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Anthony DeCurtis

Lou Reed: A Life Kindle Edition

by Anthony DeCurtis (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The essential biography of one of music's most influential icons: Lou Reed.

As lead singer and songwriter for the Velvet Underground and a renowned solo artist, Lou Reed invented alternative rock. His music, at once a source of transcendent beauty and coruscating noise, violated all definitions of genre while speaking to millions of fans and inspiring generations of musicians.

But while his iconic status may be fixed, the man himself was anything but. Lou Reed's life was a transformer's odyssey. Eternally restless and endlessly hungry for new experiences, Reed reinvented his persona, his sound, even his sexuality time and again. A man of contradictions and extremes, he was fiercely independent yet afraid of being alone, artistically fearless yet deeply paranoid, eager for commercial success yet disdainful of his own triumphs. Channeling his jagged energy and literary sensibility into classic songs - like "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Sweet Jane" - and radically experimental albums alike, Reed remained desperately true to his artistic vision, wherever it led him.

Now, just a few years after Reed's death, Rolling Stone writer Anthony DeCurtis, who knew Reed and interviewed him extensively, tells the provocative story of his complex and chameleonic life. With unparalleled access to dozens of Reed's friends, family, and collaborators, DeCurtis tracks Reed's five-decade career through the accounts of those who knew him and through Reed's most revealing testimony, his music. We travel deep into his defiantly subterranean world, enter the studio as the Velvet Underground record their groundbreaking work, and revel in Reed's relationships with such legendary figures as Andy Warhol, David Bowie, and Laurie Anderson. Gritty, intimate, and unflinching, Lou Reed is an illuminating tribute to one of the most incendiary artists of our time.

Print length

508 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

October 10, 2017
File size

70158 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"If the goal of a biography is to bring its subject back to life, Lou Reed, DeCurtis's sympathetic but never fawning book, succeeds...Carefully researched and thoughtfully written, Lou Reed is the best Reed biography to date."―New York Times Book Review

"DeCurtis has given us a thorough and vivid portrait of an artist who, he shows us, was even darker than we knew."―The New York Review of Books

"Anthony DeCurtis was one of the few music critics Lou Reed read and whose company he enjoyed. After reading this sublime and subtle book, the mystery of Lou's respect for Anthony is revealed. Anthony is a great story teller, a writer's writer, turning pain into beauty the way Lou did in his songs."― Bono

"I am personally familiar with the depth, seriousness and sensitivity of Anthony DeCurtis's writing, and, of course, knew Lou Reed and felt the impact of his coruscating work. A brilliant artist has found a biographer with the insight to, as Lou said, "pass through fire" and be a definitive interpreter of both his music and his life."―Sting

"Lou Reed is Lou Reed!" ― Iggy Pop

"An eloquent account of a harrowing life transformed by love in the end. Anthony DeCurtis does a brilliant job of synthesizing the disparate parts of Lou Reed's life into an insightful, moving narrative. I highly recommend it."―Suzanne Vega

"When most people think of Lou Reed, they picture the black, rotting heart of rock and roll, full of dissonance, decadence and decay. But as Anthony DeCurtis makes clear in his new book, behind the image and the rumors, Lou was one thing: a writer, a man who spent his life telling the absolute, painful truth in his songs - the truth about himself, the scenes he observed, and the world at large. His words were so powerful that the Velvet Underground had to invent a new musical language to match them. I'm not the first musician to pledge allegiance to Lou and the Velvets, and I won't be the last. Read this book, and explore the f*cking genius that was Lou Reed."―Peter Buck, co-founder and lead guitarist of R.E.M.

"Anthony DeCurtis captures the soul and the essence of Lou Reed in his terrific new biography of the brilliant, culture-shaping musician. DeCurtis' great gift of storytelling gives fascinating insight and perspective to Reed's complex personality and cutting-edge musical talent. This is a must read."― Clive Davis

"The Reed of DeCurtis' exhaustively reported book is a brilliant artist who helped define hipness and the outer limits of rock for generations."―Rolling Stone

"How did a middle-class suburban boy grow up to be king of Manhattan's wild side? Thanks to this groundbreaking biography, now we know. Anthony DeCurtis handles Reed's often-misunderstood bisexuality and curiosity about transsexualism with particular sensitivity, candor, and sophistication. A must-read for fans of rock and roll, New York City, or sex."―Ada Calhoun, author of St.Marks Is Dead

"DeCurtis' biography makes a case for Reed's influence that's as durable as black leather."―San Francisco Chronicle

"Lou Reed was one of music's most brilliant and complicated figures-an explorer, a provocateur, and always a true artist. With grace and grit, Anthony DeCurtis has delivered a revelatory and insightful chronicle of this most challenging rock & roll icon, and Lou Reed gets the biographer he deserves."― Alan Light, author of The Holy or the Broken

"A fascinating portrait. The unsurpassed voice of New York has found a worthy biographer."― Philip Norman, New York TimesBestselling author of Paul McCartney andJohn Lennon

