He is undoubtedly one of the more literary pop stars of our time, with allusions to Oscar Wilde, Shelagh Delaney and Keats permeating some of his best-loved songs.

But if reviews of his debut novel are anything to go by, Morrissey should perhaps stick to making music.

The novel, List of Lost, published by Penguin, and out today, has been described by the Guardian as an “unpolished turd of a book”.

“Do not read this book; do not sully yourself with it, no matter how temptingly brief it seems,” wrote the paper’s Michael Hann. “All those who shepherded it to print should hang their heads in shame, for it’s hard to imagine anything this bad has been put between covers by anyone other than a vanity publisher. 

“It is an unpolished turd of a book, the stale excrement of Morrissey’s imagination.”
And it seems the Guardian is not the only publication to trash the work of the controversial former Smiths frontman.
Nico Hines of online publication the Daily Beast describes the writing as “laughably chunky” and the characters as “thinly drawn”. But he claims the worst aspect is the “extraordinary tone of misogyny that pervades the entire story”.
Morrissey himself described the book, which tells of a track relay team which is haunted by a demon, as an “American tale where, naturally, evil conquers good and none live happily ever after”.
The singer, 56, uses the book to address many of his most well-known and long-held bete noirs, including the royal family, Margaret Thatcher and the meat industry.
Two years ago, Penguin controversially published Morrissey’s autobiography in its “classic” imprint, which is usually reserved for esteemed dead writers.
The book divided the critics, with some praising its brilliance and others decrying it as overwrought and self-indulgent.