Lou Reed

July 10, 2017
In this engaging yet uneven biography, Rolling Stone contributing editor DeCurtis (In Other Words) explores the life of a troubled kid from Long Island who transformed American music. A child of postwar suburbia, Lou Reed embraced rock and roll and the low life in his teens, and these two obsessions would fuel his career. In college, a close friendship with poet Delmore Schwartz marked his rejection of the mainstream. While songwriting at Pickwick Records not long after graduating, he met avant-garde Welsh musician John Cale and together they formed the Velvet Underground. Adopted by Warhol as the house band for his Factory, the Velvet Underground failed commercially even as they were creating a new musical paradigm. After leaving the band, Reed scored an unlikely hit with “Walk on the Wild Side,” but his uneven solo output and louche proclivities kept him from stardom. Nevertheless, before his death in 2013 Reed was celebrated as godfather of rock’s underground and had found domestic contentment with artist Laurie Anderson. While DeCurtis touches on Reed’s violent behavior, substance abuse, and complex sexuality, the icon remains distinct but quite distant, and DeCurtis’s takes on Reed’s musical output are equally lacking. The 500-plus pages pass swiftly but leave the impression that when it comes to Reed, much remains to be said. Agent: Sarah Lazin, Sarah Lazin Books.

January 1, 2018

No accurate portrait of Lou Reed could leave the reader with the impression that the notoriously prickly rock artist, known for his impatience with journalists and the volatility of his personal relationships, was a saint, but DeCurtis provides a nuanced view of a complicated man. The Reed portrayed here is a paranoid perfectionist, a fearless experimental artist, and an adventurer who dug deep into every facet of American culture that engaged him, both in his work and his private life. The Velvet Underground years are thoroughly examined, but at least as interesting is DeCurtis's treatment of Reed's ceaseless work inventing and reinventing himself as a continually original solo artist over most of his career. A close reading of each of Reed's albums punctuates the story. This biography of iconic musician Reed by a Rolling Stone journalist who knew him for decades will satisfy the curiosity of any fan of the man and his music. Narrator Peter Coleman gives a crisp, quality reading, providing character voices for Reed himself and others quoted that are distinctive without becoming celebrity impressions (his John Cale is notably good). VERDICT Recommended for fans of the artist himself, of course, for readers who enjoy quality music biographies such as Pete Townshend's Who I Am, or of thoughtful rock music criticism. ["Reed's art (and life) were often groundbreaking, occasionally maddening, and consistently fascinating, and this volume captures all of those aspects": LJ 8/17 starred review of the Little, Brown hc.]--Jason Puckett, Georgia State Univ. Lib., Atlanta

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2017
This is the third biography of singer-songwriter Lou Reed to be published since his death at 71 in 2013, but that's fine, since Reed was a complex figure whose life contained many areas obscured by shadow. Author DeCurtis, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone who knew Reed for more than 15 years, draws on interviews with the artist's fellow bandmates, friends, and former girlfriends to paint a picture of a brilliant musician whose deeply troubled past (which included a diagnosis, while still in high school, of schizophrenia and subsequent electroshock treatment) informed his music and his life. Even though he counted Reed among his friends in the music business, DeCurtis pulls no punches; for example, he talks about Reed's early sexual promiscuity in highly critical terms and is equally frank in discussing Reed's drug and alcohol abuse. This is a rough-edged, straight-talking biography of a man who became a legend as much for his offstage life as for his musical skills.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2017

Beginning with the Velvet Underground in the mid-1960s and continuing with a four-decade solo career that ended with his death in 2013, Lou Reed consistently broke boundaries in rock, melding lyrics that ventured into relationships, drugs, sexuality, and politics with music that ranged from garage rock to avant-garde explorations. In this comprehensive biography, Rolling Stone writer and author DeCurtis (In Other Words) gives Reed's life its due, chronicling his growing up and early life, artistic collaborations with Andy Warhol, David Bowie, and Metallica, among others, while looking at both his triumphs and faults with concise and readable prose. DeCurtis, who interviewed Reed himself over the years, also talked to various associates, friends, and musicians for this book. He presents a balanced consideration of Reed, spending equal time on the totality of his music and not just the well-known highlights, detailing the recording of specific albums and lyrics and their meaning and place in Reed's life at the time. VERDICT Reed's art (and life) were often groundbreaking, occasionally maddening, and consistently fascinating, and this volume captures all of those aspects, joining recent works by Aidan Levy and Howard Sounes in creating a thorough portrait of a man who profoundly influenced rock. [See Prepub Alert, 4/24/17.]--James Collins, MorristownMorris Twp. P.L., NJ

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.