Rate this book

Fug You: An Informal History Of The Peace Eye Bookstore, The Fuck You Press, The Fugs, And Counterculture In The Lower East Side (2011)

by Ed Sanders(Favorite Author)

4.14 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0306818884 (ISBN13: 9780306818882)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Da Capo Press

review 1: I've always liked the Fugs, but kind of more as a concept than actually listening to them a lot - except for the materpieces "Nothing" and "CIA Man" of course. I also haven't read much of Sanders' poetry, but this book is an incredibly well written, passionate look back at the '60s in New York that gives you an informed insider's view of a lot of the major poetry, rock music and radical political activity that went on. Sanders knew all the great poets of the time and published them in his homegrown mimeographed literary magazine "Fuck You, A Magazine of the Arts". He also led the Fugs and kept them together as a band, which as any musician knows is never an easy task, let alone during a wild decade like the '60s with a sudden flood of recreational drugs and politics... more being fought out on the streets. On top of those two major cultural ventures, Sanders also kept a bookstore, Peace Eye Books, going for a few years. If you have any doubts that society will lose a huge chunk of its collective soul if book and record stores disappear, pick up this book. Peace Eye was a nucleus for writers, thinkers, wingnuts, drifters and artists who met and talked face to face, which will always have its advantages over exchanging texts through electronic media. I know as a fading bookseller myself that moving to Baltimore initially with a job in one of its bookstores was a fantastic easy entry into what was and still is one of the best undergrounds in the country.
review 2: This is one rollicking good time. The stories race by, each touched upon quickly but with enough detail and flashes of insight that it has the feel of a great introduction to many new people and stories, with Sanders' inimitable wit and city-savvy guiding you through. I read it compulsively, and recommend it highly. I docked a star only because I wanted it to keep going! The book ends right as Sanders is beginning the research on the Manson family that really turned his life upside-down and resulted in the great & crazed book "The Family." I'm hoping for a "FUG YOU 2" ("Electric Boogaloo," of course), that picks up in 1970. Ed Sanders is an American original who hasn't fully gotten his due. FUG YOU is the book to get you started. less

Download links for: Fug You: An Informal History of the Peace Eye Bookstore, the Fuck You Press, the Fugs, and Counterculture in the Lower East Side

Advertising