Paperback, 544 pages
English language
Published July 3, 1997 by Abacus.
A contemporary classic, Please Kill Me is the definitive oral history of the most nihilistic of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Richard Hell, the Ramones, and scores of other punk figures lend their voices to this decisive account of that explosive era.
Beautifully book, really a feat of cultural immersion and storytelling and narrative-making. I laughed a lot and cried at the end.
Very interesting story. I learned a lot. Maybe the best rock and roll book I've ever read in terms of breadth and detail.
Wow, if you are looking for uplifting stories from happy lives, well, you won't find it here. I assumed most of those in the punk scene were pretty messed up, but I had no idea. A brilliant book through and invaluable source of information about punk.
It consists solely of paragraph (or longer) interviews (well, generally the statements without the questions) from somebody then followed by another, sometimes following on the same narrative, or branching off onto something related. The book starts with the Andy Warhol/New York/Velvet Underground scene then moves through the Doors and Detroit (MC5/Stooges) and the beginnings of the New York punk scene (New York Dolls). It mostly then centers on the NY scene, Max's/CBGBs and touches on its crossover into London, finally with the Sex Pistols imploding and bringing it all down again. Punk quickly dies and the narratives follow to the dead ends, the breakups, …
Wow, if you are looking for uplifting stories from happy lives, well, you won't find it here. I assumed most of those in the punk scene were pretty messed up, but I had no idea. A brilliant book through and invaluable source of information about punk.
It consists solely of paragraph (or longer) interviews (well, generally the statements without the questions) from somebody then followed by another, sometimes following on the same narrative, or branching off onto something related. The book starts with the Andy Warhol/New York/Velvet Underground scene then moves through the Doors and Detroit (MC5/Stooges) and the beginnings of the New York punk scene (New York Dolls). It mostly then centers on the NY scene, Max's/CBGBs and touches on its crossover into London, finally with the Sex Pistols imploding and bringing it all down again. Punk quickly dies and the narratives follow to the dead ends, the breakups, and the overdoses and deaths.
It certainly isn't a comprehensive history of punk, as only New York is really covered in any depth. Even then, there are still gaps, like there are only interviews with Dee Dee Ramone, but none of the rest of them. But its depth with those it does interview and cover is really enlightening and makes for a fascinating read and insight into some of the main movers of punk.
Sort of a daily life of punk musicians. An excellent oral history - various quotes all are in conversation and often in conflict with each other. What I personally found rather disturbing is how conventional the music scene in question actually was. I mean, paraphrasing Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, not much point to break out of a prison cell and just end up in the neighboring one.
A Most excellent in depth look back at the start of punk rock. A must read. It's all there.
people who dislike the format of this book obviously ignored the title. beyond that i dont know how one can ignore Legs' gift for editing. sometimes it seems like he's setting these snippets up just to knock them all down with the summarizing paragraph of another first-hand witness that comes off like a punchline to end the chapter. reads like a documentary at times.
people who complain that the book doesnt address the west coast scene, more of the UK variety, or "punk" as a genre into the 80s and beyond are ignoring the fact that Legs is one of the founders of Punk Magazine, the publication that arguably coined the term for the music discussed herein. the contributors--his friends and acquaintances during the time of that founding--address the west coast, the UK, and the present/future (depending on what historical perspective theyre writing from) only insofar as as these places …
people who dislike the format of this book obviously ignored the title. beyond that i dont know how one can ignore Legs' gift for editing. sometimes it seems like he's setting these snippets up just to knock them all down with the summarizing paragraph of another first-hand witness that comes off like a punchline to end the chapter. reads like a documentary at times.
people who complain that the book doesnt address the west coast scene, more of the UK variety, or "punk" as a genre into the 80s and beyond are ignoring the fact that Legs is one of the founders of Punk Magazine, the publication that arguably coined the term for the music discussed herein. the contributors--his friends and acquaintances during the time of that founding--address the west coast, the UK, and the present/future (depending on what historical perspective theyre writing from) only insofar as as these places and times affected them. there's plenty of books that take a more wide-ranging view of what "punk" is or may become and at nearly 500 pages long, I'm not sure it was in the editor's best interest to try to include such subjects.
i thought it was a really fun read, replete with gross-out junkie stories, conflicting accounts of controversial behind-the-scenes fights and affairs, and all the other first-hand shit you won't find in nearly any of the hundreds of other books with the word 'punk' in the title so yknow
