Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me

Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me by Bernard Sumner

Bernard Sumner is the lead singer of New Order and guitarist for Joy Division. This book is his contribution to the history of Joy Division and New Order. The narrative is much different than Peter Hook's. It feels much more polished than Peter Hook's. Sumner has had a more significant role in New Order and the book shows it. The book starts with his early life and quickly goes through time with Joy Division. Ian Curtis's suicide is a small blip. It gets about as much coverage as the death of others associated with the band (such as managers.) While this book is polished, it is easy to see the roots of the falling out between Sumner and Peter Hook. It feels that he is trying to paper over some of the bitterness and anger the two had. It also becomes clear that Sumner had been exerting more control though he appears to feel somewhat oblivious. (He feels his side project was a nice outlet, but is critical of a bandmate DJing.) There seem to be some interesting communication issues.

The narrative is primarily chronological and focuses more on the personal experiences than detailing all parts of the band. There are extensive details of recordings of certain albums, while others are skipped over. There is very little discussion of individual songs. More of the focus is on process and life events. It feels different than typical rock memoirs, but New Order has always been a little bit of different band.