Share <Embed>

Buy New

$12.87

List Price: $16.00
Save: $3.13 (20%)

In Stock.

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

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France. Want it Thursday, Dec. 14? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Ship to:

Buy Used

$11.58

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by QuarlesFlips

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$14.39
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: Book Depository US

Add to Cart

$10.60
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: SuperBookDeals---

Add to Cart

$10.60
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: allnewbooks

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 2 images

Eminent Hipsters Paperback – October 28, 2014

by Donald Fagen (Author)

185 customer reviews

See all 10 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.88

—

—

"Please retry"

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$12.87

Audible, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Audio CD, Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

—

Arrives before Christmas. Choose delivery option in checkout.

A witty, candid, sharply written memoir by the cofounder of Steely Dan

In his entertaining debut as an author, Donald Fagen—musician, songwriter, and cofounder of Steely Dan—reveals the cultural figures and currents that shaped his artistic sensibility, as well as offering a look at his college days and a hilarious account of life on the road. Fagen presents the “eminent hipsters” who spoke to him as he was growing up in a bland New Jersey suburb in the early 1960s; his colorful, mind-expanding years at Bard College, where he first met his musical partner Walter Becker; and the agonies and ecstasies of a recent cross-country tour with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. Acclaimed for his literate lyrics and complex arrangements as a musician, Fagen here proves himself a sophisticated writer with his own distinctive voice.

Eminent Hipsters

$12.87 In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently bought together

+
+

Total price: $39.34

Buy the selected items together

This item:Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen Paperback $12.87
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years by Brian Sweet Paperback $12.88
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Steely Dan FAQ: All That's Left to Know About This Elusive Band (FAQ Series) by Anthony Robustelli Paperback $13.59
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.

Brian Sweet

63

Paperback
$12.88
Anthony Robustelli

8

Paperback
$13.59
Don Breithaupt

24

Paperback
$14.93
Donald Fagen

420

Audio CD
$10.98
Donald Fagen

140

DVD
$5.99
Donald Fagen

265

Audio CD
$6.99

Sponsored products related to this item (What's this?)

Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1

Feedback

Bryant Johnson

Get fit with this challenging workout from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's personal trainer!

38

Hardcover

$10.11
Feedback

SW Hammond

A dude's provocative cosmo confessional about rock stars and tv shows plaguing his irrational sense of women and relationships. Ready for a mind trip?

2

Kindle Edition

$2.99
Feedback

Martina Fetzer

Some people like to pretend they're vampires. Some vampires like to pretend they're people. Some paranormal detectives want nothing to do with either.

3

Kindle Edition

$2.99
Feedback

Rudolf Kerkhoven

Your holiday season is about to get a whole lot more boring.

Kindle Edition

$0.99
Feedback

Martina Fetzer

When an immortal invents a time machine, his immortality transfers to the people he encounters. This does not go well.

7

Kindle Edition

$2.99
Feedback

Rudolf Kerkhoven

A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure for adults with far too much spare time on their hands.

29

Kindle Edition

$4.49
Feedback

Caramel

1

Paperback

$3.95

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In these entertaining sketches, Steely Dan keyboardist and front man Fagen pays tribute to the talented musicians, writers, and performers from beyond the suburban New Jersey of his youth. In one chapter, Fagen recalls his early fascination with now-forgotten jazz singers the Boswell Sisters. He singles out Connie—whose career was affected in some measure by an early brush with illness (likely polio)—and praises her last recording, saying that she sounds like a toned-down Wanda Jackson or Brenda Lee. Fagen sends a kind of love letter to Henry Mancini, telling the composer of the theme from the television show Peter Gunn—a theme whose first notes every neophyte guitarist tried to learn back then—that his music continues to be young and fresh. Fagen vivaciously recalls his college days at Bard, meeting his future Steely Dan bandmate Walter Becker, and playing at a Halloween party with Walter and actor Chevy Chase on drums. In 2012, Fagen, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs toured as the Duke of September Rhythm Revue; during the months of the tour, Fagen kept a journal, included in these pages, that's filled with irony, sarcasm, humor, anger, and flat-out honesty about what it's like to be on the road playing to houses filled with aging hippies: Tonight the crowd looked so geriatric I was tempted to start calling out bingo numbers. By the end of the set, they were all on their feet, albeit shakily, rocking.... So this, now, is what I do: assisted living. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Oct.) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Since the popular music group Steely Dan produced its last album in 2003, founding member Fagen has been keeping busy performing in occasional reunion tours and channeling his celebrated, lyric-generating talents into penning crafty and incisive essays. In his first collection of these distinctively droll and erudite pieces, Fagen covers a wide range of topics, from boyhood memories to musical criticism. The eminent hipsters referred to in the title are Fagen’s early idols, such radio personalities as Jean Shepherd, best known for narrating A Christmas Story, and late-night jazz DJ Mort Fega, the cool uncle you always wished you’d had. Class of ‘69 recounts his momentous years at New York’s Bard College, where he met Steely Dan cofounder Walter Becker, and With the Dukes of September excerpts his journal notes from a recent musical tour he took with fellow music legends Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald. While Steely Dan devotees will, of course, revel in Fagan’s barb-edged observations, any observer of popular culture will find his essays informative and trenchantly amusing. --Carl Hays --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (October 28, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143126016
ISBN-13: 978-0143126010
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 7.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 185 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #132 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Biographies > Rock
- #169 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Rock
- #370 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Actors & Entertainers

