If you've never read anything by Moore, this book is the perfect launching point into his ouvre; if you've read everything by him, you'll enjoy it even more...


The story of a master writer   January 21, 2004
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is the autobiography of Alan Moore, in a way. George Khoury has taken the 50th birthday (and semi-retirement) of Alan Moore as an excuse to conduct a massive interview that stretches from his childhood to today. Moore's personal life, career ups and downs, and all of his stories and characters are discussed. It's exhausting --- but in a good way. For the Alan Moore fan, this is the Holy Grail.

Most of this information has been covered before elsewhere, but not with this kind of depth and inter-connection. Take Moore's family, for example. In other interviews, he's spoken about his marriage, divorce, and daughters. But here, with years of hindsight, he describes these events in a way that is respectful, humorous, and free of gossip. It's all very matter-of-fact, but never dull. The more important topics --- the comic books --- are approached in the same way. Moore is proud of his body of work, but he is honest about disappointments and unrealized ideas.

In the later sections, he gets into his exploration of magic and occultism. He sounds like a professor who has decided to experience his topic of study first-hand rather than reading about it. He's trying to find the source of human creativity, but without pretension. It's fascinating to read about. It gives you an insight into how and why he's created so many amazing comics over the last few decades.

Finally, this book is full of extras. Alan Moore's daughters get the first and final word of the book. Collaborators get small interviews and comic pages to comment on their relationship with Moore. There's a long bibliography at the end that covers 99% of everything he's done, and a sample of one of his scripts (which has never been illustrated).


An Extraordinary Conversation   May 25, 2005
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is more a book-length conversation between two friends than an interview. But it is a thorough and enjoyable conversation, enhanced by the obvious intimacy of the participants. Khoury is able to get stories from Moore than no journalist would be able to elicit. Various artists who've worked with Moore contribute graphic retellings of their experiecnes with him. In addition there is a substantial bibliography in the back of the book which would prove useful to colelctors and scholars. This book is a must-have for any serious fan or student of Alan Moore's work.


Amazon screw up   August 20, 2005
 2 out of 17 found this review helpful

I didn't want to give this a low star review as i have never seen this book. I ordered it, but was then told it was not available. Then Amazon sent me an email asking me to review it!!!

I'd love to say something about this book as I am a huge Alan Moore fan but haven't read it.