry Shoot the Women First - Eileen MacDonald The Great God Pan - Arthur Machen The Novel of the White Powder - Arthur Machen The Deer Park - Norman Mailer Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe Gulcher: Post-Rock Cultural Pluralism in America - Richard Meltzer Mank: The Wit, World, and Life of Herman Mankiewicz - Richard Meryman The Warhound and the World's Pain - Michael Moorcock Bend Sinister - Vladimir Nabokov Beyond Good and Evil - Friedrich Nietzsche Thus Spake Zarathustra - Friedrich Niezsche Burmese Days - George Orwell Shooting An Elephant - George Orwell The Morning of the Magicians - Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe U.S. Civil War Handbook - William H. Price The Dice Man - Luke Rhinehart Blindness - Jose Saramago The Illuminatus! Trilogy - Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson Frankenstein - Mary Shelley The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William Shirer Satan in Goray - Isaac Bashevis Singer The Adventures of Luther Arkwright - Bryan Talbot Pan Book(s) of Horror Stories (anthologies) - ed. Herbert Von Thal 1280 - Jim Thompson The Getaway - Jim Thompson The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh The Fighting Barbel - Peter Wheat The Black Room - Colin Wilson The God of the Labyrinth - Colin Wilson The Outsider - Colin Wilson Ritual in the Dark - Colin Wilson In God's Name - David Yallop The Deepening Pool - Peter YatesThe Fall of Crete - Alan Clark The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick Killer in the Rain - Raymond Chandler
