Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

Legs McNeil · Gillian McCain

Jan 2014 · Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

About this ebook

The twentieth anniversary edition of the “utterly and shamelessly sensational” history of punk music—featuring new photos and an afterword by the authors (Newsday).

A contemporary classic, Please Kill Me is the definitive oral history of the most nihilistic of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Richard Hell, the Ramones, and scores of other punk figures lend their voices to this decisive account of that explosive era.

Editors Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain—two of punk music’s greatest chroniclers—follow the movement from its roots in the 1960s underground of New York City, to its arrival in the UK with bands like The Sex Pistols and The Clash, to its unlikely emergence as a global cultural force whose impact is still felt today.

Ratings and reviews

Absolutely vital, especially in times like these. Follow-up with American Hardcore

Amazing. Captures almost everything about punks. Almost.

If you want to know about the birth of punk, this is the book

About the author

Legs McNeil lives at the “Schwenksville Narrative Oral History Institute.” He was the former Resident Punk at Punk magazine, a senior editor at Spin, and regularly contributes to Vice online.

Gillian McCain is the author of two books of poetry. Legs and Gillian’s most recent book is Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose, and they are currently at work on a new book about the California music and counterculture scenes of the 1960s.