Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

Rating:
Summary: Really Worth Buying!
Review: Founder of Punk magazine and respected punk critic Legs McNeil hits us upside the head with the long-overdue Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Compiled from a series of interviews over the course of several years with punk musicians -- e.g., Richard Hell of Television fame, who minces no words when talking about the elusive Tom Verlaine or the misogynist Johnny Thunders -- punk auteurs -- e.g., Andy Warhol, who is perhaps the strangest person that ever lived -- and even groupies -- e.g., Bebe Buell, whose recent autobiography is worth a read, even if it can't hold a candle to this book (her comment on Miss Pamela, a/k/a Pamela Des Barres, of the GTO's is hilarious . . . queen of the WHAT?!).

McNeil is nothing if not comprehensive. That, of course, makes the book all the better.

I was recommended this book by a friend, and was hesitant to read it at first, since most, if not all, histories of punk are contradictory and hyped. This book, in some parts, is no exception -- it doesn't give into THE HYPE, but it certainly contradicts itself in places. Did the Ramones influence the Sex Pistols, or vice versa?

But the bottom line is, it doesn't quite matter. The point of the book is, punk changed the lives of all who were involved in its creation -- be they on the Stateside, or the British side, of the Atlantic. In turn, they've influenced generations of musicians.

This book is highly recommended. It's a great, easy read, and lots of fun. Another related book I strongly recommend is The Losers Club by Richard Perez, which covers the East Village club and punk scene, among other things. Just great.

Rating:
Summary: History the way it ought to be written
Review: This book never lets up. The format --- a collage of interviews with dozens of people --- keeps you glued to the pages. Every sentence comes from someone with something important to say. These people were there, they know what happened, and they are opinionated. Every key moment in the book is described by more than one person, giving you a kind of Rashomon perspective. It's appropriate that there's a quote from William Burroughs on the cover --- the format has the same feel as his cut-up novels, where a thousand shards of information combine into a single, complex theme.

The subject matter is equally interesting. Although the subtitle refers to "punk," the focus of the book is a little bit more narrow. It's about the punk rock music scene in New York from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. Any punk fan will tell you there are at least two more places to cover (Los Angeles and London) but you can't have everything in one book. For details on those two scenes, you'll have to read one of the many other punk rock histories.

All of the details are here, starting with the absurdist anti-glam of the Velvet Underground, all the way through the Ramones. In between, you get the complete history of the MC5, the New York Dolls, Iggy and the Stooges, and a significant dose of the Sex Pistols. (A final chapter continues the saga through the 1980s, but it's an afterthought. If you want that story, read OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE.)

The underlying theme of the book is drug abuse, which is a surprise. Although the music is covered, no single subject comes up as often as "dope." On every page, there's a comment about getting high, cleaning up, searching for money to get high, or overdosing. I'm not complaining --- if that's a big part of the story, that's fine with me. But if you want the music, you should just buy the old punk albums and listen to them. Reading about the music isn't going to work. You have to hear it to understand.

This is an important and endlessly entertaining story, a five-star book if there ever was one. It combines Burroughs with Studs Terkel in the best possible way. If you want to know about punk rock, you have to read this.

Rating:
Summary: oh boy a punky book wow !
Review: wow a punk rock book i'm so excited cbgbs was so cool and has so much integrede so does iggy pop and lou reed look i'm just goofin what a bunch of tripe lame rock stars feeling like they invented counter culture with rocknroll oh maybe malcom mclearn will tell me how to dress punk too because thats what punk is all about wearing a stupid punk mohawk uniform the punk uniform look if you want to wear a uniform wear a janitors uniform at least you will be doing something for somebody else and give up on these pipe dream rocknroll cliches i read this book and it was just junkies coopting rebellion save your money don't buy this book you won't learn anything but a bunch of hype from the horses mouth self interest making it out to be more than it was look just drink your pepsi go to the mall and read harry poter watch spiderman 2 because your all suburban and bored if you have to read a book on punk than you will never understand what punk really is like most people in the world you will never understand the difference between being an indivdual and merely imitating one

Rating:
Summary: forget what you know
Review: i've always been into punk rock, as music and as an event that occured when i was too young to really see it. this book is funny, disgusting, distrurbing, lucid, and a great historical document told by the people who were there. one need not be a fan of the music to dig this book - all it takes is an appreciation of what some snotty kids in NYC were trying to do to stay alive (or die in some cases).