Music

"A great introduction to one of America’s greatest cultural legacies."

 Mark Rubin, founder of the Bad Livers 

"A great way to travel back and vicariously live these shows."

Consequence of Sound magazine

"The ultimate illustrated account of Rock's role in New York City."

Chris Frantz, drummer of Talking Heads

A book about those musicians who at one point in time were on the verge of success but never quite “made it.”  

 “An evocative snapshot of the musical landscape of Native North America.”

Philip J. Deloris, author of Playing Indian 

Captures the world music scene through the eyes of the musicians who create it, all in their own words. 

"I’m not saying this just because I’m in the book... If you love metal, great stories, and music history told by the people who made it, then Louder Than Hell is a must-read."
Alice Cooper, singer and songwriter

"Sure to start more arguments than it settles, this is a fun book for music fans with a broad palette."

Publishers Weekly

"I still remember our first SPIN cover, and even now it seems pretty surreal. SPIN has always captured artists in the most creative and ambitious way, and we love that we are part of that tradition."
Gerard Way, lead vocalist of My Chemical Romance 

"Jack Boulware and Silke Tudor have managed to document punk without getting it wrong—which puts them in a class of about one percent of the writers on the subject.”
Jess Michaels, vocalist for Operation Ivy 

Veteran music video director Lara M. Schwartz has compiled everything you need to know to turn a simple visual concept for a song into a professional video. 

From the ridiculous to the sublime and frequently back to the ridiculous, this highly designed and thoroughly obsessive book travels through fifty years of music history.

From Elvis’s swiveling hips to Mick Jagger’s pouting lips, it’s all here—the people and events that have kept rock and roll vibrant, vital, and constantly evolving. 

 “The body of work Haggard has created is stunning in its stylistic range, historical resonance, and flinty observations on the forces that bring people together and then tear them apart.”

Rolling Stone

"[Beaujon is] never condescending to his subjects... making for a refreshingly unbiased view of a subject that many jaded journalists would find easy to mock.”
Kirkus Reviews

 "The way Kyle Anderson writes about grunge mirrors how the music sounded in 1993: humor within seriousness, heaviness within distortion, enthusiasm within detachment."
Check Klosterman, author of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs 

"This is the book that any one who once did time in the music business wish we had written."
Hugo Burnham, former major-label A&R executive 

 "[Lewitinn] has more power than any print music critic.”
New York Magazine 

"This work is highly recommended and is essential for any public or academic library with a popular music collection.”   

Library Journal 

"This collection is a great read for casual readers and longtime fans.”
Library Journal 

"It’s Catcher in the Rye with guitars.”
Blender magazine 

"You can pick songs by artist, genre, or occasion, but my favorite section is definitely 'Song Lists by Celebrities.' Is one of Patrick Stump's (Fall Out Boy) favorite songs really 'I Believe I Can Fly'?"

 Adrienne So, Wired

“Don Cusic gives an outstanding perspective on American icon Johnny Cash, blending the artist's life, the background to his music, and the history of his albums.”
J.A. Kaszuba Locke, Bookloons 

“Offers a valuable overview of the last 20 years of music and some pop culture in short, digestible segments, like an encyclopedia with a sarcastic sense of humor.”
Heather Kuldell, Creative Loafing Atlanta 

"A biting, in-depth chronicle of Nashville’s most tumultuous era told through the voices of iconic artists who used their music to accomplish significant changes in the music industry."
Kirkus Reviews 

"It's not every 29-year-old who can pack enough into a life to warrant a 500-page biography―and a good one at that.”
Kirkus Reviews 

"Ribowsky artfully chronicles Taylor's life... offers a rich and nuanced portrait." 

BookPage 

 Placing the music and personae of Skynyrd into a broad cultural context, this book gives a new perspective to a history of stage fights, motel-room destructions, cunning business deals, and brilliant studio productions 

 A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction), and a Finalist for the Marfield Prize (also known as the National Award for Arts Writing).

"Combining biography with cultural history, Jagger unfolds like a captivating documentary."

Amazon

"Sisk captures the real Buck. I knew him. I experienced the weird weaknesses... [Sisk] has the guts, she has the 'perfect subject,' and she's overstocked with talent. Her book is dynamite—a masterpiece, a sure-fire winner."  

