With The Libertines’ new album Anthem For Doomed Youth about to drop and things patched up between Pete Doherty and Carl Barat, it feels like a fun time to get your hands on Doherty’s journal from the time he served in prison for breaking into Barat’s flat. The Prison Journal is for sale for £4,250 and the Notebook for £4,750 and both are on display at Peter Harrington bookstore on Dover Street.
In the books there are handwritten excerpts, drafts of a novel, notes, song lyrics and chords, illustrations and photos and give a thrilling insight into his life. In one of the books, he talks of “the complete conviction – the certainty, the truth – that a three minute pop song can prove to be the perfect expression of the self. A freeze-frame blurred image of one’s emotions from a split-second of one’s existence. I do not lay any claim to musical excellence – though that can’t be too far off – but I do believe that some of our songs perfectly capture an all too rare & splendid mood.” Both books give an insanely intimate insight into one of Britain’s most lauded musicians.
Credits
Text Stuart Brumfitt