PositiveThe Brooklyn RailThis Searing Light concisely and chronologically re-tells the brief but spectacular story of this enormously influential band ... Testimony comes from a modest but authoritative chorus of voices, including surviving band members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris ... Surprisingly, we also hear from several key players who have been gone for some time ... Additionally, many other interviews and articles spanning decades are quoted throughout, as is Deborah Curtis’s book, all of which give the book a somewhat cobbled-together feeling ... Fans of the band will delight in the intimacy of the many stories and anecdotes ... It was particularly fascinating to read the considerable accounts from the surviving band members ... We really get to know them as ordinary young men who like to drink beer, play pranks on one another, work boring day jobs, and struggle to grow up ... The blame, such as it is, is shared widely, and there is a sense throughout the book of a collective reckoning ... This Searing Light, The Sun And Everything Else represents the consolidated authoritative history of this important band, and as such it may in fact prove to be the last word on the topic. For fans of Joy Division, and of punk, post-punk, and British music generally, this is a must read.
