Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung

Author: Lester Bangs
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
ISBN: 1847655580
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Book Description
Until his death aged thirty-three in 1982, Lester Bangs wrote wired, rock 'n' roll pieces on Iggy Pop, The Clash, John Lennon, Kraftwerk, Lou Reed. As a rock critic, he had an eagle-eye for distinguishing the pre-packaged imitation from the real thing; written in a conversational, wisecracking, erotically charged style, his hallucinatory hagiographies and excoriating take-downs reveal an iconoclast unafraid to tell it like it is. To his journalism he brought the talent of a great a renegade Beat poet, and his essays, reviews and scattered notes convey the electric thrill of a music junky indulging the habit of a lifetime. As Greil Marcus writes in his introduction, 'What this book demands from a reader is a willingness to accept that the best writer in America could write almost nothing but record reviews.'

Main Lines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste

Author: Lester Bangs
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 030748789X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 429

Book Description
Before his untimely death in 1982, Lester Bangs was inarguably the most influential critic of rock and roll. Writing in hyper-intelligent Benzedrine prose that calls to mind Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson, he eschewed all conventional thinking as he discussed everything from Black Sabbath being the first truly Catholic band to Anne Murray’s smoldering sexuality. In Mainlines, Blood Feasts, Bad Taste fellow rock critic John Morthland has compiled a companion volume to Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, the first, now classic collection of Bangs’s work. Here are excerpts from an autobiographical piece Bangs wrote as a teenager, travel essays, and, of course, the music pieces, essays, and criticism covering everything from titans like Miles Davis, Lou Reed, and the Rolling Stones to esoteric musicians like Brian Eno and Captain Beefheart. Singularly entertaining, this book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the history of rock.

Let it Blurt

Author: Jim DeRogatis
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307487407
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
Let It Blurt is the raucous and righteous biography of Lester Bangs (1949-82)--the gonzo journalist, gutter poet, and romantic visionary of rock criticism. No writer on rock 'n' roll ever lived harder or wrote better--more passionately, more compellingly, more penetratingly. He lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, guzzling booze and Romilar like water, matching its energy in prose that erupted from the pages of Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice. Bangs agitated in the seventies for sounds that were harsher, louder, more electric, and more alive, in the course of which he charted and defined the aesthetics of heavy metal and punk. He was treated as a peer by such brash visionaries as Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Captain Beefheart, The Clash, Debbie Harry, and other luminaries. Let It Blurt is a scrupulously researched account of Lester Bangs's fascinating (if often tawdry and unappetizing) life story, as well as a window on rock criticism and rock culture in their most turbulent and creative years. It includes a never-before-published piece by Bangs, the hilarious "How to Be a Rock Critic," in which he reveals the secrets of his dubious, freeloading trade.

Whose Tail Is This?

Author: Peg Hall
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1404865942
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 8

Book Description
Examines a variety of animal tails, noting how they look different and function in different ways. Animals shown include a peacock, a monkey, a kangaroo, a humpback whale, a gecko lizard, a rattlesnake, and a sea horse.

Watch You Bleed

Author: Stephen Davis
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440639280
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 472

Book Description
The New York Times bestselling epic tale of the last great rock band From the bestselling author of Hammer of the Gods comes the complete story of Guns N? Roses ? from their drug-fueled blastoff in the 80s to the turbulent life of legendary singer Axl Rose, and his fifteen-year, multimillion dollar quest to make the perfect hard rock album. Riotous world tours. Drug-induced rampages. One hundred millions albums sold. In his sixth major rock biography, Stephen Davis details the riveting story of the last great rock band. Watch You Bleed documents the life of every band member, including the improbable story of W. Axl Rose. Davis brilliantly captures the Guns? raw power ? from the gutters of Sunset Strip to the biggest stadiums on the planet. Based on exclusive interviews, private archives, and packed with stunning revelations, Watch You Bleed is the savage, definitive, and highly unauthorized story of Guns N? Roses. For the first time, millions of fans will learn the whole truth about this legendary band.

Metal Cowboy

Author: Joe Kurmaskie
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
ISBN: 0609809113
Category : Cyclists
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Book Description
This heartwarming collection of true stories reveals the thrill and the freedom of traveling America's back roads on a bicycle, and the joy of discovering unforgettable characters along the way.From the moment he borrowed his big sister's banana-seat bike and careened down the neighborhood hill at the age of five, Joe Kurmaskie has known the intoxicating freedom and power of the bicycle. In this big-hearted collection of stories, Joe -- dubbed the Metal Cowboy by a blind rancher he encountered one icy morning in Idaho -- tells of his whimsical, wild adventures through the American landscape.

Psychotic reactions and carburetor dung

Author: Lester Bangs (Psychotic reactions and carburetor dung.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description

Out of the Vinyl Deeps

Author: Ellen Willis
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 0816672822
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
Collects Ellen Willis' writings on popular music from her career at the New Yorker and other publications.

Blondie

Author: Lester Bangs
Publisher: Touchstone
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 102

Book Description

102 Ways to Write a Novel

Author: Alex Quick
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781906964924
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
'For God's sake, keep your eyes open. Notice what's going on around you.' William S. Burroughs This step-by-step guide to the art -- and the craft -- of writing fiction is a refreshing blend of the practical (how to find an agent), with the more cerebral (how to handle point of view; the importance of rhythm). Throughout, Quick uses the hard-won experiences of his fellow novelists to give color and depth to his own advice. Did you know, for instance, that Road Dahl wrote in a shed? That Nabokov composed his masterpieces on index cards? Or -- alas -- that most writers get their best work done in the mornings? Full of wit and lightly-worn erudition, 102 Ways to Write a Novel is an elegant, useful and even inspiring vade mecum. It will become a classic of its kind – the book no writer of fiction should be without.