Pet Shop Boys versus America [Hardcover]

Much can be said about the format: a transcription of a few conversations the boys had during their eventful American tour. At first you may fear to get bored by this format, but strangely enough it's quite the opposite. Because nothing is really interpreted by the author, it gets a very authentic feel to it. The quite remarkable -not always generally accepted- opinions of Chris and Neil are left untouched, and ready to be put into perspective by the reader himself. That in itself proves the courage of the `boys' to allow such a report to be published. I can imagine that people tend to get a bad opinion -to put it mildly- about the egos of both artists, because what is in this book is not all nice and happy. But if you allow yourself to look behind this curtain of the two personalities, you can only appreciate the dedication they produce for their `art'. Not many artists are prepared to put their image at risk in favour of authenticity.

The black-and-white pictures shot by Pennie Smith are completely in line with the works of the Pet Shop Boys. Sombre settings dictate most of the pictures, but at the same time illustrate the feeling of detachment the `boys' suffer while travelling through that strange, but fascinating land: America.

To conclude: a warning! Although this book is a must-read for everybody who likes (or dislikes) to be referred to as a `Pet Shop Boys-fan', it might not have the same effect on people who only `like' what the Pet Shop Boys create. This book is a bit too `fan-focussed' to be appreciated by a broader audience, to my humble opinion. As some kind of a footnote: I belong to the first category.

Mixed in among the hellfire of conversation (reported verbatim by the author) there are some profound statements, like Tennant remarking that while nightclub dancing of yesteryear used to be more of a courtship ritual than anything else, today it's simply an avenue to get out of your mind for a while, something very individualistic.

Another time the Boys were asked if they thought handing out condoms at school promoted sex. They replied that they didn't think sex needed much promotion. "You should try it sometime, kids." Now how many entertainment icons would say that? Most are too image-conscious to say what they think. These guys aren't. They're real life. Their message, very contrary to most other songwriters, is "Everything's not going to be alright."

The photos are very good. I wish there could have been more clips of the shows themselves, for they are quite a spectacle.

On the literary side, the author should have given the book another read, because he repeats things in places.

Mixed in among the hellfire of conversation (reported verbatim by the author) there are some profound statements, like Tennant remarking that while nightclub dancing of yesteryear used to be more of a courtship ritual than anything else, today it's simply an avenue to get out of your mind for a while, something very individualistic.

Another time the Boys were asked if they thought handing out condoms at school promoted sex. They replied that they didn't think sex needed much promotion. "You should try it sometime, kids." Now how many entertainment icons would say that? Most are too image-conscious to say what they think. These guys aren't. They're real life. Their message, very contrary to most other songwriters, is "Everything's not going to be alright."

The photos are very good. I wish there could have been more clips of the shows themselves, for they are quite a spectacle.

On the literary side, the author should have given the book another read, because he repeats things in places.