Guess I should start by saying, overall it's top notch work, Mr Andrews! The level of the writing matches the Quietus articles - and then some. Happy the book came through with such high a standard!
"
It’s a commonly held view that Eldritch these days is a much more agreeable fellow than Eldritch of the 1980s.
I don’t regret anything, but I’m sure other people regret stuff where I was present." -
Von with MAndrews
"
[Von] knows better than I do that he was not a good man to be around by 1984-85. With Von you forgive a lot, I know." -
Gary Marx to MAndrews
Should tell you something. I'm sure MAndrews could've provided with a scathing, if reasonably accurate portrayal of Von during those years. Heaven knows the wee man provided enough factual cannon fodder. Do the math; he had broken up with a very special lady and was a local ascending rock star, all torn up inside and seeking temporary comfort here and there. When jealous and very serious manly men came around, it was a bad time for him to love a good argument.
Without knowing what he knows, I always felt it was curious of him to downplay his past, as in, 'Yeah, I did my thing and my reasoning of the events and my personal motivations absolve me - others aren't as lucky'. Chris(?) said it well once, 'Von doesn't look in that direction.' Either, he's done the heavy lifting later in life (we may hope), or he's still ashamed of the memory of the person he was, and would rather keep atoning himself than relive his past digressions on the record. Who knows.
The unrepentant rock star shtick has been around a long time. It's probably something Andy Taylor needs to function as Von. How he feels behind the mask may well be a different story than the one he chooses to pass around. One thing I'm fairly sure of (without knowing the man personally), there's still plenty enough of Andy Taylor there to forgive Von... a lot.