As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

Share <Embed>

Flip to back Flip to front

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

See this image

Follow the Author

Bob Mould

See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody Hardcover – June 15, 2011

by Bob Mould (Author), Michael Azerrad (Collaborator)

161 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$8.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$45.05

$21.06

$17.49

Hardcover, June 15, 2011

$12.89

$49.99

$8.81

Paperback

"Please retry"

$129.02

$129.00

$20.18

The long-awaited, full-force autobiography of American punk music hero, Bob Mould.

Bob Mould stormed into America's punk rock scene in 1979, when clubs across the country were filling with kids dressed in black leather and torn denim, packing in to see bands like the Ramones, Black Flag, and the Dead Kennedys. Hardcore punk was a riot of jackhammer rhythms, blistering tempos, and bottomless aggression. And at its center, a new band out of Minnesota called Hvºsker Dvº was bashing out songs and touring the country on no money, driven by the inspiration of guitarist and vocalist Bob Mould. Their music roused a generation.

From the start, Mould wanted to make Hüsker Dü the greatest band in the world - faster and louder than the hardcore standard, but with melody and emotional depth. In See a Little Light, Mould finally tells the story of how the anger and passion of the early hardcore scene blended with his own formidable musicianship and irrepressible drive to produce some of the most important and influential music of the late 20th century.

For the first time, Mould tells his dramatic story, opening up to describe life inside that furnace and beyond. Revealing the struggles with his own homosexuality, the complexities of his intimate relationships, as well as his own drug and alcohol addiction, Mould takes us on a whirlwind ride through achieving sobriety, his acclaimed solo career, creating the hit band Sugar, a surprising detour into the world of pro wrestling, and most of all, finally finding his place in the world.

A classic story of individualism and persistence, Mould's autobiography is an open account of the rich history of one of the most revered figures of punk, whose driving force altered the shape of American music.

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

June 15, 2011
Dimensions

6.5 x 1.5 x 9.75 inches
ISBN-10

031604508X
ISBN-13

978-0316045087
See all details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Andrew Earles
37
Hardcover
18 offers from $7.86
MOULD,BOB
101
Audio CD
$109.14
Get it as soon as Saturday, Sep 18
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Hüsker Dü
122
Audio CD
$11.59
Get it as soon as Saturday, Sep 18
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 11 left in stock - order soon.
Bob Mould
317
Audio CD
$11.19
Get it as soon as Saturday, Sep 18
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Bob Mould
317
Audio CD
$11.19
Get it as soon as Saturday, Sep 18
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Walter Biggins
21
Paperback
$14.95
Get it as soon as Saturday, Sep 18
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 9 left in stock (more on the way).
Brendan Canty
44
DVD
$9.95
Get it as soon as Saturday, Sep 18
FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 20 left in stock - order soon.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bob Mould is an American musician, singer/songwriter, producer, and DJ. An original member of the influential 1980s punk band Hüsker Dü, he released several albums after the band separated, including Workbook, Copper Blue, Body of Song, and Life and Times. He lives in San Francisco.

Michael Azerrad is the author of the books Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991, and Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. His writings on music and musicians have appeared in numerous magazines, including Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, Spin, and the New York Times. He lives in New York City.

Start reading See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody 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

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (June 15, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 031604508X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316045087
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.49 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,668,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #481 in Punk Musician Biographies
- #627 in Punk Music (Books)
- #2,148 in LGBTQ+ Biographies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
161 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		62%
4 star		20%
3 star		12%
2 star		5%
1 star		1%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

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

Ron Johnson

Newer Hüsker Dü fan loved the book

Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Bob Mould gives what sounds like a very honest account of his life in Hüsker Dü and beyond. Bandmates Grant Hart and Greg Norton are discussed thoroughly, as are a few contemporary punk bands of the time period. The book is written chronologically, so Bob's time as a solo artist and his short time working for WCW also feature in the latter half of the book.

