When will I be seeing this film, you ask? Like, how soon is now???

Well, soon, anyway, after it comes out.

I have actually probably become a bigger Smiths fan as an adult. I was totally into them in the mid 80s; their earlier tunes (pre The Queen Is Dead days) were always my favorites. And I have always regretted that this is one of those important alternative 80s groups that I did not see live (how in the heck did that happen). But they didn’t quite seem as necessary to me as they do to the characters in Shoplifters of the World.

I like the title, by the way.

I did, however, have a bonafide Smiths concert t-shirt from the Queen Is Dead tour. My friend, Mary, who went to a show, nabbed one for me, which was very thoughtful of her. I wore it a lot.

It seems like the look back at Gen X’s formative years is upon us. It makes sense. We’re in our 40s and 50s now. (Or maybe it just seems that way to me because I have spent the past six years writing my 80s novel, Your Silent Face, and also just recently read Rob Sheffield’s book, Talking to Girls about Duran Duran). The Smiths, though, seem to speak to a lot of 30 and 20 somethings, as well, as far as I can tell. I know that both of my kids like The Smiths, whom they had to hear blaring from my studio, or from the kitchen, when they were growing up.

My favorite song is probably “This Charming Man.”