Credit: Carina Jirsch
Sound is Beauty

Love him or Loath him, Pete Doherty has signed a publishing deal to release his Journals. The twenty volumes date from 1999 to the present day and will be condensed into a single hardback volume

These volumes will be cover Pete Doherty's rise to fame with his band the Libertines and later Babyshambles. And shed light on the mammoth notoriety his personal life that has sometimes overshadowed Doherty’s musical career.

Doherty’s passion for poetry and art is well-documented and both have been published in a number of magazines. He once described himself as ‘firstly a poet from Filthy Macnasty’s and secondly a rock singer’ (Filthy Macnasty’s is the legendary London bar from which the Libertines emerged).

These twenty-odd books are filled with poems, drawings, personal reflections, lyrics and collages, and form an intimate insight into the one of the music world’s most talented and controversial figures. It’s no coincidence that Pete’s outing in book publishing is being announced today at the Boogaloo home of many of Pete’s secret gigs and the successor to Filthy Mcnasty’s.

Pete Doherty said earlier today: ‘I am very happy to have a book coming out with Orion and to share a bookshelf with H G Wells, Ian Rankin and Stan Bowles. Thanks very much to Ian Preece and all at Orion who made this a possibility for me. I've always wanted to have a book published and its all very exciting for me personally. Thanks to the Boogaloo for helping with the announcement. Vaya Con Dios’

Ian Preece writes: ‘ ‘‘Poet, young and busy, seeks cheap spacious rooms somewhere. Excellent references available . . .’’ so reads a self-penned ad, a very early entry from Pete Doherty’s journals. From the early books a fascinating and very entertaining picture emerges of the young poet, broke in London, serving popcorn at the Prince Charles Cinema, ruminating on Britpop, listening to Scott Walker, but dreaming of creating a band infused with ‘the spirit of Albion’. The later books reflect Pete’s rise to fame, his changing world. It is intimate, honest stuff, very readable and very funny in places; pretty dark in others. All in all it’s the work of a serious artist, a complete antidote to anything you might read in a tabloid.’