Another Little Piece of My Heart: My Life of Rock and Revolution in the '60s - Softcover

Goldstein, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1620408880 ISBN 13: 9781620408889

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA, 2016

Synopsis

Starting out as the first rock critic for the Village Voice in 1966, just twenty-three years old, Richard Goldstein had the perfect entrée to the exploding music scene of the era. And he was soon at its center. He toured with Janis Joplin, spent a day at the Grateful Dead house in San Francisco, got stoned with the Beach Boys, and watched the Doors record. In his vivid memoir, we see some of rock's greatest icons like never before. But Goldstein also carries us far beyond the music, charting the arc of an entire turbulent decade. As the Summer of Love hits the wall of the Vietnam War, Goldstein gradually relinquishes his critical distance, swept away in the violent politics of the day. Befriending radicals such as Abbie Hoffman and the Black Panthers, he witnesses the student uprising at Columbia University and the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. His battle becomes, as for so many others, to fend off disillusionment and protect the idealism that had flowered so dramatically only years before.

Another Little Piece of My Heart is an unforgettable portrait of an ambitious and openhearted young man in the right place at the right time, able to feel the full register of the sixties. Filled with the memories of unparalleled experience, this is a deeply moving, insightful document of rock and revolution in America.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Goldstein is a founder of rock criticism, starting at the Village Voice in 1966, and has written for the New York Times, Harper's, New York magazine, the Nation, and elsewhere. He served as executive editor of the Village Voice and was named GLAAD columnist of the year for his gay activism. His books include The Poetry of Rock, Reporting the Counterculture, and Homocons: The Rise of the Gay Right. He teaches at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

Review:

“Goldstein was afforded access that would make most fans drool . . . His tone is thoughtful but humble, and his stories flesh out an era in which rock danced with politics, chaos, and community.” ―Rolling Stone

“[Goldstein] recognized instinctively that this new music required a new kind of writing to comprehend it. So he invented it . . . Riveting material.” ―Los Angeles Times

“Another Little Piece of My Heart is a genuinely essential addition to the bibliography of the revolutionary '60s.” ―The Guardian

“This book conveys what it was like to learn how to fly at the dawn of rock criticism.” ―Billboard

“Goldstein has written a witty, insightful, and at times self-lacerating, memoir . . . [of his] experience as rock's most deeply embedded chronicler.” ―New York Daily News

“A deeply felt and compelling portrait of an age that indelibly marked everyone who took part in it. Indispensable for understanding the culture of the '60s and the music that was at its heart.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Goldstein was in the right place at the right time, as he explains in this entertaining music memoir. [His] confessional tone gives significant warmth to the book, encouraging the reader to settle in as Goldstein recalls a tumultuous culture with humility and a healthy perspective.” ―Publishers Weekly

“What happened to the revolution of the '60's? . . . Richard Goldstein may not be the first person to try to answer that question, but so far he is the most eloquent . . . In Another Little Piece of My Heart are some of the best explanations of how and why rock became the social force it is.” ―Examiner.com

“Richard Goldstein's memoir took another little piece of my own heart. It's shrewdly observed, vividly written, steadily thoughtful, and above all honest about the exhilaration and fear that flourished in a time of giddy reinvention.” ―Todd Gitlin, author of THE SIXTIES: YEARS OF HOPE, DAYS OF RAGE

“In silver boots, with flowing hair, Richard Goldstein strode through the 1960s like a hero in a picaresque adventure. He pioneered the new form of rock criticism; reported from the front lines of progressive politics and the counterculture; and, most of all, thoroughly lived the changes that revolutionary era wrought. This memoir provides unique views of some of the time's most colorful figures, including Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Susan Sontag, and Andy Warhol. But most of all, it shows us how one electric consciousness--Goldstein's own--emerged and evolved as America itself became new.” ―Ann Powers, author of WEIRD LIKE US: MY BOHEMIAN AMERICA and TORI AMOS: PIECE BY PIECE

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1620408880
• ISBN 13: 9781620408889
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240