GRANT I PB – ROBERT FORSTER

BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 – MOJO MAGAZINE UNCUT MAGAZINE In early 77 I asked Grant if he d form a band with me. `No, was his blunt reply. Grant McLennan didn t want to be in a band. He couldn t play an instrument; Charlie Chaplin was his hero du jour. And yet, when Robert Forster wrote Hemingway, Genet, Chandler and Joyce into his lyrics, McLennan couldn t resist a second invitation to become 80s indie sensation The Go Betweens. The friends would collaborate for three decades, until Grant s premature death in 2006. Beautifully written – like lyrics, like prose – Grant I is a rock memoir akin to no other. Part `making of , part music industry expose, part buddy-book, this is a delicate and perceptive celebration of creative endeavour. With wit and candour, Robert Forster pays tribute to a band who found huge success in the margins, having friendship at its heart.