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The KLF

Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds

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The KLF

By: John Higgs
Narrated by: John Higgs
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THE STRANGE TALE OF DEATH, LIFE AND LEGACY OF THE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL BAND

'Magical ... stunning' Dan Schreiber, No Such Thing as a Fish
'Brilliant, discursive and wise' Ben Goldacre
'Utterly irresistible and totally brilliant' Quietus

They were the bestselling singles band in the world. They had awards, credibility, commercial success and creative freedom. Then they deleted their records, erased themselves from musical history and burnt their last million pounds in a boathouse on the Isle of Jura. And they couldn't say why.

This is not just the story of the KLF. It is a book about Carl Jung, Alan Moore, Robert Anton Wilson, Ken Campbell, Dada, Situationism, Discordianism, magic, chaos, punk, rave, the alchemical symbolism of Doctor Who and the special power of the number twenty-three. Wildly unauthorised and unlike any other music biography, The KLF is a trawl through chaos on the trail of a beautiful, accidental mythology.

10th ANIVERSARY EDITION UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL

'A pop biography for people who don't read pop biographies' Dorian Lynskey, Guardian

'A thing of endlessly fascinating, utterly demented genius' Alexis Petridis

'Brilliantly captures the anti-establishment attitude of Drummond and Cauty, and makes you wish the pop charts were full of such madness these days' The Big Issue

See what readers are saying:

'A fantastic and often mind-bending trip' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A potted history of two men who, bored with the music business, started an anarchic art project pretending to be a band' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Engrossing' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Fascinating' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I have given this book as a present five times since I read it about two weeks ago' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A wild ride - charming, crazy, brilliant, a bit like the KLF' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A modern mythological epic' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Why can't all books be like this?' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Art Entertainment & Celebrities Music Social Sciences Celebrity Inspiring Thought-Provoking Funny Magic Entertainment
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Critic reviews

The best non-fiction book I've ever read. It's magical. Stunning (Dan Schreiber)
A pop biography for people who don't read pop biographies. Higgs approaches the short career of the early 90s top 10 provocateurs like Adam Curtis brainstorming with Thomas Pynchon, exploring all manner of magical thinking and conspiracy theories. Touching on Dada, Doctor Who and Discordianism, it's as playful and sui generis as the KLF themselves, which is saying something
Might well be the best music book of the 2010s . . . eccentric, bizarre, confusing, hilarious and more than a little pretentious but utterly irresistible and totally brilliant (Cay McDermott)
The book brilliantly captures the anti-establishment attitude of Drummond and Cauty, and makes you wish the pop charts were full of such madness these days
This wildly entertaining thesis speculates on how the KLF arrived at a crowning act of transgression even they did not understand, drawing together threads including practical magic, strange patterns of coincidence and punk
Succeeds by ignoring music for much of the story, in favour of the group's philosophical and psycho-geographical underpinnings in Discordianism, situationism, art and magic. Sometimes, the music is just a means to an end - in their case, a million-quid bonfire that Higgs suggests may be "a magical act that forged the 21st century". Well, maybe . . . (Andy Gill)
Book of the Century. Most pop biographies are a dull patchwork of clippings - this is something else
By far the best book this year, brilliant, discursive and wise
I am going to bang on about THE KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds rather a lot. Fascinating . . . Enthralling'
John Higgs's book about the KLF is - like its subject - a thing of endlessly fascinating, utterly demented genius
All stars
Most relevant
This book is about so much more than the klf band. I have recommended it to everyone I know. I can also recommended John Higgs other books.

This book Is worth listening to several times

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Very interesting, totally gripping. Loved this. Thought provoking and appealing narrative of KLF. If this is your bag, I would recommend.

Fascinating

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Really enjoyed this. More than a KLF biography - it really takes the "bigger picture" approach. Totally worth your time if you are into Chaos Magick. Discordianism or such topics.

Amazing Book - Worth Your Time

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Basically a discursive piece on various philosophies and the meaning of art told through the story of the KLF and their other guises. Fascinating, thought-provoking but written in a dense, intellectual way that made it which made it hard going at times.

Fascinating and intellectually challenging

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If you were into the KLF in the 90s and enjoy the quirky psychology of Robert Anton Wilson I can pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy this. A really intelligent and humorous mish-mash of synchronicity, magic, anarchy, creativity and more. And I thought very nicely narrated by the author.

I really enjoyed this

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