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

See all 185 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

Art & Photography Books

3.6 out of 5 stars

Sports Books

3.9 out of 5 stars

Literary Fiction

3.2 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Donald Fagen is a very funny, grumpy, insightful man.

October 1, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The book starts with Fagen's early life and influences, skips his 40 years with Walter Becker & Steely Dan, then picks up in the late '80's and up to 2014. His journal of that later period is especially hilarious and occasionally very moving. He even did an excellent job of reading his own book for the AudioBook edition.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

No BS glimpse into the life of a hardworking musician.

October 17, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

If you are a fan this is a must read. Fagen lets the reader slip past the hip exterior to the vulnerable soul underneath. I'm hoping there will be a second installment.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Disappointed and then some.

November 5, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I'm a huge Steely Dan fan, but this was a chore to read. DF is beyond pretentious, and I'm willing to allow for eccentricity given his musical gifts. Really disappointed in this read.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

November 18, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Fagan is a pretty good writer and some of his cranky stories are pretty funny.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

October 28, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

pretty cool

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

I liked this quite a bit

September 19, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I liked this quite a bit. Fagen is not nearly the silky smooth hipster his songs might lead you to expect. He comes across more like a grumpy insurance salesman when he shares his tour diary...but hey, he's grumpy about some of the same s*** I am...like these "TV kids" who show up at concerts and stare at their phones or video the thing instead of BEING THERE. Some great essays on the music he loves as well. Must have for Dan fans.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

... a highly literate if cynical figure who doesn't sit comfortably in the annals of rock history and this collection ...

May 9, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Long time Steely Dan fans have an impression of Fagen as a highly literate if cynical figure who doesn't sit comfortably in the annals of rock history and this collection of personal essays, Eminent Hipsters does nothing to dispel this myth. If anything, it solidifies Fagen as one of popular music's most eloquent spokesmen and offers readers compelling glimpses into an America that no longer exists. This is a book I'll read over and over.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Shirley Ferraro

Pretty cool guy

October 23, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Pretty cool guy.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?

Most recent customer reviews

Donald is as funny and witty as ever in this novel

Donald is as funny and witty as ever in this novel. Very good writing from one of the best musicians who has ever lived.

Published 1 month ago

For big fans only

Not really a biography. If he wasn’t a cornerstone of my favorite all time band, I probably wouldn’t have finished it.Read more

Published 1 month ago

My favorite band ever

I'm jaded because I am a dyed in the wool Dan fan since the 6th grade. In any case, Fagen's writing is as obscure and brilliant as the music he produces.Read more

Published 1 month ago

Who knew? That Fagen could have...

Who knew? That Fagen could have been a wondrous writer ((if he gave up his paying gig). I'm a fiction thriller author but Fagen hurled more word bombs than I've ever experienced...Read more

Published 2 months ago

James M. Hissam

As a longtime Fagen fan, it is an amusing ...

As a longtime Fagen fan, it is an amusing read and an insightful look at life on tour. Very Enjoyable.

Published 2 months ago

I didn't want this book to end

Hilariously cynical, honest and self-deprecating. The first half of the book is an interesting look at the 50s/60s upbringing and adolescence of Donald where we see the seeds of...Read more

Published 2 months ago

William M. Koch

Good insight of how Donald Fagen found his Muse He ...

Good insight of how Donald Fagen found his Muse
He is an autodidact genius! I personally would love to read more on how he created the
sounds in his head for him and...Read more

Published 3 months ago

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Eminent Hipsters

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: Eminent Hipsters

Set up a giveaway

English United States

Conditions of Use
Privacy Notice
Interest-Based Ads
© 1996-2017, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates