"Sing Backwards and Weep" by Mark Lanegan

book review by Riley Burnham 10/18/2024

well... it started out really good

i've been a big fan of Lanegan's music since being introduced within the last couple years [post-humous it seems], & was stoked to finally start this autobio

my flags started flying w/ the recounted, detailed dialogue coming up again & again, w/ a narrator's attention to detail about thoughts, small movements, clothing, time of day, cross-streets, full names... all while apparently being under a junkie's haze & regularly drunk

so i have sincere doubts about the accuracy of this tale & wonder how much of it is wholecloth fiction [kinda think there's an Army covert op taking place infiltrating music...], altho it kept me keyed in for most of it

by the end it's just on-&-on druggie tale which kind of wimps out & feels manufactured

the story is that Lanegan moved to Ireland w/ his new wife & died w/o reason cited, so who even knows anymore