Those looking for unpublished secrets about AC/DC or even just a basic backgrounder about Australia’s loudest export are bound to be let down if that’s their sole reason for picking up Rocker’s and Rollers. Yes, Johnson is the front man of the phenomenal successful hard rock band and you know he has a slew of backstage stories that would make Motley Crue’s Dirt read like a Judy Blume book in…
It was a little over a year ago when I first picked up a copy of Pat’s book, ‘Name of the Wind,’ the first book of his fantasy trilogy. At first, I was reluctant to give a new author a chance. I had been a long time fan of a number of writers, and had a pile of their works collecting dust on shelves, or hidden in bins. A new…
Ever since Lester Bangs OD-ed in 1982, there’s been a massive void in the role of “well-known rock music journalist”. Neil Strauss, thankfully, has finally come along to fill that role well. If there were any doubt after reading his legendary Motley Crue book The Dirt (not to mention the other rock bios he’s helped pen for Marilyn Manson and Dave Navarro), Strauss’s latest Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead,…
T.J. English has written, quite possibly, the most compelling historical fictional of the year. The only catch is that it all really happened. With the story telling-style that could rival any bestseller fiction author currently battling it out on the sales charts right now, English uses a reporter’s eye to pull in the most fantastical and interesting details of a racially-charged New York city in the 60’s and 70’s in…
Sammy Hagar may have miscalculated a bit if he was looking to bolster his aw shucks good guy reputation with his just-released memoir. Before the book came out he was pretty much a clean slate, with many having little or no opinion about the red rocker. Sure he got dinged a bit for stepping into David Lee Roth’s shoes, but contrary to popular belief, he was a far better songwriter…
The 90’s were a bad time for books by comedians. Apparently you were handed a publishing contact as soon as one of the networks picked up your sitcom, which explained such dreadful books that lined the clearance table by folks like Tim Allen and Drew Carey. Now that someone has obviously shut down the pipeline between the comedy clubs and paint-by-number sitcoms, it looks like publishing houses are finally showing…
Though it takes nearly half the book to draw out complete sketches of the main characters, in The Intimates, first time novelist Ralph Sassone has created two of the most compelling characters in years.
Humorist David Sedaris manages to fill in the animal characters in his latest collection of short stories with more color and facets than many fiction writers devote to their human characters. Despite being a series of short stories being told by animals, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is actually pretty much what you’ve come to expect from Sedaris, via his New Yorker essays, NPR stories and collection of autobiographical writings. Filled with…
For those about to rock… might want to pick up this bio/coffee table book on AC/DC. There have been few rock bands as polarizing as AC/DC that have managed to stay relevant across three decades. Call them juvenile, sophomoric, three-chord rock stars or see them as one of the last few torch barriers for unpretentious rock, but there is no denying that Australia’s biggest musical export knows how to write…
Prior to Starstruck, I think it’s safe to assume there had never been so much in depth research put into why Paris Hilton managed to become frighteningly famous when Tara Reed didn’t. On the surface they could almost be doppelgangers: blonde-haired party girls with extremely questionable talent, both thrust into the spotlight. But while Hilton has managed to thrive, building a mini-empire of realty shows and perfume, Reed has become…
