Share <Embed>

Buy New

$8.69

List Price: $14.99
Save: $6.30 (42%)

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Ship to:

Select a shipping address:

Buy Used

$4.69

+ $3.99 shipping

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by Seattlegoodwill

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$10.69
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: Book Depository US

Add to Cart

$7.30
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: BRILANTI BOOKS

Add to Cart

$7.57
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: RAREWAVES-IMPORTS

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography Paperback – February 18, 2014

by Richard Hell (Author)

97 customer reviews

See all 5 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$11.74

—

Hardcover, Deckle Edge

"Please retry"

$21.12

$14.05

$2.52

Paperback

"Please retry"

$8.69

$7.30

$4.52

From an early age, Richard Hell dreamed of running away. He arrived penniless in New York City at seventeen; ten years later he was a pivotal voice of the age of punk, cofounding such seminal bands as Television, The Heartbreakers, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids—whose song "Blank Generation" remains the defining anthem of the era, an era that would forever alter popular culture in all its forms. How this legendary downtown artist went from a bucolic childhood in the idyllic Kentucky foothills to igniting a movement that would take over New York and London's restless youth culture—cementing CBGB as the ground zero of punk and spawning the careers of not only Hell himself, but a cohort of friends such as Tom Verlaine, Patti Smith, the Ramones, and Debby Harry—is a mesmerizing chronicle of self-invention, and of Hell's yearning for redemption through poetry, music, and art. An acutely rendered, unforgettable coming-of-age story, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp evokes with feeling, lyricism, and piercing intelligence both the world that shaped him and the world he shaped.

I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography

$8.69 FREE Shipping on orders over $25. In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $40.20

Buy the selected items together

This item:I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography by Richard Hell Paperback $8.69
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil Paperback $11.30
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The Best of Punk Magazine by John Holmstrom Hardcover $20.21
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Legs McNeil

285

Paperback
$11.30
Richard Hell

2

Paperback
$11.59
John Holmstrom

29

Hardcover
$20.21
John Lydon

123

Paperback
$10.48
Sara Marcus

40

Paperback
$11.64
Kim Gordon

238

Paperback
$6.68

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Richard Hell (born Richard Meyers in Lexington, Kentucky), the punk-rock musician with the seminal punk bands Television and the Voidoids, presents an autobiography that ends in the early 1980s, when Hell stopped playing music and became a full-time writer. From an early age, Hell knew what he wanted: a “life of adventure.” He remembers growing up in suburban America in the 1950s and feeling like an outsider. He was bored with school, got into small scrapes with the law, and generally wished he were somewhere else. He eventually made his way to New York. He writes about the jobs he had (including stints in such iconic bookstores as Gotham Book Mart and the Strand) and the musicians he met, from Debbie Harry to Patti Smith. Hell is a fine writer and full of self-knowledge, and part of the pleasure of this randy, drug-addled memoir are his descriptions of New York during the bad old days when crime was rampant and the streets filthy. A compelling and entertaining memoir by a punk-rock pioneer. --June Sawyers --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Bookforum

"Half of the beauty of rock and roll," Hell writes, "is that 'anyone can do it' in the sense that's it not about being a virtuoso but about just being plugged in in a certain way, just having an innocent instinct and a lot of luck." So much of Tramp is just a recounting of where that instinct took him. Mostly you read I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp for Hell's mind, which is weird and singular and superbly self-aware. He's a scumbag with an intimate, articulate understanding of scumbag psychology. "Being a rock and roll musician was like being a pimp," he writes, "It was about making young girls want to pay money to be near you." This isn't nice, but it's true—something you could say about most of this memoir. Hell's gift, then and now, is for finding a redemptive kind of ugly in otherwise blank, beautiful things, himself very much included. —Zach Baron --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Start reading I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Ecco; Reprint edition (February 18, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062190849
ISBN-13: 978-0062190840
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Biographies > Punk
- #10 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Punk
- #171 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Biographies > Rock

If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars

5 star		40%
4 star		28%
3 star		16%
2 star		10%
1 star		6%

Write a customer review

See all verified purchase reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

History

2.9 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

Grieving for NY

ByAndeeraon October 23, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

While I enjoyed reading this book, it abruptly stops in 1984 and leaves you wanting more.
Although I'm a decade younger than Richard Hell, I lived in New York and hung out in the East Village during the 1980's. I went to these clubs, did these drugs and had similar experiences.
His descriptions of the neighborhood and drug scene took me back to a time when the city was exciting and had that artsy, bohemian yet combat zone feel.
Now as I look down Second Avenue, all i see are Banks, Starbucks and other corporate chains;
I wonder how Richard feels as he continues to live in the same neighborhood.
More than anything, this book made me grieve for the New York I knew and loved.

11 comment 16 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Kind of a letdown

ByJoel B. Shieldson August 31, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Most of this has been pointed out already, but I'll throw in my two cents.

Hell is a gifted writer. He's also notoriously lazy. This book pretty much reflects that. His prose is strong, but most of his stories are half-formed and, beyond a revealing and interesting reflection on his childhood and some observations from his early days trying to become a writer, fairly superficial. Yes, the obsession with his sexual conquests and drug use is tedious. It's not that I'm offended by such things; it's that I don't care. I understand that those things need to be included in any story about Richard Hell; it's a matter of proportions. It became a distraction after a while.

I also got the vibe of an old dude who couldn't let go of his glory days, and was bitter about the successes of his peers. I shouldn't be surprised that he has few kind words for Verlaine. But he also unfairly maligns Lloyd, who was probably the best musician mentioned in this book and ultimately a much bigger contributor to Television's sound than Hell ever was. Here he's presented as a spineless sycophant who did whatever Verlaine wanted.

