He wears his considerable learning lightly – although not apologetically: Scott knows that the arguments he is exploring have a long pedigree.

It’s a serious tome that raises criticism to the level of art.

That he succeeds in speaking to us all…while at the same time delineating his own specific role in culture, is only one of the many pleasures to be found in this erudite work.

Jam-packed treasure trove… The result is often deeply rewarding.

Fluent, learned volume… Conscious of the irony that a culture in which everyone passionately wants their opinions heard is systematically devaluing critical thinking and analysis… Reflects the age-old critic's dilemma of how subjective to be – one of many fascinating quandaries that are put through the intellectual wringer here by a calm and clever champion of an unfashionable art.

Profound yet also perhaps surprisingly uplifting appreciation of the art of criticism… He blends intimacy with something more objective, which is perhaps the ideal combination for the critic… That he succeeds in speaking to us all ("everyone’s a critic"), whilst at the same time delineating his own specific role in culture, is only one of the many pleasures to be found in this erudite work.

You don’t have to have a personal investment in the future of criticism to find this a stimulating read.

I love Scott’s characterization of criticism… Better Living Through Criticism is, in short, both the most important and the most annoying book on the topic I’ve read in years. Scott cold not have picked a better time to highlight the usefulness of criticism than this moment.

Truly accessible, avoids obscurity and demonstrates learning without demanding it of the reader… Nothing less than a work of art.

One of the funniest, smartest, most articulate critics around.

An engaging host… His voice is good-natured, even chummy, the prose populous and bright.

The Best Music Biog Ever ... In the world of rock autobiographies, Morrissey's is nigh-on perfect

Practically every paragraph has a line or two that demands to be read aloud to the mirror, tattooed on foreheads, carved on tombstones

Morrissey is a pop star of unusual writing talent

Autobiography is a rich and substantial work, the figure emerging at its centre both compelling and complex. Those who know his music will be unsurprised by the qualities of Morrissey's prose, which is ornate, windswept, elusive yet never tricksy, and full of unexpected twists and thrusts. He writes with understanding (albeit often with a tout comprendre c'est rien pardonner caveat) and is most of all straightforwardly moving; never more so than when writing about his childhood

Autobiography doesn't disappoint. In its pages Morrissey manages to perform the neat trick of deconstructing his own myth while at the same time adding to it. Old scores are settled and anyone who ever crossed the singer is neatly decapitated herein by withering, barbed prose. Things could have gone very differently for Morrissey. He could have ended up cleaning canal banks or delivering the post for a living. Both of these outcomes would have left the world a far duller place. Autobiography is the man in his own words and, Morrissey being Morrissey, this means that we are presented with an account that is real and fantastic, unapologetically romantic and brutally honest. The die-hard fans have read the book already but for anyone with even a passing interest in what makes one of the most individual and unflinching voices in British pop music tick, Autobiography is essential

Defiantly populist ... Dominic Sandbrook zestfully charts the route that has taken Britain from 'workshop of the world' to 'cultural superpower' ... as Sandbrook rightly insists, 'we still live in the shadow of the Victorians

Brilliant.

An engaging and very accessible history book about our modern artistic achievements that, provocatively, also debunks some of the very icons it praises.