The OFFICIAL Stewart's book thread: SPOILER

[secretjourneyranch]

I am disappointed (not having read it) about the lack of Police.
Andy's book is absolutely incredible reading. Stewart really could have done a great job.

He kind of left the girl he came to the dance to alone.

Saying that these stories have all been told is a poor excuse.
They haven't been told by SC in a personal way.
And I learned a LOT from the Summers book thinking I already knew it all.

I am in the minority here, but I really lose interest in post 1989 Stewart.
I don't think I am the only one who wanted to hear SC's account of the biggest and most important part of his professional life.

I think I will completely agree with DM's account when I do read it, but I am seriously less interested in the darn thing now.

I feel like a traitor now...
Viva le Stew!!

[smudge]

Honestly, I'm not feeling the lack of Police problem. DirtyMartini may well be right about the latter parts of the book not making sense to a reader who isn't familiar with those few years (not least because I'm still trying to figure out what the hell that concluding chapter is trying to say), but the first iteration of that band IS just a few years. Sure, it was the few years that have defined the guy for the world at large, but I rather like the focus on other things - strange things indeed. This isn't an autobiography. It is a collection of tales, and those tales are for the most part pretty fascinating.

The opening letter reads like a plea for someone to get in touch. It doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of the piece, but it made sense on its own.

The rest (last chapter excepted) is akin to listening to a friend regaling you with stories of their weird exploits in areas geographical and experiential that are alien to you.

It's an odd book, but that seems appropriate.

ETA: Just to be clear - there's a shed load of police stuff in there, just not a lot of early stuff. Tourzilla is well covered.

[Dietmar]

last chapter: you too?
but experts form Harvard say it's positive...
Dietmar

[luddite lady]

To give my true opinion uninfluenced by those of others, I've decided to post my comments first and read this thread after. That means that some of my thoughts likely won't follow too well the thread of this, um, thread.
I'm not even close to done reading the book. I read the first four or five chapters and then skipped to the back and read a few there that really captured my interest. I like that the book is a series of short stories which facilitates such a reading.
So far, I find the book insightful and way different. It's not just a shopping list of all the cool things Stewart has done. We get invited inside his head through much of it and ponder the cultural and social meaning of celebrity, faded or otherwise, right along with him. Moreover, he offers a whole theory on the meaning of music. Yet it moves along at a quick pace and never indulges in out and out navel gazing. At least, not so far.
Okay, enough pin-headed stuff. The floozie deep within has something to say...Stewart devoted a whole chapter to showering in Toronto! I have absolutely no problem with that! He's right on the mark when he notes the differences between rock stardom and sports stardom. The shower isn't always the place to savour victory in the sports world. I'm not surprised that he came to this realization in the shower room of the ACC, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Yeah, Leafs. Hockey players spell worse than I do.) They have one of the worst records in professional hockey over the last forty or so years. Their shower room is bound to have a very heavy aura of defeat. Stewart must have picked up on that. And he must have been using the home team showers. He'd never have come up with those ideas in the visiting team showers, which simply ooze with a sense of victory.
I can't resist talking about punctuation. Stewart, ease up on the brackets, please. I'm guilty of their overuse when I write my drivel here, but this is just some little private site. In the real world, judicious use of brackets can add humour to a piece or provide nuance. However, when used too frequently, they make the writer look precious, or worse, lazy. If you want to say something, say it. Otherwise don't. In a later post I will talk about commas. Sadly, I'm serious.
Overall, I'm loving the book. Thanks Stewart.

[Pre-Legacy A152]

Having just finished "STRANGE THINGS..." , it will stay in my brain that we only get to read
this lovely book thanks to the clamoring of the readers of the Dinner Tales ...so molto grazie
to Team Italia, once again!
Just in case dear Stew-pots ever peruses reaction to his treasured volume here, I just want to
queue up officially with those who will inevitably be HOWLING FOR MORE....!!!
( Ah -whoo, pretty please?)

Many of my tons-o-questions were answered by the end, but there's so much more folks
would want to read about - I was wondering how the recording session came about that
produced the mini-EP-CD Peter Gabriel track that literally had me tearing up at the loss
of the Police when I heard his thundering at the end of "Across the River" ( I sadly put
that CD sleeve aside when told at Fopps that we could only have one other non-book item
signed , as i love it so ) And HOW on earth did recording with a flipping BEATLE not make
the editorial cut, where did those tracks end up? ( There were no Dinner Tales back in the
80's - no internet while we're at it-!)
The answer lies in Stewart's own explanation that he loves being in a band-so those
experiences stand out in his memories more than his guest appearances on other artists'
tracks-it's very telling WHAT he chooses to write about, shows what matter to him as
an artist-but , well, more books please? (HOWL)
And there's the matters that Miss Kellie wrote about as well that Id like to hear his take on too, etc etc..and how about the producer's wife that screamed out his name that got him involved with the Ben Hur project,(huh?) discuss the whole project in your hilarious way, please? And a little more about Animal Logic pls? ( HOWL)
Jeez, fans are never satisfied, are they ? Oink , Oink, I mean HOWL, but most importantly -
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR WRITING IT STEWART !!!!