"Focusing on the music as much as the singer's often dissolute lifestyle and controversial opinions, the author makes a good case for Reed's lasting significance. ... A well-written, valuable document of a major figure in the American rock scene, putting a human face on a man who often seemed impossibly remote. Essential reading for Reed fans and strongly recommended for anyone interested in rock as art."―Kirkus (Starred Review)

"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."―Booklist

"Among the first ambitious posthumous biographies of the sexually fluid queer icon, who died in 2013 at the age of 71. DeCurtis strives to take Reed's deep flaws into account along with his transgressive genius."―W Magazine

"An absorbing read, full of new insights delivered masterfully by DeCurtis."―Pitchfork

"A Life is comprehensive and sympathetic... For Mr. DeCurtis, Reed's biographical Rosebud was homosexual shame deriving from his upbringing. In the end, he didn't want to be the first gay rock star."―Wall Street Journal --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Anthony DeCurtis is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone, where his work has appeared for more than thirty-five years, and a distinguished lecturer in the creative writing program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of In Other Words and Rocking My Life Away and co-wrote Clive Davis's autobiography, The Soundtrack of My Life, a New York Times bestseller.

DeCurtis is a Grammy Award winner and has served as a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee for twenty-five years.He holds a PhD in American literature and lives in New York City. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N193CYU
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; Large Print edition (October 10, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 10, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 70158 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 508 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #508,687 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #805 in Biographies of Composers & Musicians
- #833 in Biographies of the Rich & Famous
- #1,626 in Biographies of Actors & Entertainers

Customer Reviews:
276 ratings

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Anthony DeCurtis

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I grew up in New York City, where I currently live, though for two separate five-year periods I lived in Bloomington, Indiana, and Atlanta, Georgia. I attended Hunter College and then Indiana University, where I earned a PhD in American literature. I am a Distinguished Lecturer in the creative writing program at the University of Pennsylvania. I won a Grammy in the "Best Album Notes" category for my essay accompanying the Eric Clapton bos set, Crossroads. I live in New York City with my daughter Francesca.

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Deborah Leff

"Difficult" Subject Matter

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2021

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In 1969, in a trailer park in East San Diego County where I lived, I heard "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground for the first time, played on an "underground" radio show by, fittingly, the notorious disc jacket, Lee Baby Simms. I was on the cusp of 17. Countless people of my generation have recounted how they became junkies based on the power of that song. To this day, I feel those people would have wound up junkies anyway. Lou Reed certainly didn't deserve to have them hang that on him. My reaction was much different. I was first captivated by the exotic nature of the music, the drone of Reed's guitar, the juxtaposition f the haunting and clashing in Cake's viola performance. The subterranean tribalism of Tucker's tom tom. Then there was the repeated lyric, "I think, but I just don't know." For me that pretty much encapsulated the adolescent experience. Rather than make the drug seem attractive, the song acted more as a cautionary tale. "It's my wife, and it's my life ..." Whoa! I was way too young to be making that one of a commitment to anything, much less a drug. In the late 70s/early 80s, my friends and I called him Uncle Lou. An icon for who and what we wanted to be as artists, as intellectuals, as people. Lou was thorny, abrasive and monumentally self destructive and self indulgent. And he was a literary and musical genius. Totally uncompromising. Yet wry and romantic and sweet. A complicated fellow indeed. De Curtis understands the secret language of rock n roll. And he understands the complexity of what Reed represents to both posterity and his legion of fans. And he gives the reader a bio that does not flinch from exposing Reed's demons, nor from celebrating his angelic side. If you really want to know about Lou Reed, listen to his music and read his poetry/lyrics. And read this bio for subtext.

5 people found this helpful

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Trevor Seigler

A Masterpiece

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2017

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When he passed away in 2013, Lou Reed was hailed as an icon of rock and roll, one of the trailblazing artists who made the music what it is today. What's interesting to consider about that is how long it took for Reed's singular talents to be appreciated in the wider world of mainstream rock culture, and how often his records slipped through the cracks of popular tastes. But Reed was too talented to fade away, and he continued to make important artwork until the last couple of decades of his life. Now, in a look back that doesn't pull punches, we see the man in full.

"Lou Reed: A Life," is a masterpiece of biographical writing. Anthony DeCurtis, longtime writer and editor at Rolling Stone and a music critic with a connection to Reed in life, lays out the highs and lows of Reed's career, the various partners and drugs that entered and exited his life, and the belated but deserved recognition that the Velvet Underground and Reed's solo work received from the gatekeepers of popular culture. It's a tempered warts-and-all portrait, at once a loving appreciation and an honest appraisal of what Reed did in terms of his music and his life.

A child of New York and Long Island, Reed became the symbol of decadence first as the frontman for the Velvets and then on his own, through a solo career of many highs and lows. Recognition never eluded him, but chart success did; besides the punch of 1972's "Transformer," Reed rarely had a song or album in the top of the charts. No matter; as a cult artist, he became an inspiration to countless other bands and artists that followed. Without Lou Reed, we wouldn't have had David Bowie, Joy Division, Suzanne Vega, R.E.M., and so many more. Reed's influence, both as a solo artist and with the VU, is immeasurable.

