In reply to aln:
There've been so many recently I can't keep up.
Brix's book is good - once you get past the growing pains that take up half the book (and pains they are, too much Californian self analysis) it's hilarious in parts. Everyone seems to think Hanley's The Big Midweek is top notch but I can't yet comment. The 'Wit and Wisdom of MES' thing that came out recently is OK but pretty flimsy - you can read in 5 minutes in any good bookstore.
Of the older stuff, the best I've read are Renegade (despite paradoxically being a huge disappointment), Dave Simpson's The Fallen (very entertaining and suitably obsessive) and Dave Thompson's User's Guide (does a good trainspotting job up to about 2003, now superseded by t'internet).
Of course it's all a bit disappointing really - when it comes to 'getting' the elusive MES, what can possibly compare to listening to The Fall? To paraphrase Elvis Costello, reading about The Fall is like dancing about architecture. But if you're prepared to accept that a man can be a genius and an asshole at the same time you shouldn't be too disappointed - it worked for Picasso...
Post edited at 20:31