Bill Mack, host of Country Crossroads 

“Barnes gets the story, and with the full participation of those brave musicians who attempted to interpret Beefheart's sometimes otherworldly methodology.” 

The Times 

"Done with great respect and humor and just enough down-and-dirty detail." 

New York Daily News 

"A story of a whimsical, sorrowed protagonist, who is so astounding in her self-destruction she could be mistaken for a fiction of Goodman’s imagination or a female Cobain."

Jenn Laidlaw, The Snipe

"Writing with an affectionate country twang, Patoski gives his subject the consideration he deserves in a fine, fluid piece of storytelling that any Nelson fan will appreciate."

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The full story of the rise and spectacular comeback of the band hailed as the saviors of punk rock and the next U2.

An in-depth look at "the piano man," starting with his lower-middle-class childhood and progressing through his years as a gang member, boxer, and working musician. 

"Its breezy writing and well-researched chronology places the life of one Hip-Hop’s fabulous beatsmiths in crystal clear perspective."

All Hip Hop

"An exemplary music bio for fans of the man, the music or the genre."

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Gritty, passionate, and totally comprehensive, Jackson Browne is nothing less than a guided tour of rock's most prolific years with one of its most complex artists.

"Inspired, edge-worn, loud, quiet, observant, humble, gorgeous, and humane. If the record business loved music as much as Marc Spitz does, there would still be a record business.” 

Dan Kennedy, author of Rock On: An Office Power Ballad 

"Bordowitz’s recounting of all the acrimony is well detailed and not too hyperbolic. This is a must read for CCR-philes."  

Booklist 

 “Chronicle[s] Abbot’s life and career with careful detail and just the right amount of appreciation.” 

Dallas Morning News

“Intimate, illuminating narrative [with] a satisfying sense of history that should please any fan of modern American music.” 

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

 “[Belcher's] ability to paint clear pictures of the people and locations make[s] this story worth reading. But his taking his writing one step further and probing into the soul of his main character is the real attraction.”

The New York Journal of Books 

"A tremendous rock n roll saga... [Kirwan's] lovingly rendered portrait of American and Irish social and political realities in the 1980s is both brutal and magical." 

Library Journal  

"What's important here are the quirky characters, the snarky Elmore-Leonard-meets-Lester-Bangs attitude, the goofball atmosphere and, most vitally, a heartfelt affection for all that rocks."

Kirkus Reviews

"A fast and funny read."

Booklist

"Equal parts metaphysical conundrum, roman à clef, and page-turning thriller... [Greenwald is] the Bret Easton Ellis of the blogosphere." 

Paste magazine 

"A solid choice for pop-music collections." 

Booklist

"By interweaving picture with song, Through The Wire illustrates a remarkable timeline of Kanye's journey, undoubtedly providing readers the most vivid analysis of Kanye's life and lyrics to date." 

Radio Facts 

“The selection of indie music–centric cities is spot-on… Simon’s text is knowledgeable… the book serves as a helpful jumping-off point for readers looking to learn more.” 

Publishers Weekly

"I'm The Man will please Anthrax fans. It will also please music fans who maybe don't know so much about Anthrax. The passion behind his band, perseverance over numerous hardships, and the ability to recount tales gone by with an often humorous stilt makes for an entertaining read.” 

Lithium Magazine

 “Even if you are not a fan of the music this is still a compulsive read… This really is not far off from the sort of biographical great American novels told by the likes of... Jack Kerouac and Charles Bukowski… An absolute gem and a real treat of a book.”

Caught in the Carousel music blog

 “A fun read…[with] amusing behind-the-scenes anecdotes.” 

Blurt.com

 “An informative, entertaining, and surprisingly cheerful work. The pacing is fast, the chronology is tight, and the balance of personal, professional, and cultural details is spot-on... Recommended for music historians, children of the 1970s, and, of course, Cooper fans.” 

Library Journal 

"A fresh, highly readable and caustic perspective on an overglamorized world."

Publishers Weekly 

“This brilliant memoir not only chronicles the band's early days, but paints an outrageous, inspiring picture of life among the artistic outlaws of New York's Lower East side in the `60s.”

High Times

“The epic tale of an obsessive teenager who launched a Rolling Stones fanzine and spent the next two decades capturing the band’s whirlwind metamorphosis from behind the scenes... First-rate, firsthand account of the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band, and a disenchanted chronicle of its increasingly crass commercialization.”

Kirkus Reviews