A contemporary classic, Please Kill Me is the definitive oral history of the most nihilistic of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Richard Hell, the Ramones, and scores of other punk figures lend their voices to this decisive account of that explosive era. This 20th anniversary edition features new chapters, interviews, photos, and an afterword by the authors.

In this first oral history of the most nihilist of all pop movements, Legs McNeil, who first coined the term 'punk,' and Gillian McCain bring the sound of the punk generation chillingly to life.

Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, David Johansen, Dee Dee Ramone, Nico, Patti Smith, Malcolm McLaren, and scores of other famous and infamous punk figures lend their voices to this definitive account of that outrageous, explosive era.

From its origins in the twilight years of Andy Warhol's New York reign to its last gasps as eighties corporate rock, the phenomenon known as punk is analyzed, criticized, eulogized, and idealized by the people who were not only there, but who made it happen. PLEASE KILL ME reads like a fast-paced novel, but the energy it celebrates and the tragedies it contains are all too real and all too achingly human.

"Ranks up there with the great rock & roll books of all time."—Time Out New York

"Lurid, insolent, disorderly, funny, sometimes gross, sometimes mean and occasionally touching . . . Resounds with authenticity."—The New York Times

"No volume serves juicier dish on punk’s New York birth . . . Tales of sex, drugs and music that will make you wish you’d been there."—Rolling Stone

"Utterly and shamelessly sensational."—Newsday

Authors: Legs McNeil / Gillian McCain
Publisher: Grove Press
Pages: 448pp
Size: 5.5 x 8.25
Notes: paperback, b/w, 20th Anniversary Ed.
Release Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0802125361