Reviews by camuscamuscamuscamus

Named after a song by his beloved Elvis Costello - Ellis shows he doesnt reserve disdain soley for the east coast - he brilliantly satirizes the excess of his hometown L.A. in 'Less Than Zero'. Sex, drugs, rock'n'roll - scares you only because the characters are just a bunch of kids.

Capturing the bull-shit of Generation X is Ellis' strong-suit, and he does it very well on this criminally overlooked book. You'll laugh at the sexually and mentally detached characters, and thank God Ellis' world doesn't mirror your own (or truly be scared, that your life is a living lie). Notably, contains a cameo of protagonist Sean Bateman's brother Patrick - who Ellis would later use as his "American Psycho".

I used this for a term paper on Dylan - and it worked great, in depth and personal with the artist himself. As a read? A bit of a bore, I'd go for Dylan's autobiography 'Chronicles' if you want to read about the man.

Fuck Annie Leibowitz - Linda was the definitive photographer of the era, a real talent who unfortunately is only known as the "wife-of-Paul". Beautiful photos - especially the revealing, harrowing shots of Jackson Browne, Tim Buckley, and Brian Jones. Deserves to be in every music afficiando's collection.

Good writing, interesting man - though he stays away from what everyone wants to hear (the '65-'66 mod period). Beautiful portraits of his albums 'New Morning', 'Freewheelin'', and 'Oh, Mercy'. Notably, he admits that 'Nashville Skyline' (a lauded country masterpiece) was released so people would stop buying his records. I believe that, because it's a terrible record.

Well...it's the 'complete' covers, so expect it all - from wicked portraits of Mick'n'Keef to shots of turds like Sebastian Bach. My one gripe is that the Andy Warhol designed cover (1977) wasn't blown to a full page, but left as a petite thumbnail.

I'll cop the liner notes from a Beach Boys release 'cos it fits here too: "Super/Groovy/Fab/Gear/Outasight/Psychedelic/Good Trip". Inspired, mostly creepy illustrations of all of the Beatles soundscape, led by Alan Aldridge (who designed the cover art of the 1966 Who album 'A Quick One').

"Their story" according to the band themselves - a very biased, but interesting look on the sixties. Admittedly it was all a blur to them, so don't expect and deep realizations. It ends with an "it was all about love" hipster babble that leaves you a bit cheated. Still, the refences to pop culture, and their relationships with contemporaries like Dylan and the Stones is more interesting. You like the band? Get this book. I still think their definitive biography is the one written by Hunter Davies, who hung with the band during their 'Sgt Pepper' phase. (Notably, Davies can be seen in the 1967 "All You Need Is Love" telecast).

To be frank - who cares? Does anyone really need to know where the Beatles were on each and every day of their decade tenure together? Apparantly yes - according to Beatles afficiando Mark Lewisohn. This is stupid, and should have stayed in the vaults, or wherever the hell it's supposed to be.

Whether you learned of this from a hipster or your decrepit, beloved lesbian professor - this is a gorgeous little book of wisdom that shouldn't be passed up. Ideal for the transients out there.