Boy, Interrupted: Memoir of a Former Smith

by Dale Hibbert

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 23, 2015

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘I thought my generation owned melancholia. Most of us are conceited. As we enter adulthood, we ignore the past. When you get older, the past is all you have left.’

[Nick Granger · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a difficult book to review. 3 stars reflects that this is no great work of literature (one star) but is an amazingly honest and heartfelt account of the authors life (5 stars). It's an extraordinary read telling Dale's story from his childhood in Manchester through to the present day. It's been a real rollercoaster from being part of the early music / club scene in Manchester in the early 80s through living in Prague and Australia to running a cafe in Todmorden. Through all this he has struggled with Aspergers, depression, drink and has been a committed vegetarian for almost all his life. He's a fascinating man. The thing that makes the book special is his self perception and analysis. He is clearly extraordinarily open and loving but can also be detached, cold, manipulative and cruel. He sees these contradictions and describes them straightforwardly in the book in the context of his Aspergers but doesn't seem to struggle with them as much as I did as a reader. I met him in his cafe in Bangor and he seemed like a really nice guy - difficult to take it all in and reconcile everything! Definitely a good read if you want an understanding of the early 80s music scene in Manchester which is the focus of the middle part of the book.