Morrissey fans will get what they want this time: His memoir

The much-anticipated, long-delayed, possibly pulled memoir from singer Morrissey is apparently headed for British bookstore shelves this month.

“Morrissey: Autobiography� will be published by Penguin Classics in the U.K. on Oct. 17. The book, spotted on the Penguin Classics website by Publishers Lunch, will be a $14, 408-page paperback. Fans hope it will hold the key to explaining Morrissey’s secrets -- despite his fame, he’s always been something of an enigma.

Morrissey was born May 22, 1959, to Irish parents who had emigrated to Manchester, England. He met up with guitarist Johnny Marr in the early 1980s, setting in motion the beginning of the band the Smiths. The Smiths’ first full-length record, “The Smiths,� was released in 1984, to critical praise; in the glossy, happy pop music world of the time, the record was uniquely melancholy and sometimes plaintive. Looking back, Douglas Wolk writes, “the album’s murk, sexual frankness, and situational ambiguity were a reaction against the British pop landscape of its time.�

The band stayed together until 1987 -- releasing four more full-length records, including “Meat Is Murder� and “The Queen Is Dead� along the way.

Morrissey then embarked on a successful solo career that lasted a decade, releasing “Viva Hate,� “Your Arsenal,� “Vauxhaul and I� and “Maladjusted.� Even when he didn’t have a new record, Morrissey toured relentlessly, gaining new fans.

Publicly, he was pop music’s first high-profile vegan, had legal tussles with former bandmates, and perplexed swooning audiences by proclaiming his abstinence. Privately, what was going on? “Morrissey: Autobiography� may have the answer to that very big question.

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