All Entries in the "Book Reviews" Category
IT’S SO EASY: AND OTHER LIES by Duff McKagan; Touchstone, 2011
Veteran journalist Ed Quillen once pointed out that “Ray Charles did his most brilliant work during the year he was addicted to heroin” and that the magnificent Stone’s LP Exile on Main Street “has more great loud and dirty rock and roll on it than any dozen recordings by people who could pass blood tests.” [...]
EVERYBODY LOVES OUR TOWN: AN ORAL HISTORY OF GRUNGE by Mark Yarm; Crown Archetype, 2011
It was the age of needy validation in music, fueled by MTV and massive major label deals that sprung from the newfound oasis of money that was the CD. Seattle became ground zero for expense account excess from industry players, and eventually the town became part of the problem rather than part of the solution. [...]
HÜSKER DÜ: THE STORY OF THE NOISE-POP PIONEERS WHO LAUNCHED MODERN ROCK by Andrew Earles; Voyageur Press, 2010
There’s been a plentitude of reading opportunities for anybody interested in digging into Our Precious Hardcore Punk Rock Heritage recently. Your browser is set to this url so you know the deal: the Touch and Go archives in book form, Why Be Something You’re Not, etc. Andrew Earles has made an invaluable contribution with this [...]
CHEETAH CHROME: A DEAD BOY’S TALE FROM THE FRONT LINES OF PUNK ROCK by Cheetah Chrome; Voyageur Press, 2010
Cheetah Chrome’s saga includes his many identities: a dumbass, a loser, a hooligan, a loveable lug, a rock hero, and finally, a family man. Or does he clumsily wrap all of those characters into one loveable punk? A Dead Boy’s Tale, Chrome’s humorous, anecdote-jammed autobiography, is also his self-deprecating journey through Cleveland’s flats into NYC’s [...]
I’M IN THE BAND: BACKSTAGE NOTES FROM THE CHICK IN WHITE ZOMBIE by Sean Yseult; Soft Skull Press, 2010
Goddamn I loved Soul Crusher. I bought it for the cover alone, this miasma of psychoglo paint and fleecy-headed rockers with hot Crayola lettering—thinking magenta?—and inside was wax worthy of anything coming forth at the time. White Zombie was on the map, first releasing Crusher on its own and then getting picked up by Caroline. [...]
PUNCHING OUT: ONE YEAR IN A CLOSING AUTO PLANT by Paul Clemens; Doubleday, 2011
In mid-January, TV funnyman Stephen Colbert joined an ages-old tradition with a shot at Detroit. “What if we turned Detroit into a bombing range?” Colbert pondered. “Would anybody notice?” As one who has spent most of his life in these environs, thanks. Punching Out is a tale of a factory turned into…well, what looks like [...]
PUNK ROCK PRATTLE: Is Talk Cheap?
WHY BE SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE NOT: DETROIT HARDCORE 1979-1985 by Tony Rettman; Revelation, 2010 AMERICAN HARDCORE: A Tribal History (Second Edition) By Steven Blush; Feral House, 2010 To begin with, it’s hard to believe that the people who built the house of punk rock are part of history. Weren’t we ageless warriors who could defy [...]
SEX, STUPIDITY AND GREED: INSIDE THE AMERICAN MOVIE INDUSTRY By Ian Grey; Juno Books, 1997
Former Hollywood insider Ian Grey turns a critical eye on his former stomping grounds in search of crass over-commercialism, clichés, unscrupulous practices, insipid scripts, an overall standard of homogenous, formulaic, unimaginative product and—Shazam!—he finds it! Along the way, Ian offers up some revealing, often hilarious tales of self-obsession in the movie industry. The conclusions he [...]
SONNY LISTON WAS A FRIEND OF MINE by Thom Jones; Little, Brown, Inc. 1999
A collection of pulpy tales, most of them dirty—as in the neighborhood tavern with a Rourke character as the bartender. Sonny Liston is a beautifully exercised piece about love and hate and dysfunction. The author’s veteran status also provides for some colorful Vietnam stories which are not written from a victim point of view as [...]
WILLEFORD by Don Herron; Dennis McMillan, 1997
In a letter to a friend sent shortly before his death in 1987 Charles Willeford wrote, “The plot really doesn’t matter that much, as long as you have one; the important thing is the characters.” Likewise, Don Herron’s study Willeford offers a collection of biographical anecdotes culled from Willeford’s published works and personal papers that [...]