Rating: 
Summary: Rock Journalism 101
Review: "Let it Blurt" is an important history lesson in the rock journalism and criticism that many of us take for granted. I for one never gave any thought to its origins, and assumed music reviews have been around since the advent of magazines. Little did I know that it was championed by charismatic dreamers, frustrated musicians, and firebrands who saw the forum as a way through which to turn others on to the music they were so passionate about. In a lot of ways, the early critics for magazines like Rolling Stone and Creem were like "old school" athletes- folks who weren't paid much, and did it for the love of the game. Lester Bangs wrote in order exorcise his own feelings about music, while broadcast his feelings to a broader audience, whether they took the form of passionate endorsements, angry tirades, or merely exorcised demons. One of the salient points made by DeRogatis is that when Bangs wrote reviews, he used the word "we", so as to implicate the reading audience, "addressing his readers as fellow appreciators instead of mere consumers." In other words, Bangs was writing for the audience instead of to it. He was a music fan first, and a writer second. Now, however, reviewers seem more out to pitch product, or at the very least, to avoid confrontation or- God forbid- being blacklisted from a band or record company's party and/or press release invitation list. As a character study/biography independent of a rock criticism history, the story of Lester Bangs is captivating. His celebrity was certainly unconventional, and on the periphery of the oft-told stories of rock stars. He had the addictive personality, the creativity, and the personal demons of a rock star, but communicated through a different- though overlapping- medium. He seemed like a loveable bear of a guy- no saint, to be sure- but someone you could have a few beers with while engaging in a frank discussion of (what's wrong with) your favorite band. Bangs clearly struggled with the unrealized dreams, girl problems, and increasingly-politically correct world that most of us do. DeRogatis' research was impeccable, and it is clear that Bangs was a hero of his. Furthermore, the writings of Bangs that are quoted throughout make the book read like an interview. While DeRogatis clearly is biased in his admiration for Lester, his writing was never fawning, nor did it gloss over the character's flaws. Lastly, there is a well chosen piece from Bangs at the end- a sarcastic piece on how to be a rock critic. Anyone who enjoyed this book will surely be pursuing more of Bangs' writing. I know I will.
Rating: 
Summary: A true rock and roll star
Review: And that's truly what Bangs was, a rock and roll star. He used his criticism to try to change the world just as Lou Reed and other singers used music. That Bangs could be called a collegue and an equal to the biggest rock acts of his time shows just how much rock critcism (and pretty much all writing about celebrities) has changed over the last 20 years. Back when Bangs was writing he could (and did) take on singers head on, baiting them, insulting them, picking fights when he felt the urge. It's hard to believe that today Bangs would get near any big-time act, out of the record label's fear that he would rip their precious "artists" limb from limb. But Bangs was far more than a hatchet man. He loved music with a passion that radiates out from his prose. He was one of the great stylists of his day, cranking out pieces that explode with all the energy and anger of the best rock and roll. He loved great music and hated lazy and pretentious performers who put out crap and expected the world to bow down. Lester was never the sort to bow down. Derogatis does an excellent job of describing how the boy from El Cajon metamorphosized into the force of nature that blew through Detroit and New York. He also shows the terrible toll that drugs and alcohol took on him, which certainly hastened the end of his life. He died at 33 and he was an old, old 33. You shouldn't read this book without also reading "Psychotic Reactions and Carburator Dung", which is a collection of Bangs' work that I read in college. I certainly hope there will be a revival of interest in Bangs and more of his work will be published again. You just gotta read this guy's work, it'll blow your doors off. And Derogatis does a fine job of revealing the man behind the roar. END
Rating:
Summary: Derogatis does Bangs justice
Review: Derogatis does a fine job telling the tale of the Lester Bangs legacy. I will spare the great details that other reviewers have mentioned, however I will say that Derogatis made me feel not as if I was reading a fantastic biography of Lester's life, but as if I was present for it. Very few authors have that ability, which is why I would highly recommend this great read.
Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for Lester Bangs fans
Review: Growing up with Lester Bangs in the seventies was a gift. Rock'n'roll and Bangs belonged together in that there was a mixture of innocense and jadedness that swirled around together, with a lot of humor along the way. Bangs was street-level compared to some of the more literary rock critics. Yet, his writing will outlast his contemporaries. Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung was the classic compilation of his writings. This biography provides the rest of the story. Mr. DeRogatis did a very thorough job and captured the spirit of the writings as well as the facts. Great job.