[English-lion]

This feels so sinful reading this thread before I have the book! It's like peeking at your Christmas presents before Christmas

The floozie deep within has something to say...Stewart devoted a whole chapter to showering in Toronto!

2 more days 2 more days!!!!!!!!

[Susan]

A warm CONGRATULATIONS to STEWART for producing such an interesting read, one that got me to sit home on a rainy Sunday and not stop reading since early this morning. As I type these comments, I have no idea what anyone else has said--Kellie and I have had some conversations about the ever-changing page count, but otherwise I only read Giovanni's first post in the thread.

As I got closer to the end, I was clenching my teeth in suspense even though I know how the story ends. I went from lying on the sofa rather relaxed and even a bit sleepy (don't smite me, STEWART, I have had a long week and it's cold and rainy in NYC today). Suddenly I was sitting up, wide awake, absolutely unable to put the book down. I know the Police are going to break up again, I know the exact time and date. I was even there! But I could NOT put it down. When I have that reaction to a book, that's when I know I am in the clutches of a great story.

Now I have a better understanding of why it's the way it is. Pretty much what I had concluded already but still interesting to read it. I admit I've sometimes had a "get over it" reaction to some of Stewart's comments in interviews; where I'd want to say "well, this is why they call it WORK," but at the same time I know it is NOT fun nor is it productive to have someone picking apart your work especially when you're excellent at what you do and get excellent results--in the case of the Police tour, a lot of very happy fans.

I enjoyed reading about the Sundance "reunion," as I remember seeing newspaper coverage and a wonderful photo of the three of them (one of the photos made it into the back page of the tour program). I remember thinking "oh wow wouldn't it be great if they got together just one time? They look so happy here." I'm glad it really was as warm as it looked.

It was also fun to read about all these other parts of Stewart's life that we knew existed but I didn't know much about--the polo, the Italian connections, the start-up of Oysterhead. The part about 9/11 was a poignant reminder of how we were all vulnerable that day, and all the money and fame in the world doesn't help you when you just want to be sure your kid is okay. (If you're wondering why the call didn't come sooner, Jordan might have been trying for some time...phones were jammed and you couldn't even reach someone two blocks away).

That said, here are some "reviewer" comments: As with Sting's book, I felt this was incomplete in that we don't see much about the early days. A reader might wonder how they managed to put out five albums. (Sting's book doesn't say much about the Police after about 1978). This is not so much for our benefit; we know the story and have been reading other books, etc. I know it is a struggle to decide what to leave in and what to leave out and you can't make an encyclopedia out of it (sure, WE would be into it but the publisher isn't going to pay for that!) I will close now because in the line above, I typed "1878" then caught it before I hit the submit button. Must be time for a break!

Oh but wait--the ending! The FLAG! Well, for me, my participation was not "worship" in the sense that I do believe in God as in Father/Son/Holy Spirit, and not that Stewart is God. But I think Stewart hit the nail on the head when he talked about the sense of cooperation and community--and to be part of that among people who started out mostly as strangers was pretty special indeed.

[smudge]

OK. Cue a post that may get rocks thrown at my head, preceded by a reiteration that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

That last chapter is odd. I'm just an enthusiast, a fan I guess, and there's no way on earth that I can - or should pretend I can - understand what it feels like to be a person at the center of that much attention. It is possible to have a dim understanding of how uncomfortable it must be for a person to have thousands focussed on their every move. The theory that people look for ways to come together seems sound. The theory that in our vast human tribe, musicians, athletes, and even politicians (on a good day) provide a focus for that desire for collective action makes sense. Yes, we do herd.

In short I have no idea what it feels like to be a golden calf. There's no possibility that I ever will, but I see how it happens.

But the Flag? That's a whole other thing. Yeah, it gets capitalised here (for fun). Yes, there were rules (rituals if you will) associated with it - rules which were to do with it NOT becoming pain in the ass for the person it was being flapped at. As far as I understand it the reason that it was treated with a certain care was because it was a bonkers idea, it was fun, and there was a general sense that the fun and insanity should be available to all who wished to partake (limitations of international couriers permitting). People got teary-eyed looking at the back of it because they recognised names of people they'd communicated with but never met. In other words, the flag was 'revered' because we didn't want the people on the next continent to be pissed off with us for screwing up the chain letter.

If a game which was enjoyed by this rather random collection of people ended up being an obligation to the gentleman at whom we light-heartedly waved a bit of green material, that's a real shame. It was supposed to be fun for at least a third of the people on stage, as well as a bunch of - ahem - 'nutters'. We herded, certainly, but having re-read that chapter I'm thinking that instead of a cheery collection of benign herbivores, the author felt like he was being pursued by a wolf pack. In which case, don't bloomin' wave at the wolves, it just encourages them

Maybe I need to re-read the chapter for a third time, and grasp the fact that the author has the same chance of understanding the mindset of someone in the 20th row as the person in the 20th row has of understanding their's.

It's a fine, fun book. And I'm a very grateful enthusiast.

