Rocking My Life Away – Writing about Music and Other Matters

"Anthony DeCurtis's collection offers literate and deeply inform ed profiles of the artists responsible for our musical landscape."-Mark Oppenheimer, New York Times Book Review "Having the best of DeCurtis in one volume is a great and overdue pleasure."-Bill Flanagan, Editorial Director, VH1 "Rocking My Life Away... passionately blends music, journalism, remembrance, and argument with a fresh perspective... Like bell hooks and Mikal Gilmore, DeCurtis understands the links between culture and music. His book brilliantly chronicles the chaotic times in which they coexist."-Michael E. Ross, Vibe "Rocking My Life Away is a fan's notes and far more: DeCurtis's erudite prose combines passionate thinking about popular culture and an informed feel for what moves us at the most personal level. It is a highly satisfying collection."-Barbara O'Dair, Editor of Us Magazine and the Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock "DeCurtis enters a scene without an agenda, providing a sparkling and untainted view and permitting the essential truths of each experience to emerge. The top-notch writing in this book has remarkable clarity."-Ted Drozdowski, Boston Phoenix "

"Anthony DeCurtis writes about rock music with no agenda but alerting his readers to what's good and trying to get at the truth about it. He's an intellectual with the common touch and a fan with a rare gift for articulating the emotional reactions many of us experience but few can put into words. Having the best of DeCurtis in one volume is a great and overdue pleasure."--Bill Flanagan, Editorial Director, VH1

DeCurtis reveals his ongoing engagement with rock music as artistic forum, source of personal inspiration, and compelling site of cultural struggle in more than 20 years as a critic.

Preface
Acknowledgments
The Classics
It’s a Thursday Night in Athens, Georgia
Lives and Deaths
Recordings
In the Crosshairs
Culture Watch, Culture Wars
Index