Peter Hook, "The Hacienda -- How Not to Run a Club"

This is the first book written by Peter Hook in his three part autobiographical series, albeit read by me in reverse order. 

The Joy Division book didn't add much to the mountain of literature already written about JD, but as a series of picture postcard memories of his time in the band, it was fine.

The New Order book is probably the only essential one of the series, not least because the band rarely gave interviews and hid behind their music for most of the 80's.  The book confirmed that all the rumours were true (nobody at Factory had a clue what they were doing, the members of New Order generally despised each other), but it was still surprising -- and engrossing -- to read about it in such detail. 

The first part of this book is true to the subtitle -- "how not to run a club".  Opening the Hacienda was a visionary act by a bunch of inspired, supremely talented people.  It was also an act of horrible mismanagement and astoundingly bad financial decisions.  Both sides of the coin are outlined by Hook, and I was under the impression that I was in for a downer of a read, full of spite and bitterness.
But once the club reaches the peak of its popularity, the tone of the book changes to one of pride.  It becomes a love letter to the club that Hook clearly still misses very much -- so much so that he opened a new club in 2010 after vowing never to get involved in one again.  Hook gets to brag about what the club meant to people, and how they helped reshape dance culture.  The Hacienda's final years were plagued by violence, shady dealings and dwindling attendance.  I never realized there wasn't a big closing party like the one depicted in "24 Hour Party People".  The club closed down pending a renewal of their licence that never came.  Nobody knew it would be their final night at the time it happened. 

In the end, the book's message is one of positivity -- the experience of running the club and being at the epicentre of an entire culture was worth it for him in the end.  Right before the club closed, Hook recalls a meeting with his accountant where he was asked if he was doing it for his ego or for his wallet.  Of course, it was for the ego -- being a club owner and having a place to go was meaningful for him.  He'd long since known that it was a titanic waste of money and any pretense of the Hacienda as an investment was long since gone.