This Charming Man? Morrissey Book Climbs Charts

The new book by British singer Morrissey is a classic. It says so right on the cover.

The memoir from the former frontman of The Smiths – titled simply “Autobiography” – is the first rock bio published under the venerable Penguin Classics imprint, home to Aeschylus, Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde.

That has horrified some in the publishing industry, but not the singer’s many fans, who drove the book to the top of Amazon’s U.K. chart the day after it was published Thursday.

Jon Howells, spokesman for the Waterstones book store chain, says the book is destined to be a best-seller for the Christmas season.

Photo: Matt Dunham/AP
Copies of the Morrissey “Autobiography” lie stacked up on display at a branch of a bookstore in north London.

Howells said Friday that for Britons, Morrissey “is one of our icons. His is the great untold story from the 80s generation of music heroes.”