Lester Bangs was a rock n' roll music critic for various publications throughout the seventies. He wrote primarily for 'Creem,' a magazine still in print today, though far from anything that it was at its inception.
Bangs's life was short-lived--he overdosed in his thirties. His struggle with alcohol and drugs was a product of a pretty screwed-up childhood. His mother was a Jehovah's Witness fanatic, constantly seeing to it that Lester was somehow involved in church activities, forever referencing all things JW, and putting down the world and its excesses. Lester, even as a child, saw through the phony rantings of church ministers and members, and held a grudge, yeah, despised all things JW for the remainder of his life.
He had an extraordinary talent for writing, particularly about music, musicians, and fans, and it wasn't long after Lester entered the world of writing, that he found himself sought out by many small but hopeful magazines, including The Rolling Stone and Creem. Though he is considered to have had a fairly successful career, Lester seemed to forever struggle to keep up. His confusion about women and relationships in general haunted him, and this was, in part, a reason for his passion for alcohol and drugs.
I enjoyed this book, though I felt that more could have been said about his personal life, feelings, etc. A bunch of the book was dedicated to names and places, and that's necessary, to be sure, but the few times that his personal life was referenced left me wanting for more.
7/10
Read with pleasure,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment