Emanuele 25, In a relationship. Todi, Italy

, Suicide concluded at the end of their magnum opus, but they didn't mean it, really, unless they were dafter than they let on. (In what sense have we killed our families and then turned the gun on ourselves, even metaphorically?) And if we were all Frankies, what would we rather listen to? Blood-curdling re-creations of our miserable and unbearable existence, or something that offered a brief but precious temporary respite? That's the real con of shock-art: it makes out that it's democratic, but it's actually only for those who can afford it. And some of us, as we get older, simply find that we don't have that much courage to spare any more. Good luck to you if you have, because it means that you have managed to avoid more or less everything that life has to throw at you, but don't try to make me feel morally or intellectually inferior. "

Surely not the best Hornby ever, but it has very good moments.