The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock and Roll

A Memoir

by Mark Edmundson

On Sale: 05/10/2011

The Fine Wisdom and Perfect Teachings of the Kings of Rock and Roll

A Memoir

by Mark Edmundson

On Sale: 05/10/2011

Format:

About the Book

“Hilarious, harrowing, and ultimately inspiring.... Truly, there is something arresting and wonderful on every page.”
— Michael Pollan

“With sentences that sometimes astonish” (Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft), celebrated cultural critic Mark Edmundson has written a hip and hilarious coming-of-age memoir about one man’s miscues and false starts as he enters the world after college. Through exhilarating adventures, he attempts to answer the timeless question of who he is, while contemplating what role music, love, work, drugs, money, and books will play in his life.

Critical Praise

“Not your typical rock tell-all. . . . An entertaining coming-of-age story that cloaks a social critique of post-Sixties USA.” — Rolling Stone (3 ½ stars)

“A near-perfect memoir.... In this erudite, coming-of-age riot, the author deftly navigates the purgatorial rites of passage between university and professional life, developing insightful social critiques and candid self-evaluations along the way.... [Edmundson is] an honest, poetic and hilariously entertaining narrator.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Everything you want a coming-of-age book to be: hilarious, harrowing, and ultimately inspiring. . . . Brims with sparkling observations about everything from drugs, sex and rock and roll to movies, career, and friendship. Truly, there is something arresting and wonderful on every page.” — Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules: An Eater's Manual and The Omnivore's Dilemma

“A compelling and accomplished memoir recounting the dissolution of the sixties and the beginning of the modern, more cynical era that followed. . . Candidly describes Mark Edmundson’s journey as a lost twenty-something seeking meaning through sex, drugs, Marxism, rock & roll, and ultimately, teaching.” — Philipp Meyer, author of American Rust

“Edmundson doesn’t just chronicle, he channels, the epoch of rock.... He makes us feel its hopes; its confusions; its genuine revelations…. Concert security dude, cabbie, bouncer: these jobs provide him critical lenses on a succession of cultural moments, and on the never-ending task of becoming an adult.” — Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft

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Resources

Product Details

  • ISBN: 9780061713491
  • ISBN 10: 006171349X
  • Imprint: Harper Perennial
  • On Sale: 05/10/2011
  • Pages: 240
  • List Price:18.50 CAD
  • BISAC1 : MUSIC / History & Criticism
  • BISAC2 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Composers & Musicians
  • BISAC3 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture
  • BISAC4 : COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Nonfiction / Biography & Memoir
  • BISAC5 : BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs

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