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Good Pop, Bad Pop

The Sunday Times bestselling hit music memoir

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Good Pop, Bad Pop

By: Jarvis Cocker
Narrated by: Jarvis Cocker
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Brought to you by Penguin.

What if the things we keep hidden say more about us than those we put on display?

We all have a random collection of the things that made us - photos, tickets, clothes, souvenirs, stuffed in a box, packed in a suitcase, crammed into a drawer. When Jarvis Cocker starts clearing out his loft, he finds a jumble of objects that catalogue his story and ask him some awkward questions:

Who do you think you are?

Are clothes important?

Why are there so many pairs of broken glasses up here?

From a Gold Star polycotton shirt to a pack of Wrigley's Extra, from his teenage attempts to write songs to the Sexy Laughs Fantastic Dirty Joke Book, this is the hard evidence of Jarvis's unique life, Pulp, 20th century pop culture, the good times and the mistakes he'd rather forget. And this accumulated debris of a lifetime reveals his creative process - writing and musicianship, performance and ambition, style and stagecraft.

This is not a life story. It's a loft story.

Recorded on location with the author and featuring archival material, Good Pop, Bad Pop, is an intimate and immersive listening experience with an icon of British culture.

© Jarvis Cocker 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Music Social Sciences Thought-Provoking Witty Funny Feel-Good Entertainment
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Critic reviews

Brilliant... accessible, pithy, lurid, entertaining, even laugh-out-loud funny... we can only hope that Cocker has enough tat for a second volume.
Poignant in a subtle, understated way; Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time for the age of the Ford Cortina... This book is about a very normal childhood and the everyday detritus it left behind. Common people indeed.
Incredibly entertaining...a trip through the things that have made him who he is.
Rummage through its pages - through the plastic and nylon, the tin and vinyl - and it's real gold, its shirts second-hand, of course, but its storytelling first class.
Brilliant... Good Pop, Bad Pop is more than anyone dared hope for
Absolutely fabulous: at once very witty, self-depreciating and moving.
Thoughtful and very funny... terrific
Engaging and evocative. He [Cocker] paints a vividly drab picture of the north of England under Thatcherism. And his book is beautiful to look at, too, set out like pop art.
Like a pop culture Proust... a testament to just how rich this junk is that Cocker can weave such a compelling take.
Insightful and delightful.
All stars
Most relevant
Can Jarvis be signed up to read all the books on my "to listen to" list please?

Soothing and mellow

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Stunning. The book, the narration,
and the good feelings it induces make this an absolute joy.

Good Pop Bad Pop Brilliant book.

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Couldn’t have enjoyed this more. I wasn’t expecting to laugh out loud quite as much.

Brilliant!

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Lovely dulcet tones of Jarvis bring back great memories from the past through random objects and links. Keep.

Very well read, enjoyable ride.

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Jarvis presents himself as a modest, self deferential, likeable and interesting man. If you like him already, you will love this audio book.

It doesn’t half put my very ordinary life to shame! But he’s so nice about it that you can’t hold it against him. Really great stuff.

Truly lovely and cosy

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