A Crafty Cigarette – Tales of a Teenage Mod · Foreword by John Cooper Clarke

DID YOU GROW UP IN THE LATE 1970S EARLY 1980S? Crafty Cigarette is the powerful story of a teenager coming of age in the 70s, as seen through his eyes, who, on the cusp of adulthood discovers a band that is new to him, The Jam, which leads him into becoming a Mod. Growing up in Suburbia where he finds life rather dull and hard to make friends Crafty Cigarette goes beyond just being a tale of a young Mod's passage into adulthood; it also focuses on the pitfalls of success or, rather, the lack of it, highlighting the failure of his father's circus career, who once worked with the famous Italian clown Charlie Cairoli, only to be sacked by Cairoli whilst he was on the verge of making it, thereby making him the Pete Best of the Clown world. The ramifications of this blow to his proud father's ego just adds to the confused and crazy skewed outlook of our young hero. Crafty Cigarette is a distillation of the metamorphosis of youth, embodied with a rebirth of the key character upon hearing the opening chord of The Jam's song 'All Mod Cons' and then growing up at a frantic pace, in keeping with Weller's shouted '1,2,3 4' intro . Written in the first person, the story rocks along at a fast clip, on a par with a supercharged Jam single... a compelling narrative with the key character struggling to find his identity against the backdrop of late 70s chaos. Without being nostalgic or sentimental, A Crafty Cigarette is a candid snapshot of English suburban life in the late 70s and early 80s, the book is raw, honest, dark and witty, with the values and culture of Mod being paramount throughout, though not always presented as the 'be all and end all'. A Crafty Cigarette is a powerful story and arguably, not since The Who's 'Quadrophenia', has there been such an in-depth study into the confused and multi-faceted lifestyle of striving to be a Mod... but this time, set in the very thick of the '79 Mod revival.