Book Chat: Crackhead Peter's Diary

We thought they waited until you were dead, but seeing as crackhead musician Pete Doherty could go at any time, Orion Books is publishing his diaries. The hardcover will include drawings, photos, poems and film reviews. Film reviews?! We didn't think Pete was a cinephile, but okay. If you say so.
The diaries will also cover Pete's tempestuous relationship with fellow coke hoover Kate Moss. [source]
[image courtesy of stereogum]

Read Orion's smoke-up-his-ass/ Doherty-is-the-next-Rimbaud press release after the jump.


The Orion Publishing Group announced today at the Boogaloo a deal to publish Pete Doherty’s journals in March 2007. Ian Preece, commissioning editor at Orion Books, has bought world rights to Pete Doherty’s journals from French Dog Blues. The twenty volumes date from 1999 to the present day and will be condensed into a single hardback volume.

Pete Doherty is a hugely popular and critically acclaimed musician, hailed as one the best songwriters to emerge from the British music scene for many years. He rose to fame with his band the Libertines and later Babyshambles. Notoriety in his personal life has sometimes overshadowed Doherty’s musical career but his accomplishments have won him many fans in the industry, as well as a huge and dedicated public following.

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). The journals chart his rise from pre-Libertine anonymity to the present day living under the glare of the media.

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.’

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’

Pete Doherty’s journals will be published by Orion in hardback in March 2007.