Book cover of I'm Not Holding Your Coat: My Bruises-and-All Memoir of Punk Rock Rebellion

Book description

From disenchanted Catholic schoolgirl and glam maniac to instigator on the 1980s hardcore punk scene, Nancy Barile discovered freedom at a time when punk music was new and dangerous. She made her place behind the boards and right in the front row as insurgents such as SSD, Minor Threat, Bad…

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Why read it?

1 author picked I'm Not Holding Your Coat as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I’m a sucker for memoirs. And English teachers. Nancy is both. She teaches language arts at a public school in Massachusetts. But most importantly, she can tell a story. The book is a series of memories from the Philly and Boston hardcore scenes in the early ‘80s. It’s hard to put down, and it’s a really necessary account that tells of all the ways women were present and participating in what has always been referred to as a movement of exclusive, testosterone-induced navel-gazing. 

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A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

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