Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards Is Subject of Novel

The story of his disappearance is one of the most mysterious and compelling around -- and now Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards' life is set to be translated into a fiction novel.

The Welshman -- presumed dead after disappearing in 1995 -- will be the subject of a book called 'Richard,' written by author and journalist Ben Myers, with a UK release date penned for Oct. 1.

Numerous theories run regarding what happened to Edwards, whose car was found at a notorious suicide spot near Bristol, but Myers believes that the guitarist's personality, and not the mysterious circumstances of his disappearance, is what makes for an engaging read.

Speaking to NME, he said, "A lot has been written about Richey Edwards, but I thought a fictional setting would be a better medium to explore his personality, especially because he was a particularly literate person who injected a wealth of literary influences into a fairly staid British rock scene that was lacking any true iconoclastic voices at the time.

"The book is a fact-based work of fiction so one thing Richard doesn't do is offer a hypothesis or explanation. It asks more questions than it provides answers and therefore is merely a version of a truth -- as opposed to the truth."

Manic Street Preachers' new album, 'Postcards From a Young Man,' will be released in September, as previously reported by Spinner, with a massive UK tour planned soon after.