To Throw Away Unopened

Review Albertine's dark humour and sharp prose lift her into another league . . . This book transcends rock 'n' roll. ― The Times Even more compelling and breathtakingly candid that its predecessor. -- Stuart Maconie Genuinely startling . . . fierce, direct, unashamed . . . She masks nothing. The result is a book that does for the family memoir what its predecessor did for the rock autobiography: scythes through the myths, the distortions, the adornments and finds the rich distinctive stories beneath. ― Sunday Times The best memoir I've ever read. -- Dolly Alderton Brave, heroic and unarguably one of the most significant voices in British non-fiction. ― Mojo [A] beautiful, tough, ribald, unsparing memoir. It's so rare to encounter writing this frank and fearless about love, violence, loneliness, mess of all kinds . . . A book for all ages and experiences. -- Olivia Laing With her second book, Albertine breaks more new ground . . . All the rigour and rage of her punk heritage make this utterly compelling writing. ― Financial Times Brutal and funny and heartrending and shocking . . . Violently funny about love, ageing, and realationships and sex . . . Albertine is a magnificent writer . . . There is not a single dull moment here, no page without rage, no sentence without pain or humour. ― The Wire Incandescent . . . Where Albertine describes herself as frustrated, exhausted and repressed in real life, on the page she is wry and vibrant, and seems to hold nothing back. ― New York Times Book Review Unflinching, frank, detailed, funny, disarming, deadpan yet passionate . . . completely gripping . . . You can't tear yourself away. ― Times Literary Supplement The former guitarist of the trail-blazing 1970s British punk band the Slits followed up her acclaimed 2014 memoir with a similarly scrapbooky archaeological dig into her family's complex and contrary background, where selective memory, sibling rivalry and unsettled emotional and psychological debts all played a powerful role. Caustic, catty, clear-eyed and compassionate, To Throw Away Unopened is a riveting sequel. -- Dan Cairns ― Sunday Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR Product Description What was I fighting for? Even now I'm not sure. Something so old and so deep, it has no words, no shape, no logic. Viv Albertine has always been obsessed with the truth: the truth about family, power, and her identity as a rebel and outsider. But at what cost? In this brutally honest memoir she relentlessly exposes human dysfunctionality: the impossibility of intimacy, and the damage wrought upon us by secrets and revelations, siblings and parents. Written with Albertine's unique vulnerability and intelligence, To Throw Away Unopened is a startling self-portrait and a testament to rebuilding oneself and facing the world again. Book Description Brave, intimate, and deeply confessional, this is the long-awaited follow-up to Viv Albertine's sensational bestselling memoir. About the Author Songwriter and musician Viv Albertine was the guitarist in cult female punk band The Slits. She was a key player in British counter-culture before her career in TV and film directing. Her first solo album The Vermilion Border was released in 2012, and her memoir, Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys was a Sunday Times, Mojo, Rough Trade, and NME Book of the Year in 2014, as well as being shortlisted for the National Book Awards.