A review by lem119
Red or Dead by David Peace

4.0

I would venture to say that, apart from the obvious fact of the subject itself, the writing style of Red or Dead means that it will be mainly, if not solely, interesting to Liverpool supporters. I would theoretically read a book about Matt Busby (maybe), but I wouldn't want to read a three page description of a time he washed his car or a play by play of every single game he managed for Manchester United. To be honest, there were parts of this book even that I found unbelievably tedious. Bill Shankly this, Bill Shankly that. To an extent it made sense in showing Shankly's fastidiousness, his dedication, his attention to detail, but to a similar extent it just made me skim through to the parts where he wasn't laying out the table for breakfast. Still, though, the book served its purpose, chronicling in novel form the life and career of one of football's greatest, and how he made the people happy. I don't know what kind of research Peace did in writing the book, where he got some of the stories and whether they're anecdotes from fans or made up for dramatic effect, but scenes where Shankly meets a supporter to whom he gave his tie or where he talks to fans on the train one by one are pretty much the epitome of the club's motto and made for a respectful and, for the most part, compelling history of a man who helped put Liverpool on top of the world.