Review
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It's heaven and the photography is sensational. -- Lauren
Laverne
One of the greatest music books ever published. In terms of
quality, breadth, in, Sincerity and pure archival value. Hot
shit!! Grand Royal heaven., Max Porter
Just incredible, the whole thing, words, images, production.
Might actually be perfect.
-- Richard King
I think I will add it to my list of favourite music books of all
time. This list actually exists.
-- Richard Russell, Head of XL s
Led Zep also get props in The Beastie Boys Book (Faber, £32). The
New Yorkers grew up on heavy rock and nerdy humour, which they
spliced together over inventive hip hop beats. In this playful
collage of a book, the band invite female fans such as Amy
Poehler to address the misogyny of their early lyrics. Their
original drummer Kate Schellenbach takes them to task for
becoming "meatheads" but gives a thumbs-up to the line
"disrespect to women has got to be through" on 1994's Sure .,
Daily Telegraph
Beastie Boys Book is possibly the funniest music memoir I've ever
read, but it's also, ultimately, one of the most moving, Irish
Times
That this book tells their story so well is not a surprise - Mike
Diamond and Adam Horowitz have exceptionally keen recall - but
how it tells it is amazing, Irish Independent
Formed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys
struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is
their story, told for the first time in the words of the band .
With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album,
Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir. Alongside the
band narrative you will find rare photos, original illustrations,
a cookbook by chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a of Beastie
Boys' New York, mixtape playlists, pieces by guest contributors,
and many more surprises. Start flicking through the pages and
you'll see why this is our clear winner for Book of the Year.,
Rough Trade BOOKS OF THE YEAR
Memoir, graphic novel, cookbook, photo-journal, love letter,
elegy: this vast, unwieldy, marvellous book, narrated, like the
band's songs, scatter- style by the two surviving Beastie
Boys, is as original, uncategorisable and attention-grabbing as
their music. Telling contributions from the likes of Wes Anderson
and Amy Poehler gild an already rich confection, in which the
fact that three white boys from New York scored the biggest rap
album in history is but one startling detail in an extraordinary
and unlikely career. -- Dan Cairns, Sunday Times BOOKS OF THE
YEAR
'Similarly wide-ranging and unorthodox, the prosaically titled
Beastie Boys Book is another treat: a compendium of photos,
cartoons, recipes, annotated mixtape tracklistings and
first-person storytelling from the two surviving band members,
Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond. They are both inful about
their group's shifting music and are expert yarn-spinners, homing
in on telling vignettes rather than doling out a straightforward
history: the saga of Bob Dylan attempting to co-opt the Beastie
Boys into performing at a pro-smoking benefit show is
particularly great. But the 2012 death of their bandmate Adam
Yauch hangs over their story, so that even the book's most
preous tales are through with yearning and
melancholy.' -- Alexis Petridis, Guardian BOOKS OF THE YEAR
Book Description
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A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys,
a book as unique as the band itself-by band members AD-ROCK and
Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead,
Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more.