3862 Days: The Official History of Blur Paperback – 16 July 1999

It's a shame that what is probably still the best Blur book is so pricey these days, but if you're an avid fan, you'll want to track this one down this 1999 paperback whatever the price. With Blur back at number one at the moment with the album  The Magic Whip , I would love to see this book re-released and updated.'3862 Days' is the official, authorised history of the band, an elegantly written book that is both factual and entertaining. Writer Stuart Maconie knows his Blur like the back of his hand, and had unique access to all of them. This word-heavy, but very comprehensive guide traces the lads' career from their modest art school beginnings to international pop stardom, and all the many ups-and-downs they faced along the way. It contains large chunks of direct quotes from revealing and candid interviews from each of the band members themselves, and I learned so much about these men from all kinds of different perspectives, including when and how Damon lost his virginity!What we have is a real insider's guide behind the phenomenon that is Blur, with just about everything you might wish to know about. As a real fan of the music, I enjoyed reading about each of the album in such detail, as well as just about every Blur song I could think of.If you're a keen fan, or just love British music in general, '3862 Days' is the Blur bible for any curious or devotee. It's excellent title was the band's suggestion, and a reference to the timescale between the lads' first ever meeting, right up to the publication of the book. As well as a lot of text, the paperback also contains some special cartoon drawings, and some great pictures of the band, particularly some embarrassing, but wonderful to see school photographs of each of the boys. The cover illustration (which differs from the blue one currently shown on this page) is by Graham himself.

I'm a bit of a Blur completist and get hold of just about every product they bring out - including this. The fact that the book is written by Stuart Maconie adds instant cred. He has supported the band and practicularly "stalked" them on tour and in the recording studio from the start - if anybody knows their story, he does. He is obviously a big mate of the band as is evident from the epilogue where he writes about having dinner with Damon and looking around Alex's flat, yet he manages to avoid heaping too much praise on everything the band have ever written - probably because not everything they've released has been completely great. What this book does give you is the story of how Seymour became Blur, how they have so far released six albums (Maconie comments on just about every track on every album which are the bits of the book I found particularly interesting), the whole Oasis thing plus how Damon found success with the classic 'Parklife' album but was at the same time cracking-up. Nice cartoons, embarassing school photos, even a cover designed by Graham make this worth getting hold of. Good title too. Out of all Blur's 10th Anniversary Celebrations (the box-set, the exhibition, the gigs, the DVD...) this book was probably the best thing to come out of it all.