Let It Blurt 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 Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice.
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.
Let It Blurt 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.