OK. Start flinging the rocks.

[Dietmar]

That last chapter troubled me, too, for a while.
I know that Stewart loved the flag thing.
But that chapter reads (to me at least) as if he didn't.
No sign of joy anywhere.
Just strange words and sentences without any personal feelings.
It's just badly written, I guess..

Dietmar

[Dietmar]

Sabine doesn't read it that way at all... and I know that others didn't.
But there are two ways to read it.
That the chapter is there at all speaks volumes in itself, it's just the execution that's not to my taste.

Dietmar

[smax]

as i've already said i loved the book, loved the chapters which sounded like a diary most, with reactions and twists, when the narrators voice sounded surprised as to what was happening; which i think is what i had hoped to read in the flag chapter, instead it feels as though waaaaay too much thought was applied.. mrs smax had to ask several times WTF he was talking about, and i think the chapter looks at the flagstuff at such an oblique angle that its hard to work out whether it was fun or even what happened...he didn't even mention me at Hyde Park which was clearly the highlight of the tour....

certainly i would like to to have more in there about the Police; they're in the title as a draw so more woulda been nice... i dont think any albums or singles or studios or tours or arguments or journeys or fans or tv slots are mentioned specifically at all which would really have grabbed my interest, the ES:TPIO narration is fine and made great sense on the screen illuminating the visuals, but feels a little disembodied on its own and possibly feels a little lazy to have not said more about the band (am i the first person ever to call SC lazy?!).

fair enough he has spoken about the band enough before; but i would have liked to read, for example, about how knackered they were leading up to recording Zenyatta, how the sessions were etc; he may have spoken about that at the time 28 years ago but i would have really loved to have some specifics in there like there are with the oysterhead experience, "the next day we did X, then we went blah blahblah".... (it's not blah blah blah , you bastard).
instead the band experience gets reduced to; started a band, we worked hard and then got huge. golden cage, and it stopped, phew!, then we moved on..... it would have been really interesting just to reproduce some old interviews to see where he was at then; interviews from 25 years ago which talk about the latest album or plugging tour dates or whatever...

the rhythmatist and oysterhead chapters are fantastic reading tho and do make up for the lack of P'leece stuff.

(a little boo-hiss for the quality of the tomb which isn't the best, no colour photos whch is a big shame 'cos some photos you can't actually work out what they're showing, and it seems to have been printed on partly-recycled toilet paper)

(I am in a pissy mood today which may account for some of my negativity, it is good)

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Honestly? I read it as though he were being careful (the Flag chapter). He got in trouble a couple times in conjunction with it - we told him we didn't want it in the official Police DVD, for example (not that I'm trying to find fault with that, just using the incident for an example.) If he had singled out people he was especially glad to see at certain shows or what have you - well, that leaves a lot of other people out.

Seriously, I hardly think he's not happy to see us or thrilled he's got such an awesome fanbase. It's just what we've always said - he loves us all, and time and space prevents him from thanking each of us personally. I think the Nutters have a special place in his heart, having seen him sorta light up at the book signing thing when some familiar faces showed up (and, well, his having written us an extra-nice thank you note just a day or two ago.) I did notice he went to special effort to mention the website a whole slew of times throughout the book and to thank Gio, who is the titular head of us all.

(Sorry, I feel like this sounds preachy, and I don't AT ALL mean for it to be that way. One great thing about Nutters is the diversity of our opinions...like I said, I'm looking forward to hearing what you all make of things, even if we don't necessarily see things 100% the same way all the time.)

[Divemistress of the Dark]

(also - I notice he puts the website on everything. It's listed on the back of Certifiable, it's in most of his interviews, etc. If he weren't trying to encourage us, he probably wouldn't be recruiting more of us all the time. )

[policefan]

I have not read the book.

If Stewart writes all weird about the flag.

I know that Stewart loved the flag thing.

The first thing that comes to my mind is...

I think he loves the flag So Much he his afraid to admit /write it (in public).

....

[sockii]

OK, y'all made me had to jump right to the Flag Afterword as soon as I finally got my hands on the book.

Obviously I need to put it all in context and read through everything else before really commenting in depth. But on first read through, I think I dig it. I dig that it's kind of cryptic and not all naming names or laying out all of the details of what transpired (others have done so already, or surely will do that in more detail elsewhere). It's not even, I don't think, Stewart's story so much to tell as much as it is our story as fans. And I can get why there'd be a certain...unease, perhaps, at being at the center of that all, especially when it became SUCH a focal point of activity in this community throughout the tour (sometimes seeming to even eclipse the actual enjoyment of the performances themselves?)

And as someone who spends a great deal of time studying, documenting, and writing about fan communities, I think there are definite aspects of ritual behavior and desire to connect in fandom, and at times a tendency to turn it into a kind of worship (why are so many fan pages called "Shrines"? Groups of fans calling themselves at times the "Cult of" this or that? Or, hell, in extreme cases even claiming to commune with the objects of their obsession on the astral plane?)

I dunno. But it gives me something to think about, before heading back to now read the book properly (and I'll see if my reading of that chapter changes on a second time around...)