His life was chaotic at times; it's not for nothing that both Reed and Keith Richards were the poster boys for "too drugged up to survive" the Seventies (though each did, in fact, survive, long after peers with supposedly stronger constitutions perished). His sexuality was always at the forefront of his art; Reed lived openly with a transgender woman in the 1970s, when such things weren't done, and he forever seemed willing to push the boundaries of what constituted "sexuality" in his life and his art. Though he settled down eventually (first with his second wife Sylvia, and then with Laurie Anderson), Reed never lost his edge.

Anyone who loves Lou Reed as an artist probably knows this already, but: he could be quite unpleasant at times. DeCurtis doesn't paper over the times when Reed was rude for the sake of being rude, but he brings an understanding to it that is needed. If you accept the notion that Reed was playing "Lou Reed," a character that kept the media at bay for the sake of his own sanity, then it makes sense. At some point, the role became reality. But in the end, Reed was much more than a quote given in anger to a pushy journalist.

"Lou Reed: A Life" is perfect for the Velvets fan and the lover of Reed's solo work (and of course, for the person who appreciates both). As Reed himself once put it, between thought and expression lies a lifetime. That lifetime is explored here, and it's a masterpiece.

38 people found this helpful

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MG in CA

A great read -- I didn't really put it down from ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2017

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A great read -- I didn't really put it down from start to finish, and it filled in lots of the holes in my Lou Reed knowledge. However, one big question went unanswered: Lou puts out albums almost once a year from '78 to '85, and all of them are mixed bags and none in a all-time great album. Then he takes a few years off, and in '89 begins one of the most prolific runs in his career on Sire. I was hoping to get insight into what changed, but the book jumps from Mistrial to New York without a beat in-between. Aside from that, I loved it!

16 people found this helpful

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Dogger5

Good bio

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2021

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The biography is great through the first 80% of the book, and then it drags a bit. Maybe because Lou was getting tamer. Anyway, I didn't mind since I was mostly interested in his earlier life. I've been a fan of the Velvet Underground since 1968, and I've read other books on them and Andy Warhol. Still, I learned more from this book.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Heartfelt and Sterling (Morrison?) Bio of Lou reed

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2021

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Fascinating book about a fascinating and irascible artist amazingly important in the history of rock and roll. I didn't like the Velvet Underground when I first heard them but I've loved them for decades now. And Reed's solo work contains some of my favorite songs. This book is a walk on the wild side through Reed's life, very even-handed and complete. Really enjoyed it. The man was his own kind of genius and he is much missed..

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J.FOX

How did “giving head” Get radio play,Lou Reed was NY

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2018

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4Stars, Only because I live in NEW YORK CITY. Lou Reed died just as NY died, Reading this book will explain how some of us got here and why we stayed. Does not matter where you come from, You loved NY or hated it or just afraid. Decurtis explains the many ways Reed lived his life in NYC and their were many Lou Reeds, If you are already a fan the book is important it will fill in the rumors and the truth. Like how did “WALK ON THE WILD SIDE “ get on the radio play “

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Glen Trew

I highly recommend this Biography over many of the others available

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2019

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Lou Reed was one of the greatest artists of his generation and he led an incredibly complicated life. In this book Anthony DeCurtis does a fantastic job of taking you inside that life to let you as the reader gain a new perspective.

I am not trying to say that you will learn lots of unknown secrets however you will definitely not feel like you are reading a gossip rag that is big on headlines and loose on facts due to DeCurtis including lots input from people who involved in the key parts of Lou's life.

I highly recommend this Biography over many of the others that are out there.

One person found this helpful

Scott Fraser

Reed it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 24, 2018

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A great book about a truly great artist. I never thought of a musician as an 'artist' - until reading this warts-n-all bio where Reed covers all those artistic bases. This book does more than tell Reeds story, it genuinely gives you an insight into the man, his (im)moral compass and the people he met/loved/annoyed along the way.
Never dull never over hyped totally believable thoroughly entertaining. If you like Reed you will love this book. If you don't like Reed...why not?

One person found this helpful

Mark K

A Perfect Reed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2020

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A great read i don't think I have listened so much to Lou Reed than I have reading this book.Although I wasn't shocked at some of the aspects in his life as most of it is in his lyrics there are parts of his life and interests that were not publicised but are covered i this book.I was also compelled to listen to some of the artists such as Jimmy Scott that Lou admired and found myself enjoying their music also.A great read really well put together a must for any Lou Reed can or indeed anybody that is interested in that particular era of music and art and characters of that time.

One person found this helpful

kevin bridger

Cool

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2021

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Everything you know and didn't know about Lou Reed but were afraid to ask...
A great read -very honest and insightful ..

One person found this helpful

Dave & Gwen Grinnell

Enjoyale book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 19, 2019

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This is a well written book which delves into the complex character that Lou Reed undoubtedly was, and does it very well. I enjoyed reading it and finished it quickly, which is always a good sign.

One person found this helpful

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