I've just finished the above book, by Gary Spencer Millidge in collaboration with the author, which is probably the best I've read since Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. As an aspiring writer (not of comics but novels and short stories), I took two important lessons from this book; One - if you feel the need to create then just do it and don't let anything stop you, and; Two - don't compromise on your vision, even if it hurts you financially and professionally. Moore may have fallen out with just about every single comic publisher, perhaps justifiably, perhaps not, but just consider what works resulted from the realisation of his uncompromising vision...
The book covers Moore's writing all the way from its very beginnings up to the latest installment of his on-going series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century. Any good book about Alan Moore needs plenty of graphics and images to support the text and this book is certainly not lacking in this regard: the pictures enhance the text immensely, demonstrating just what makes Moore stand out from the pack. I could have read a book twice this length but that's not to say that it feels lacking, more that the subject is so interesting. True, I didn't particularly have much interest in Moore's non-comic work, but these sections were still a good read and provided a fuller picture of the man.
The best way to measure the success of a book like this is whether or not it causes the reader to revisit the subject's work. For the past few days I've been frantically catching up on the Moore comics I've either never read or had any intention of reading, and I can't wait to go back over my favourites.
A great read, thoroughly recommended.
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