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24 books with the same feel
Include books by the same authorA Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates
Blake Bailey · 680 pages
"Yates's life was a tragicomic disaster. The favorite child of an unstable, impecunious mother, Yates described his youth as a "hysterical odyssey" through Depression-era America and beyond, from Westchester to Paris to Greenwich Village and back again, hounded by creditors every step of the way. Such an ordeal was the goad that made Yates determined to reveal the truth, no matter how bleak, that
Literary Outlaw: The Life and Times of William S. Burroughs
Ted Morgan, William S. Burroughs · 659 pages
Describes the life of Burroughs, a renegade author who killed his wife, had his books banned, was educated at Harvard, came from an upper-middle-class family and lived his life as a gay man and heroin addict.
Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace
D.T. Max · 356 pages
"The first biography of the most influential writer of his generation, David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace was the leading literary light of his era, a man who not only captivated readers with his prose but also mesmerized them with his brilliant mind. In this, the first biography of the writer, D. T. Max sets out to chart Wallace's tormented, anguished and often triumphant battle to succee
Let It Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's Greatest Rock Critic
Jim Derogatis · 341 pages
"Let It Blurt is the biography of Lester Bangs (1949-82) - the gonzo journalist, gutter poet, and romantic visionary of rock criticism. He lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, guzzling booze and Romilar like water, matching its energy in prose that erupted from the pages of Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice. Bangs agitated in the seventies for sounds that were harsher, louder, more electri
Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life
Howard Sounes · 309 pages
Locked in The Arms of a Crazy Life is the acclaimed biography of Charles Bukowski, the hard-drinking barfly whose semi-autobiographical books about low-life America made him a cult figure across the globe. Extensive research and unique contributions from friends, family and associates - including Mickey Rourke, Harry Dean Stanton, Robert Crumb, Sean Penn, Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg - as well
Buried Alive: The Biography of Janis Joplin
Myra Friedman · 333 pages
Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin
Ellis Amburn · 378 pages
The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood
Jane Leavy · 468 pages
Drawing on interviews with friends and family, as well as teammates and opponents, "New York Times"-bestselling author Leavy delivers the definitive account of one of the biggest talents and most tragic figures ever to play baseball--Mickey Mantle.
One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey, 'The Kid', Ungar, The World's Greatest Poker Player
Nolan Dalla, Peter Alson · 336 pages
Garcia: An American Life
Blair Jackson · 580 pages
"Garcia: An American Life is the first comprehensive biography of the late leader and guitarist of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia (1942-1995). Garcia's saga courses through some of the most fascinating epochs of postwar American history: From the flowering of Haight-Ashbury through Woodstock and Altamont, the Dead became synonymous with the libertine values of the late'60s counterculture, and Gar
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon
Crystal Zevon · 452 pages
When Warren Zevon died in 2003, he left behind both a fanatical cult following and a rich catalog of dark, witty rock-n-roll classics that includes "Lawyers, Guns, and Money," "Excitable Boy," and the immortal "Werewolves of London." He also left a trove of misadventures and anecdotes, a veritable rock opera of drugs, women, celebrity, high times, and hard ways. As Warren once said, "I got to be J
Stuart: A Life Backwards
Alexander Masters · 304 pages
In this extraordinary book, Alexander Masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see. A gripping who-done-it journey back in time, it begins with Masters meeting a drunken Stuart lying on a sidewalk in Cambridge, England, and leads through layers of hell...back through crimes and misdemeanors, prison and homelessness, suicide a
Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This?
Marion Meade · 459 pages
Dorothy Parker was known for her outrageous one-liners, her ruthless theater criticism, her clever verses and bittersweet stories, but there was another side to Dorothy Parker--a private life, set on a course of destruction. She suffered through two divorces, a string of painful affairs, a lifelong problem with alcohol, and several suicide attempts. In this lively, absorbing biography, Marion Mea
Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing
Benjamin Nugent · 234 pages
"It is rare for a recording artist to move fans so deeply that news of his death sparks instant tributes and concerts across oceans and continents - from Dublin to Boston, Manhattan to Nashville, Toronto to L.A. But that is exactly what happened soon after October 21, 2003, the day Elliott Smith died in Los Angeles of two stab wounds to the chest." "Known best for his Oscar-nominated song "Miss Mi
Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend
Stephen Davis · 482 pages
"Jim Morrison's poetic vision, electrifying live performances, and voracious appetite for sexual, spiritual, and psychedelic experience inflamed the spirit and psyche of a generation. During his scorching rise to stardom as the lead singer of the Doors in the 1960s, his voice and lyrics reached out to the darkest thoughts and most passionate desires of fans around the world." "In Jim Morrison, cr
The Trip to Echo Spring
Olivia Laing · 352 pages
Why is it that some of the greatest works of literature have been produced by writers in the grip of alcoholism, an addiction that cost them personal happiness and caused harm to those who loved them? In this title, the author examines the link between creativity and alcohol through the work and lives of six extraordinary men.
De Kooning: An American Master
Mark Stevens, Annalyn Swan · 732 pages
Traces the career of abstract expressionist Willem De Kooning, discussing his personal life with wife Elaine Fried, and his battle with alcoholism and Alzheimer's disease.
Stevie Ray Vaughan : Caught in the Crossfire
Joe Nick Patoski, Bill Crawford · 324 pages
Robin Williams: When the Laughter Stops 1951 - 2014
Emily Herbert · 244 pages
Last Night at the Viper Room: River Phoenix and the Hollywood He Left Behind
Gavin Edwards · 273 pages
In Last Night at the Viper Room, acclaimed author and journalist Gavin Edwards vividly recounts the life and tragic death of acclaimed actor River Phoenix--a teen idol on the fast track to Hollywood royalty who died of a drug overdose in front of West Hollywood's storied club, the Viper Room, at the age of 23. Last Night at the Viper Room explores the young star's life, including his childhood in
Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi
Bob Woodward · 461 pages
An investigative reporter chronicles the offstage life of John Belushi as he rose to popularity and concurrently developed a drug habit that he could not control.