Throughout the book he discusses living life as a gay man which I found enlightening since I'm straight and don't understand how gay culture operates beyond the established stereotypes. I found the book hard to put down and feel like a better person after finishing it. Thanks Bob!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Tropical Socrates

Whatever You Want

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

Bob Mould. I respect the man - saw him recently for the first time since a Hüsker Dü show back in '87 and he practically blew the roof off, playing material from Silver Age all the way back to In a Free Land. He's definitely still got chops. As musician, songwriter and performer, he's one of the best - as a human being, this bio seems to confirm my prior impressions of basically a decent, but self-centered, emotionally-stunted, avoidant, small, petty, occasionally cruel and somewhat shallow individual who seems generally to lack interest in the world outside of music, sex, business and himself.

After reading his description of the circumstances surrounding the breakup of the Hüskers and his ending contact with Grant Hart, I can understand why it happened and why they will likely never reunite. On the other hand, Mould seems to be unnecessarily malicious and dismissive of Greg Norton, an integral and energetic part of the band as well as a solid player and probably the only one of the three Hüskers you might actually want to hang out with.

The book is good reading regarding Mould's early life - the scenes, influences, band line-up formations, creative/writing processes, his composition techniques, etc. And while the stories behind particular songs, on-the-road tales of tours, group dynamics and personalities are engaging stuff, the further one gets into the book the more it becomes primarily about Bob's sexuality, his "crushes", hook-ups, turbulent interpersonal relationships, coming-out, and general "gayness". Whatever. Compensatory narcissism, indeed. He is prone to over-eroticization of the dynamics of interaction amongst males whether speaking of bandmates, associates, acquaintances, strangers and/or friends. It becomes tedious after a while, and the last 20% or so of the book is actually rather dreary - as another reviewer has noted, it loses its focus - this is around the same point that it begins to read like the diary entries of a sexually-obsessed sixteen-year-old. And an entire chapter on his short time in the moronic world of "professional wrestling" with nary a critical word about the incredible inanity of the whole idiotic spectacle? Please.

Mould is a giant in music, and much of his work is majestic in an aesthetic sense that is probably yet to be fully appreciated. Some of his greatness surely comes from the anguish and turmoil that have characterized his life and that he has communicated in this book - he's "gone through some stuff" and obviously carries emotional burdens that readers and fans can empathize with and recognize as a source of creativity, as well as flaws. As for the man himself, I'll just take the music please, and consider that I now know more about him than I ever wanted to.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Richard Haviland

A good book but Mould comes across as less than likeable

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is a solid book. Well written, interesting and informative. But it is spoiled by the following: As a huge fan of Husker Du I was happy to see this book coming out, since there is so little information out there about this legendary band. But, I must say that I was very dissapointed with the treatment that Bob gives to his former Husker bandmates. It's written from the perspective that only he was Husker Du, and the other two members were mere annoyances. That's a major distortion of history. Husker Du was an amazing band because of all three members, each crucial in their own ways, with two of the members (Mould and Hart) being equals in songwriting and as vocalists. Bassist Greg Norton comes across in this book as a non-person. For someone who laid down some great bass lines and held all of the beautiful noise together in this three piece band, I found it a little disturbing that Mould says absolutely nothing positive about his contributions throughout the book. Instead he chooses to ridicule him on numerous occasions. Very petty! And when he grudgingly gives Hart a tiny bit of credit throughout the book, he immediately follows it up with something extremely negative or critical, or of the nature of "I did better than him."
I have never met any of the three members of Husker Du and know nothing about them personally. However, after reading this book I find myself liking Bob Mould a lot less as a person. I mean, come on-is there nothing positive that he can say about Grant Hart and Greg Norton, who together with him made three of the most amazing albums ever put out in less than a 2 year span (Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig)? Those three albums are all "10's". It took all three of them to make these albums so good. How about a little appreciation of the band, and not just of his own contributions to it? Husker Du would have been a shell of a band without Grant Hart, just as it would have been without Bob Mould.
It will be interesting to see if Grant's perspective is covered in the upcoming film, "Every Everything".

