Another day, another stumbling block for Morrissey, whose possibly non-existent book is not coming out next week

By Josh Modell | September 13, 2013 | 4:05pm

Aux Features Newswire

Stumbling from his bed, presumably covered with crisps and tears, Morrissey issued a statement via his official fan site, True To You, that his long-awaited autobiography—titled simply Autobiography, because it was to be the ultimate example of the form—has been snatched from the fingertips of an eager, anemic fanbase at the last possible moment. According to the site, the book was to be published next Monday, September 16 in the UK, but that a "last-minute content disagreement between Penguin Books and Morrissey has caused the venture to collapse." It goes on to say that "no review copies were printed, and Morrissey is now in search of a new publisher."

Does this sound like bullshit? Yes, it most certainly does. This was the first anyone had even heard of a release date for the supposedly 600-page tell-all, and the idea that a book was set for wide release without review copies is a bit crazy, especially considering that the book would already be in stores, ready to be stocked, if it were due out on Monday. Penguin doesn't even list the book on its site, and the only place the cover has appeared is on True To You. (Penguin does have Angry Birds: The World Of Angry Birds Official Guide available September 26, though, so all is not lost.) Maybe it's all a stunt to get a bidding war going, or maybe a string of bad luck just finally drove Moz over the edge into madness. (Or maybe he's hoping articles like this one will mention the impending release of the 25: Live DVD.)