{"product_id":"let-it-blurt-the-life-and-times-of-lester-bangs-americas-greatest-rock-critic-9780767905091","title":"Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic","description":"\u003cb\u003eLet It Blurt\u003c\/b\u003e is the raucous and righteous biography of Lester Bangs (1949-82)--the gonzo journalist, gutter poet, and romantic visionary of rock criticism. No writer on rock 'n' roll ever lived harder or wrote better--more passionately, more compellingly, more penetratingly. He lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, guzzling booze and Romilar like water, matching its energy in prose that erupted from the pages of \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone, Creem, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Village Voice.\u003c\/i\u003e Bangs agitated in the seventies for sounds that were harsher, louder, more electric, and more alive, in the course of which he charted and defined the aesthetics of heavy metal and punk. He was treated as a peer by such brash visionaries as Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Captain Beefheart, The Clash, Debbie Harry, and other luminaries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLet It Blurt\u003c\/b\u003e is a scrupulously researched account of Lester Bangs's fascinating (if often tawdry and unappetizing) life story, as well as a window on rock criticism and rock culture in their most turbulent and creative years. It includes a never-before-published piece by Bangs, the hilarious \"How to Be a Rock Critic,\" in which he reveals the secrets of his dubious, freeloading trade.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJim DeRogatis \u003c\/b\u003eis the pop music critic at the \u003ci\u003eChicago Sun-Times\u003c\/i\u003e. Together with Greg Kot, rock critic at the \u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e and author of \u003ci\u003eWilco: Learning How to Die\u003c\/i\u003e, he is the host of \u003ci\u003eSound Opinions\u003c\/i\u003e, \"the world's only rock and roll talkshow,\" which is now broadcast on Public Radio. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eLet It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic\u003c\/i\u003e (Broadway Books, 2000), among other books.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Crown Publishing Group (NY)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50845206511890,"sku":"9780767905091","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f30225ff-6235-441a-8db9-4e9927fa2ad1.jpg?v=1737343945","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/let-it-blurt-the-life-and-times-of-lester-bangs-americas-greatest-rock-critic-9780767905091","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}