22 people found this helpful

Helpful

G. M. Taylor

If you like Husker Du/Bob Mould/Sugar - then get it

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2018

Verified Purchase

I just adore Husker Du and Bob Mould. This is an lovely autobiography written with gripping honesty and literary flair. If you like Husker Du/Bob Mould/Sugar - then get it. You will not be disappointed

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lux

Engaging

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a good read about a great musician. Mould is a legend here in Minnesota among my generation, and I think there is something for everyone who might be curious about his life and career. Extremely personal, sometimes uncomfortably so. Still, knowing his honest, frank songwriting style, I can appreciate his candor. There is also allot of first hand insight into the music scene that he and so many cool bands created on there own in the 1980's.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Ishmael

Not all that great: On the Trail of Bob Mould's Ego

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

I read this book about month ago and was not impressed to the same degree as many other book reviewers, both on Amazon and more generally. As others have noted, there are two main flaws with Bob Mould's story. First, the absence of credit and attention to band members, and particularly his inability to see what Grant Hart brought to Husker Du and how much poorer the sound and contribution of the band would have been without him. This lack of generosity and credibility in relation to Grant Hart, relates to the second problem that grated while reading this book. That is simply Bob Mould's egotism. We rarely find any balanced comments about his own contribution, e.g, good or great songs vying with samy-samy, a problem with Mould's writing and songs, or any empathy for his band mates. Greg Norton is dismissed so harshly that it is shocking,

Put bluntly and for example, Bob Mould seems unaware that New Day Rising would never have achieved its status as masterpiece, in fact wouldn't even be in that orbit, without Girl who Lives on Heaven Hill, Terms of Psychic Warfare, or Books about UFOs, one of the most idiosyncratic pieces of alternative beauty that I know of. I literally float everytime I hear it. Always have and always will.

Put bluntly, I think that, unfortunately, Bob's early abuse and family troubles created a vulnerability in his ability to empathisize and see his interpersonal relationships in their complexity. As he repeats throughout the book, when people are gone, they are gone, why dwell or reflect on it. Why? Because that is part of growing emotionally.

So, if you care about Husker and Mould's subsequent work, by all means read it. You have no other choices. But the superlatives that have been associated with See a Little Light are not deserved, and be prepared to be on The Trail of Bob Mould's Ego. It is such a shame that we will never have the book that we crave on the DU boys.

4 people found this helpful

D.A ML

Great Read...although I take some of it with a pinch of salt...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

I initially was just going to read a couple of chapters of this book as I am currently reading something else, but found it such an interesting read I just raced through it. Contrary to what I have heard, there is a fair bit of light shed on the Husker Du break up and it was interesting to hear Bob's take on it. (I have heard Grant's version of events several times!) It was interesting to read about Bob's struggles with being gay whilst also being part of a fairly aggressive music movement, and also hear him speak candidly about a troubled homelife. However, I do think he is quite harsh on the other band members, particularly Greg (and both Grant and Greg have since said..in different interviews..Bob's version of certain events is far different to how they remember. Greg, unlike Grant seems like a pretty chilled out guy with no axe to grind. Bob states at one point he just doesn't remember one of the Husker Du entourage dropping the bombshell to him that Grant was using heroin...how on earth would you not remember being told that about a band mate?? Despite finding the book very enjoyable I think Bob likes to paint himself in a good light whilst putting others down and perhaps conveniently remembering certain things differently). So summing up, a highly fascinating read, but very one sided in terms of the Husker Du situation - I'd love to read a book by Greg or Grant - although quite what Grant might come out with is anybodies guess.

6 people found this helpful

Jason C. Brayshaw

A fantastic read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2013

Verified Purchase

There's not much else to say here other than if you're fan of Bob's music you will love this book. A beautifully written autobio about an artist who is both a genius, driven, and incredibly hard working. It's no wonder Bob became the success and musical hero for so many of us. Buy it. Read it. You'll love it,

modern

I have seen a therapist

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

Bobs story goes downhill when he sees a therapist...great band though ...a famous guitar sound and scream from the soul...fair play

Subsong

Excellent account of the life of a musical genius.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2014

Verified Purchase

Bob Mould tells the tale of his life candidly. Talking about aspects of his life and business that I don't think many others would. He speaks frankly about money, his family, sex, being a gay man in the punk scene and assorted anecdotes from the studio and touring. An interesting read that will have you subconsciously talking back to Bob.

See all reviews

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: james monroe biography

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody Hardcover – June 15, 2011

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

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

Top reviews from other countries