One of pop music's most mysterious and misunderstood stars will be joining us live in the shop to discuss the new book written about him, with its author: join Lawrence and Will Hodgkinson in person this October!

Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence is one of the most remarkable music books of the year, and an essential for anyone with either a working knowledge of Lawrence and his associated projects (Felt, Denim, Go-Kart Mozart/Mozart Estate) or an interest in pop music, notions of fame and inventive approaches to biography. This is your chance to meet a true legend of the underground, at a point when he might finally be reaching a greater level of public consciousness...

Tickets include a glass of wine. Pre-order your copy of Street-Level Superstar (rrp £22.00) for a special discounted price with your ticket, then collect on the night!

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About Will Hodgkinson
Will Hodgkinson is the author of the music books Guitar Man, Song Man, The Ballad of Britain and In Perfect Harmony: Singalong Pop in 70s Britain, alongside the childhood memoir The House Is Full of Yogis, which tells the story of his family transformed from being boring suburbanites to meditating freaks after his father ate a salmonella laced coronation chicken. He has contributed to the Guardian, Mojo and Vogue and presented the Sky Arts series Songbook, and since 2010 he has been chief rock and pop critic for The Times.
About Lawrence

Lawrence is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is known as the frontman in the indie pop bands Felt, Denim, and Mozart Estate. Lawrence is the subject of Lawrence of Belgravia, a documentary by filmmaker Paul Kelly, which debuted at the London Film Festival in 2011.

About Street-Level Superstar: A Year With Lawrence

'Will has finally written his masterpiece. I'm glad I could be of assistance' LAWRENCE

'Essential reading' JARVIS COCKER

**** MOJO

'One of the best music books I've ever clapped eyes on' MARC RILEY

'10/10 - An extraordinarily empathetic study' UNCUT

'Magnificent' SPECTATOR

Guardian Book of the Day

A Foyles Top Ten Read for September

Lawrence is the greatest pop star who never made it, his dreams of glory thwarted over the past five decades by bad luck and self-sabotage. At sixty-one, he set off on a new mission: to escape poverty, obscurity and the humiliation of kids at the bus stop laughing at him by writing a smash hit.

But what is the cost of a dream? In 1980, Lawrence formed Felt, who released ten albums and ten singles in ten years before splitting up. In 1991, he reinvented himself with novelty-pop outfit Denim. Signed to EMI, riding the wave of Britpop, in 1997, Denim's song 'Summer Smash' became Radio 1's Single of the Week and looked like a sure-fire hit.

Then Princess Diana was killed in a car crash. All copies were melted down. Crushing depression, addiction and homelessness followed...

but in the face of it all, Lawrence never gave up. In Street-Level Superstar, bestselling author and journalist Will Hodgkinson follows Lawrence as he rebuilds his life. He gets mistaken for an old lady by an amorous pensioner, is reduced to dragging sacks of 2p coins to his local bank and wanders through London's distant suburbs in search of lyrical inspiration.

As they walk together down rain-soaked streets, Will tells the story of Britain's most eccentric cult star. Will he write the greatest song the world has ever known before the year is out? And was it worth sacrificing everything - family, relationships, health, sanity - for art?

Entry requirements: no age restrictions — Read more — Read less