A Whore Just Like The Rest: The Music Writings Of Richard Meltzer [Paperback]

Richard Meltzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

He is one of the inventors of rock criticism. His first book, The Aesthetics of Rock (acclaimed by Greil Marcus as "a disemboweling of rock's soft white underbelly"), became an instant cult classic when published in 1970. And for the next thirty years he fearlessly expanded the boundaries of music writing. Now he has collected the best of his prodigious output into a gonzo sampler of the reviews, profiles, interviews, and essays that form the heart of his rockwriter legacy. Traveling from psychedelia to the "dinosaur-rot early '70s" to the redeeming majesty of punk and the constant solace of jazz, this will stand as a remarkable document of an era by a singular voice in music writing.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book is akin to that best-of episode of your favorite sitcom that strings together the juiciest punch lines of seasons past. Unlike most sitcom one-liners, Metzler's could actually knock you out. This trip down memory lane, via the author's past writing clips with updated introductions, provides an uncensored insider's view into the formative years of the contemporary rock scene. Overall, however, the history takes a backseat to Metzler's groundbreaking writing. His early album and concert reviews set the stage for countless copycat critics eager to steal Metzler's flare. (They're still trying.) Much like The Nick Tosches Reader (LJ 4/15/00), also published by Da Capo, this work is a chronicle of creative critique writing. Essential for anyone entertaining thoughts of a writing career, this is recommended for all academic and larger public libraries with an extensive music catalog.DRobert Morast, Pro Rodeo Sports News, Colorado Springs
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...thought-provoking, funny and genuinely original...one of the most life-affirming books you may ever encounter." -- New York Press, May 31 - June 6, 2000

"A Whore Just Like the Rest drags the unbathed early days of rock criticism into the spit-polished present, kicking and screaming and threatening to knock the hair gel off your head." -- RollingStone.com-April 26, 2000

"A must read...Find a comfortable place to sit while reading, because this book'll knock you on your ass." -- Shout Magazine, April 2000

"Essential reading for anyone entertaining thoughts of a writing career." -- Library Journal, June 15, 2000

"Meltzer is a stylish and substantive writer - provocative and incisive." -- Boston Globe, May 10, 2000

"Meltzer, the Yale-educated smartass whose jivey patois could not conceal his intellectual heft...has written for Rolling Stone, Creem, Spin, and many others. A sampling of his prodigious output is found in A Whore Just Like the Rest." -- Detour, April 2000

"essential to anyone interested in the genesis of writing on rock." -- Billboard, May 6, 2000

Looking for madcap invention, unabashed honesty, gleeful shamelessness? Meltzer's your man, and Whore's your book. -- Entertainment Weekly, Tom Sinclair

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 591 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; First Edition edition (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306809532
• ISBN-13: 978-0306809538
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #875,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meltzer Sounds Like a Really Good Sandwich, September 30, 2000

By 

Edd S. Hurt (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Whore Just Like The Rest: The Music Writings Of Richard Meltzer (Paperback)

Very funny book, I laughed almost all the way through. Richard Meltzer is good on Connie Francis' "Grandes Exitos del Cine de los Años 60" his review of which I can't imagine any editor turning down. Meltzer is the perfect antidote to all rock and roll pieties and his writing helped me to re-appreciate Love, Moby Grape, the Beach Boys. Great piece as well on Lawrence Welk Hotel and Resort. Who else would say of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" that it isn't "a tenth as rhythmically interesting--let alone exciting--as the first three bars of 'West End Blues' by Louis Armstrong"? Or: "That's what 'rock history' is: collective bad memory"? As many readers have commented, his writing got better over the years but I still like his early stuff--actually read "The Aesthetics of Rock" and like it even though not one of my friends I lent it to ever managed to read it. Oh well, there is that great picture of the Dave Clark Five contemplating the immensity of New York with Meltzer's comment: "Vastly susceptible, the Dave Clark Five is just generally baffled as well as baffling, as exemplified by this captioned photograph:" Generally baffled, baffling, this is some of the best music writing ever, right up there with Tosches' "Unsung Heroes of Rock and Roll."

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Writing, Some Of It About Music Sort Of, October 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Whore Just Like The Rest: The Music Writings Of Richard Meltzer (Paperback)

Make no mistake: this is a Richard Meltzer anthology, not an anthology of music writing. It's a funny and fine autobiography, produced piecemeal through the various obscure journals that indulged Meltzer over the years.

As for music, there doesn't seem to be anyone Meltzer even remotely likes, except for Jim Morrison, and I wish Meltzer had a less embarassing idol than that "crooner in the rock mileau." Also, I was annoyed with Meltzer's potshots at music writers who became bigger than he did, specifically, Bangs and Christgau. He did it before Bangs, Meltzer reminds the reader, as if Bangs didn't do it better. As for his criticism of Christgau, it's strange, to say the least, for Meltzer, who makes a point of NOT listening to anything he reviews, to accuse the Village Voice reviewer of not listening hard enough. Huh?

Still, a fun book.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheap Thrills & self-indulgent fun!, April 24, 2001

By 

Eyeball Jackson (Bolzano, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Whore Just Like The Rest: The Music Writings Of Richard Meltzer (Paperback)

OK, so this book is not for everybody. In fact, it's not for me, and it's certainly not for you! All of the articles in this anthology were written for no one but Dick Meltzer. The rock reviews won't help you decide on your next album purchase in the slightest (there may be more pages devoted to pro wrestling than to music), and the "autobiographical" bits don't make Dick sound like the kind of guy you'd like to meet, or even an interesting person. And yes, no matter what Dick says, Lester Bangs was a better writer (better than Keroac, too).

But you shouldn't let any of that stop you from reading this. It's better than Dick's lame "Aesthetics of Rock" and it makes "Gulcher" unneccessary. Yes, you need to know the skinny on Dick's Beef with the Blue Oyster Cult. Yes, you need to know how little he remembers from his college philosophy courses. Why would you want to read a book of articles that you agree with?

This is stimulating, if petulant, material that you'll want to read from cover to cover, especially if you keep it in the john like I did. I don't think Dick would mind my saying that.

Rock and read on!