À 40 ans, Nick n'a jamais vraiment apprécié les chiens. Mais du jour au lendemain, sa famille décide d'adopter Missy, un espiègle petit border terrier. L'objectif est thérapeutique : après de nombreux problèmes de santé, avoir un chien à la maison devrait aider Nick à sortir. Au cours de ses promenades, Nick s'ouvre aux autres et fait des rencontres : un jeune acteur plein d'espoir, un veuf octogénaire optimiste, un dissident russe existentialiste, un passionné d'arts martiaux, un mystique illuminé... Peu à peu, grâce à Missy, il change sa vision du monde. Avec humour et tendresse, Nick raconte cette expérience de vie dans ce livre qui parle d'amour, d'amitié, de deuil et du profond réconfort que procure une relation durable. Cette relation puissante avec son chien a pris une place à part dans sa vie et a bouleversé son univers. Un amour réciproque, inconditionnel, d'une bouleversante humanité.
**INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTH**
**GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE DAY**
**FINANCIAL TIMES 'BEST SUMMER BOOKS 2022' PICK**
'Incredibly moving.' - Guardian
'Entertaining.' - Telegraph
'Most books about pop stars focus on the way we turn average human beings into demi-gods. In writing a book about how they have to turn back into humans Nick Duerden has done both us and them a service.' - David Hepworth
'Funny, poignant and often inspirational.' - Mat Osman
The desire for adulation is a light that never goes out. We live in a culture obsessed by the notion of fame - the heedless pursuit of it; the almost obligatory subsequent fallout. But what's it like to actually achieve it, and what happens when fame abruptly passes, and shifts, as it does, onto someone else?
This is the point at which pop stars are at their most heroic, because they don't give up. They keep on striving, keep making music, and refuse simply to ebb away. Some sustain themselves on the nostalgia circuit, others continue to beaver away in the studio, no longer Abbey Road, perhaps, so much as the garden shed. But all of them, in their own individual ways, still dare to dream.
Exit Stage Left features tales of drug addiction, bankruptcy, depression and divorce, but also of optimism, a genuine love of the craft, humility and hope. This is a candid, laugh-out-loud and occasionally shocking look at what happens when the brightest stars fall back down to earth.
'Exit Stage Left is the book I've long wanted to read about the PTSD-like after-effects of pop stardom - and Nick Duerden is the perfect writer for the job. The pop star's bittersweet lot is represented with flair and empathy.' - Pete Paphides, author of Broken Greek
'Exit Stage Left is a funny and poignant book, drawing on Duerden's considerable experience as a journalist and interviewer . . . he understands what motivates this strange bunch of people.' - Andy Miller, Spectator
'Fame is the brightest candle, but in this brilliant collection of interviews, Nick Duerden answers the question: what does a candle do after it's burned out?' - David Quantick
'Duerden finds fascinating layers of humanity, pathos, humour and wisdom in equal measure. A brilliant book, for artists and fans alike.' - Frank Turner
Featuring brand new interviews with the likes of: Bob Geldof, Shaun Ryder, Robbie Williams, Roisin Murphy, Stewart Copeland, Billy Bragg, Wendy James, Alex Kapranos, Joan Armatrading, Leo Sayer, Gary Lightbody, Lisa Maffia, Tim Booth, Bill Drummond, Rufus Wainwright, David Gray, and Justin Hawkins.
Ostensibly, Nick Duerden is a cat person, and so the acquisition of a family dog in his late-40s takes him by surprise. The border terrier, Missy, is in part a therapeutic aid - the idea being that she''ll get Nick out of the house after a long period of ill health, and back into the wider, sociable world.
Unexpectedly, it works. There can''t be many opportunities in midlife to suddenly find yourself connecting with both hopeful young actor types and widowed octogenarians, a verbose existentialist Russian dissident and a stoned martial arts enthusiast, a bulldog with a basketball and a self-proclaimed animal mystic, but this is precisely what Missy, and the daily walk round the park, provides. (Incidentally, she saves marriages, too.)
People Who Like Dogs Like People Who Like Dogs is a book about connection and friendship, love and loss, the vagaries of midlife and the deep solace that comes from an enduring relationship. It''s about finding yourself when for too long you''ve been lost, and how even when, for whatever reason, horizons draw in, there''s still plenty of adventure left. You just have to look harder for it.
And it''s about how the introduction of a small dog into your life can make the world big again.
