David Peace - author of the brilliant 'The Damned United' and the 'Red Riding' quartet - is to release a book about Bill Shankly called 'Red or Dead'. 
You can listen to a short reading from the book at the above link.
Faber are thrilled to announce the imminent publication of a new novel by David Peace. Red or Dead is a revolutionary novel about a revolutionary man; Bill Shankly, perhaps the first great football manager of the Modern Age.
"I have written about corruption, I've written about crime, I've written about bad men and I've written about the demons. But now I've had enough of the bad men and the demons. Now I want to write about a good man. And a saint. A Red Saint. Bill Shankly was not just a great football manager. Bill Shankly was one of the greatest men who ever lived. And the supporters of Liverpool Football Club, and the people of Liverpool the city, know that and remember him. But many people outside of football, outside of Liverpool, do not know or do not remember him. And now – more than ever – it's time everybody knew about Bill Shankly. About what he achieved, about what he believed. And how he led his life. Not for himself, for other people." David Peace
In 1959, Liverpool Football Club were in the Second Division. Liverpool Football Club had never won the FA Cup. Fifteen seasons later, Liverpool Football Club had won three League titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. Liverpool Football Club had become the most consistently successful team in England. And the most passionately supported club. Their manager was revered as a god. Destined for immortality. Their manager was Bill Shankly. His job was his life. His life was football. His football a form of socialism. Bill Shankly inspired people. Bill Shankly transformed people. The players and the supporters.
In 1974, Liverpool Football Club and Bill Shankly stood on the verge of even greater success. In England and in Europe. But in 1974, Bill Shankly shocked Liverpool and football. Bill Shankly resigned. Bill Shankly retired.
Red or Dead is the story of the rise of Liverpool Football Club and Bill Shankly. And the story of the retirement of Bill Shankly. Of one man and his work. And of the man after that work. A man in two halves. Home and away. Red or dead.
September 2013 sees the centenary of Bill Shankly’s birth.
"A novel about one of the great good men of British football comes as such a tonic and a wake-up-call in these days of extraordinary wealth, privilege and abuse of both in the Premier League. There quite simply could not be a better time, culturally and politically, for this novel. David Peace’s ninth novel is an epic in scale and ambition. If The Damned Utd re-defined how fiction can make compelling drama and art out of sport, Red or Dead, rips up the rulebook and does so all over again." Lee Brackstone, Creative Director, Faber Social
–––––
David Peace – named in 2003 as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists – was born and brought up in Yorkshire. He is the author of the Red Riding Quartet (Nineteen Seventy Four, Nineteen Seventy Seven, Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty Three) which was adapted into a three part Channel 4 series (2009), GB84 which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Award, and The Damned Utd, the film version of which was released in 2009. Tokyo Year Zero, the first part of his acclaimed Tokyo Trilogy, was published in 2007, and the second part, Occupied City, in 2009. The final volume of the trilogy will follow publication of Red or Dead. David lives with his family in Tokyo.
World rights excluding Japan were bought by Lee Brackstone in a deal with Hamish Macaskill at The English Agency. Rob Kraitt at Casarotto Ramsay handles the film rights.
David will be in the UK and available for interview at publication in August. For further information, please contact Anna Pallai on [email protected].
"I have written about corruption, I've written about crime, I've written about bad men and I've written about the demons. But now I've had enough of the bad men and the demons. Now I want to write about a good man. And a saint. A Red Saint. Bill Shankly was not just a great football manager. Bill Shankly was one of the greatest men who ever lived. And the supporters of Liverpool Football Club, and the people of Liverpool the city, know that and remember him. But many people outside of football, outside of Liverpool, do not know or do not remember him. And now – more than ever – it's time everybody knew about Bill Shankly. About what he achieved, about what he believed. And how he led his life. Not for himself, for other people." David Peace
In 1959, Liverpool Football Club were in the Second Division. Liverpool Football Club had never won the FA Cup. Fifteen seasons later, Liverpool Football Club had won three League titles, two FA Cups and the UEFA Cup. Liverpool Football Club had become the most consistently successful team in England. And the most passionately supported club. Their manager was revered as a god. Destined for immortality. Their manager was Bill Shankly. His job was his life. His life was football. His football a form of socialism. Bill Shankly inspired people. Bill Shankly transformed people. The players and the supporters.
In 1974, Liverpool Football Club and Bill Shankly stood on the verge of even greater success. In England and in Europe. But in 1974, Bill Shankly shocked Liverpool and football. Bill Shankly resigned. Bill Shankly retired.
Red or Dead is the story of the rise of Liverpool Football Club and Bill Shankly. And the story of the retirement of Bill Shankly. Of one man and his work. And of the man after that work. A man in two halves. Home and away. Red or dead.
September 2013 sees the centenary of Bill Shankly’s birth.
"A novel about one of the great good men of British football comes as such a tonic and a wake-up-call in these days of extraordinary wealth, privilege and abuse of both in the Premier League. There quite simply could not be a better time, culturally and politically, for this novel. David Peace’s ninth novel is an epic in scale and ambition. If The Damned Utd re-defined how fiction can make compelling drama and art out of sport, Red or Dead, rips up the rulebook and does so all over again." Lee Brackstone, Creative Director, Faber Social
–––––
David Peace – named in 2003 as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists – was born and brought up in Yorkshire. He is the author of the Red Riding Quartet (Nineteen Seventy Four, Nineteen Seventy Seven, Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty Three) which was adapted into a three part Channel 4 series (2009), GB84 which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Award, and The Damned Utd, the film version of which was released in 2009. Tokyo Year Zero, the first part of his acclaimed Tokyo Trilogy, was published in 2007, and the second part, Occupied City, in 2009. The final volume of the trilogy will follow publication of Red or Dead. David lives with his family in Tokyo.
World rights excluding Japan were bought by Lee Brackstone in a deal with Hamish Macaskill at The English Agency. Rob Kraitt at Casarotto Ramsay handles the film rights.
David will be in the UK and available for interview at publication in August. For further information, please contact Anna Pallai on [email protected].
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