Rating:
Summary: Great Overview of a chaotic life
Review: I found this a most entertaining read. Lester Bangs is the most important critic in Rock history, not because of his writing style (which is unmatched), but because of his understanding of the subject matter. Jim's unflinching portrait of the troubled yet loveable critic makes you want to read everything Lester ever published. If you love music, and the critisism of it, do yourself a favor and read this book. You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Lester Bangs without tears
Review: I give the book 5 stars because it's well done, but the book's subject is another matter. I was a big fan of Lester Bangs in 1971-1974, when he was at Creem. One of his articles regarding his interview with Lou Reed (the one in which he refers to the interview as an attempt to bullfight a handball wall, or something like that - 1974?) was at that time one of the funniest things I'd read. He seemed to have great humor then. I sent a couple of "unsolicited reviews" to Creem in the early 70's. They weren't published, but I still have Bangs' rejection letters. The only character in "Almost Famous" I sort of enjoyed was the Bangs character. I was a fan. I didn't read anything Bangs wrote during the last several years of his life (I didn't read The Village Voice, NME, etc.), until "Carburetor Dung" was released in the late 80's. I still haven't read much of his stuff from that period because it's generally whiny and dull (at least the stuff I made it through in "Carburetor Dung"). Not knowing what became of him after about 1975, until his death, I remember when I heard he died in 1982 I was kind of surprised he was still a rock critic. Still? Why? I was also surprised his death appeared to be "drug related." I figured Lester was a smart enough guy that drugs were probably in the past for him by the early 1970's. But as is clear from "Please Kill Me" by McNeil and McCain, drugs were the predominant desire and influence in the lives of most of the people described in that book (the punk intelligentsia, including Bangs), most of whom were trash (to be generous), who bought into the tired old "artist as tormented substance abuser" myth. To their own pitiful and tedious destruction (Bangs, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Stiv Bators, etc.). You wouldn't want to eat lunch with any of these people. You wouldn't want them as your neighbors. If the baby sitting agency sent one over to watch your kid, you'd stay home. "Let it Blurt" confirms all or most of those views, whether or not that was the writer's intent. Rock music as an expression of passion or political beliefs (MC5, Stooges, etc.) was generally dead by the early 70's (as the Bangs character in "Almost Famous" said to the Crowe character - something like, "You're here just in time for the funeral..."), and was generally replaced by commercial enterprises (geldings) such as the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, etc. The enjoyable part of the reaction to it (punk) lasted a year or two before it also degenerated into harmless commerce (new wave). Bangs apparently never got over any of this. Instead of moving on, he seemed to deteriorate into the Holden Caulfield of Rock Critics, lambasting the "phonies" (their name is Legion, for they are many), and others who made his life miserable with their insincerity and lack of imagination. He seemed to lose much of his sense of humor. The years (15-20) of drug abuse took their toll. And so he died at 33. I used to feel a twinge of sadness when I considered that. Now...I'm much more ambivalent, particularly after reading this book. If this book is correct, and I suspect it is, this guy was a real self-absorbed pain during the last several years of his life. The 75-year old uncle who keeps complaining about his gall bladder. He became too precious to live. The best epitaph I've read for this type of personality is found in Dostoyevsky's "The Possessed": "Let me begin by saying that Stepan Verkhovensky had always cut a rather special figure among us - in the civic sense, that is. He passionately loved his role - so much so, in fact, that I don't think he could have lived without it. But don't think that I mean to compare him with an actor - God forbid - I respect him too much for that. It may have been largely a matter of habit, or rather a constant and even praiseworthy tendency, ever since his childhood, to slip into a pleasant daydream about his taking a gallant civic stand. Thus, he greatly relished his idea of himself as a persecuted man - in fact, an exile. There is about these two words a certain traditional glamour that seduced him once and for all. As the years went by, by exalting this glamour he placed himself, in his own estimation, on a pedestal that greatly gratified his vanity." And so Bangs OD'd in his hovel in New York, and was put to bed with a shovel.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, well written,
Review: I really enjoyed Let It Blurt, which is about the deceased rock critic Lester Bangs. I first read about Lester when Almost Famous came out, and read this book on a beach in Thailand last year, and it has stayed with me since that time. Lester died when I was 10, so I certainly didn't follow him, and other than a passion for music, Lester's taste in music was very different from mine, but I really enjoyed reading about him in this book. That is a good comment on DeRogatis as a writer, as I bore easily. Lester was a true individualist and someone with real passions, faults and weaknesses. He struggled and was human, and had this passion for music that many people have, so it is easy to relate in many ways if you have ever felt like you don't quite fit in, or are hyperopinionated, or just dislike the corporate machine. Highly recommended book.
Rating:
Summary: Good biography
Review: I was no fan of Lester Bangs' critical ravings when he was alive, but you don't have to be to be hooked by Jim Derogatis' bio of the man. He captures Bangs in all his high and low moments with an eye for detail and with great empathy, but without blinders on. Derogatis also manages to get all the, ahem, nuances of rock in the Seventies, certainly the rock of the Seventies that Bangs was most interested in. Whatever quibbles I have with the book are personal biases about how vital or not punk, New York, Lou Reed, etc. really were to rock as a totality, but LET IT BLURT still works grandly as a well-honed portrait of a life. Nice job.
Rating:
Summary: biography as novel
Review: If you are a fan of Lester Bangs (or his work), you MUST read this book. If you are not a fan of his work, you still might want to pick it up. Jim Derogatis shows off his extensive research in a sursprisingly readable format. Lester's story reads less as a biography than a more modern and (possibly) grown-up Catcher in the Rye. Lester plays the role of a (slightly) grown-up Holden Caufied beautifully. There were times when I wished there weren't so many people/characters coming in and out of the scenes, but Derogatis stayed true to history and didn't leave anyone out. I am a huge Lester Bangs fan, but have to admit that enjoyed his biography as much, if not more, than his own writing. Read it as a biography of "America's greatest rock and roll critic," or read it as a novel about a slacker's lifelong struggle--either way it's great.
Rating: 
Summary: Author has a problem with good music ....
Review: If you like objective critique, Derogatis is not your guy ...
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