In the end he comes off as arrogant and bitter. To him, he probably embraces his own "honesty," but to me he just sounds like a jerk.

11 comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

I was very disappointed in this book

Byshelleyon July 23, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I was very disappointed in this book. I guess I was expecting to read more about the music and art scene of nyc in the 70's, in more depth than was provided. I feel as though I know everything about all of his sexual conquests though. Not impressed. I'm sure he has more to offer as an artist in terms of experiences and memories. It would've been nice to read about them.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The poet behind the punk

ByPamon September 2, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a somewhat odd book, but I really liked it. I wasn't a huge fan of punk but I have heard of most of the more popular punk bands. Richard Hell and The Voidoids seemed to be more at the fringes. Before buying this book, I did a little research and decided to buy this. If you remember the time when punk emerged and you are interested in learning more, this is a good place to either start or continue. I read this after reading Patti Smith's Just Kids which also covers that period.

Many of the bands from that movement came across as obnoxious idiots--for example, the Sex Pistols. It was interesting to learn that Hell started as a poet and a fan of literature and poetry, who expanded into music. He was truly a pioneer, and yet, he too was simply morphing music and style from other artists like the New York Dolls.

There are gaps in the story. Yes, he does begin with his life with his family. His father dies when he is a child and we know so little of how or why. Once he leaves home, it is as if his family ceases to exist.

But, Hell gives us a clear view into his life of Rock and Roll. We see how the industry exploits artists, how dull and demeaning touring can be and how tedious it is to be addicted to drugs. Punk mocks the glamour of the idols that came before and Hell helps to answer the question: if being a Rock star is so great, why do so many die so young?

While Hell does provide some lurid details about his many couplings, he never does let us in to the most intimate details of those relationships. The same can also be said of what Hell chooses to share about himself. He holds back enough so that we never really know who he is. He remains a bit cool and detached. We miss the highs and lows that come with intense passion.

For all his faults, I admire him for walking away from music and for surviving when so many others could not. He's an interesting guy with an even more interesting story.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Hell vs Verlaine

ByEdon July 1, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Solid book if you care about the times, music or Hell, but he comes off as absurd for not understanding why some of us care so much more for brilliant guitarist, songwriter Verlaine than Hell, who often admits his strength is choosing the best scarf to wear with his baggy suit. I'll take Verlaine's lightning fret work any day. Still, very well written (didn't fully know Hell's intellectual cred) and there is a sort of Hell-Verlaine makeup at the end.

11 comment 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Heroin strikes again!

Bymichael thompsonon August 30, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

It seems that heroin ruins a lot of lives yet so many rock icons have used it to fuel their rise to the top. Almost all of them make it a cautionary tale but It seems like you may need it to succeed! This book tells the same story of drugs and rock but not enough sex. It's a must read to understand how punk rock came about. It's hard to believe some people think punk started in England. Being a fan of hell's music I could not help but like it. Having said that, someone needs to tell all rock biographers and others to stop begining their books with the childhood memories and what led them to the parts we really want to read about. That stuff belongs in the book but not in that order.I've read a whole bunch of these now and the best so far is Duff Mckagen's "It's so easy and other lies". It's way better than Slash's book which read like a high school diary.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

hell

ByEdward Scheetzon February 26, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Interesting piece on 70s ny.
Not enough on Television and Marquee Moon and their importance. Color on the later punk scene. Animosity towards Verlaine led Hell to leave a lot out. Significant focus on his addiction which was clearly serious. But his descriptions of drug fueled sex w women that aren't otherwise relevant was too much.
Read quickly for its cultural content. Biographically it is wanting.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

He's a good writer. It was a really nice read for ...

I learned a lot about the New York punk rock scene from Hell. He's a good writer. It was a really nice read for anyone interested in this stuff.

Published 2 months ago by Ramblinjake

Five Stars

GREAT SELLER, GREAT PRODUCT, SUPER FAST SHIPPING!!! A++++

Published 6 months ago by Marcelo

nice read

Published 6 months ago by steve gassen

Five Stars

Such a terrific writer, and when coupled with his story, made for quite a book.

Published 7 months ago by Taylor Auclair

i love the 70s and all the scum that came with it

i love richard hell in all of his pretentiousness. if you love punk buy this book!! the REAL father of punk!!

Published 7 months ago by Mikal

Interesting and Honest

This was an interesting look at the beginning of Punk and the energy that created it. More than anything it was also a pretty honest look at self destructive behavior as seen in...Read more

Published 8 months ago by SoniaC

Great writing, bitter writer.

This is quite a difficult review to write. On the one hand, Hell is a great writer, and his life has certainly been interesting enough to keep you glued to the page, so on that...Read more

Published 10 months ago by Lynx

I Kept Waiting For Him To Get Out Of His Blue Period

Gawd, he managed to make New York City, the *art* folk, punk rock AND sex sound trivial and boring.
Word to the wise...Mr.Read more

Published 10 months ago by Catherine

Five Stars

The real deal...

Published 11 months ago by Barbara G. Bucci

*THIS BOOK IS WORTH THE TIME*

this is a book worth the time it takes to see it.
Richard hell is narcissistic and thus self-obsessed.
he talks as if he invented 70s/80s culture.Read more

Published 1 year ago by gcd

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Legs McNeil

285

Paperback
$11.30
Kim Gordon

238

Paperback
$6.68
Carrie Brownstein

192

Paperback
$10.87
Richard Hell

2

Paperback
$11.59
Viv Albertine

93

Hardcover
$12.27
John Doe

98

Hardcover
$14.68

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: rock memoirs

Buy New $8.69

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

or

or

Buy Used $4.69

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography Paperback – February 18, 2014

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

From Bookforum

Product details

Customer reviews

Top customer reviews

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New

$8.69

Buy Used

$4.69