Nobodys-Empire-Stuart-Murdoch-2024

BookNotes
author - Stuart Murdoch

A fictionalised account of Stuart Murdoch’s experience with ME before starting Belle and Sebastian. Not a huge amount happens within the book by necessity, but it’s witty and well observed throughout and a vivid capture of the Glasgow scene at the time. The main character desires to connect with the world while being unable to and it’s hard how much ME affects them. I feel like more is known about chronic conditions now but at the time of the novel, they aren’t understood at all and that becomes a failure of society. His illness is not understood and frequently challenged by others, including medical professionals.

It’s close to real life but still a novel, creating a strange hybrid of the two. Autobiography and fiction merge together.

There’s a passion for music throughout the book as a lifeline, a real love that becomes a way forward.