Why read Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung?

Book cover of Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic: Rock'n'roll as Literature and Literature as Rock 'n'roll

Book description

Until his death aged thirty-three in 1982, Lester Bangs wrote wired, rock 'n' roll pieces on Iggy Pop, The Clash, John Lennon, Kraftwerk, Lou Reed. As a rock critic, he had an eagle-eye for distinguishing the pre-packaged imitation from the real thing; written in a conversational, wisecracking, erotically charged style,…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Daniel de Visé

Author

Lester Bangs ranks as one of the great music writers and as a high priest of gonzo, the new-journalism approach that posited the writer as the dominant character in rambling, straight-from-the-typewriter pop-cultural manifestos published in Rolling Stone and Creem and their ilk. I think Lester rivals Hunter Thompson and Joan Didion as the most potent and enduring voice of that era. He’s one of my favorite writers. I don’t think he wrote anything but record reviews.

From Daniel's list on music books to build a record collection.

Jeff Apter

Author

Lester Bangs was a great writer: funny, erudite, fearless — to be honest, he was probably slumming it writing about rock and roll in the 1970s. But his one-on-ones with Lou Reed, who Bangs revered and despised in equal proportions, make for some of the best rock writing of Bangs’, or any other, generation.

From Jeff's list on rock and roll.