"Joy Division changed the face of music. Godfathers of alternative rock,
they reinvented music in the post-punk era, creating a new sound - dark,
hypnotic, and intense - that would influence U2, Morrissey, R.E.M.,
Radiohead, and numerous others. The story is now legendary: in 1980, on
the heels of their groundbreaking debut, Unknown Pleasures,
and on the eve of their first U.S. tour, the band was rent asunder by
the tragic death of their enigmatic lead singer, Ian Curtis. Yet in the
mere three years they were together, Joy Division produced two landmark
albums and a handful of singles - including the iconic anthem "Love Will
Tear Us Apart" - that continue to have a powerful resonance.
Now, for the first time, their story is told by one of their own. In Unknown Pleasures,
founding member and bass player Peter Hook recounts how four young men
from Manchester and Salisbury, with makeshift instruments and a
broken-down van, rose from the punk scene to create a haunting,
atmospheric music that would define a generation. Peter talks with
eye-opening candor and reflection about the suicide of Ian Curtis; the
band's friendships and fallouts; the evolution of their sound and
image; and the larger-than-life characters who formed a vital part of
the Joy Division legend, including Factory Records founder Tony Wilson
and producer Martin Hannett. Told with surprising humor and vivid
detail, Unknown Pleasures is the book Joy Division fans have awaited for decades."