The Diva Review:
I've been avoiding doing a review of this book because I've been afraid that I might gush. So be warned. I can't help myself. Please Kill Me is one of my all time favorite books. I was fortunate enough to pick up a signed copy at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco just after it was released and I couldn't put it down.
Please Kill Me pretty much covers Punk from its very first tentative guitar lick, through the explosion in the 70s and up to the "mainstream" of the 80s. I happen to love this particular period of time and culture (having been a small part of it on another coast) and have read a number of books about it to fill in my own knowledge gaps. Some are good, most are not.
Please Kill Me is, without doubt, the bible of the Punk movement.
If you're not familiar with the oral history format, it can be a little jarring at first. Soon, however, you feel like you’ve been invited to hang out with some really cool people as they muse about their lives and the lives of their really cool friends. Legs McNeil, known as the Godfather of Punk, was there for the whole thing. He started Punk Magazine and was an integral part of the whole thing. In this book, he's chronicling what he helped create which is why it's so authentic.
New York in the 70s was ground zero for so many amazing bands and so much social change. You can imagine that everyone has told their stories a million times, but they come across so fresh and interesting. I think it's because they're telling them to their friends, and laughing, and having fun. It's a great read.
Anyone interested in reliving those times, or learning about them for the first time, would be well served to come to the source. And Please Kill Me is the source.
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