Notes from the Velvet Underground Audiobook By Howard Sounes cover art

Notes from the Velvet Underground

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Notes from the Velvet Underground

By: Howard Sounes
Narrated by: Howard Sounes
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Best known for his sinuous pop hit 'Walk on the Wild Side', Lou Reed was one of the most original and innovative songwriters of the rock era - a sardonic chronicler of underground culture and the dark side of human nature.

In the first major study of the artist since his death in 2013, biographer Howard Sounes shows how Reed's seminal work with the Velvet Underground in the 1960s shaped his career and reveals a talented but tortured man: a bisexual who married three times, an alcoholic and a drug user who struggled with mental health issues, was frequently quarrelsome and could be nasty but was nevertheless capable of writing beautiful songs.

Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of a range of extraordinary personalities, including the murderers Fred and Rosemary West (Fred & Rose), the writer Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) and the musicians Bob Dylan (Down the Highway) and Paul McCartney (Fab).

For more information, visit www.howardsounes.com.

©2015 Howard Sounes (P)2016 Audible, Ltd Entertainment & Celebrities Music Politics & Government Celebrity Murder Witty Health

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Critic reviews

"Through more than 140 interviews, Mr Sounes, who has previously written biographies on Charles Bukowski, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, portrays a troubled genius whose antisocial tendencies were evident even from his early years." ( The New York Times)
"Reading this compelling [book] is a reminder of how tolerant we can be of bad behaviour in the brilliant and famous." ( Sunday Telegraph)
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Great book about the legendary Lou Reed. It goes in depth and is honest. The book keeps you hooked.

Thorough and informative

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Unfortunately, the author of this book often criticizes Lou for things that really don't need a biographer's input. One example that comes to mind is when he states a personal opinion about whether the media was justified in hounding Lou about his sexuality (he claims that they were).

Now, a lot of this book's criticism towards Lou is justified-- he was far from a saint-- but there is a fine line between describing things approximately as they were and stating your own opinion, a line which this book crosses more than a few times.

Still a great book nonetheless with an engaging narration.

Pretty rough on Lou, but a good read overall

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It's probably pretty accurate, and Lou Reed wasn't an easy person to get along with, and his work was of mixed quality. But I still believe that the tone of the book is too negative.

A negative tone throughout

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Pretty good overall. It really covers everything. But the narrator sounds like Robin Leach.

Good

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