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Harper
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
First published in Great Britain by Hutchinson 1994
This edition Harper 2014
© Victor Bockris 1994, 2014
A catalogue record of this book is
available from the British Library
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Cover photograph © Simone Cecchetti/Corbis
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Source ISBN: 9780007581894
Ebook Edition © October 2014 ISBN: 9780007581900
Version: 2014-10-05
“Bockris’s new work is instantly recognizable as the heavyweight psychological powerplay Lou Reed’s legend deserves … Reed is effectively pinned like a butterfly”—Q
“Transformer depicts the singer’s life as a series of death-defying second acts”—New York Times Book Review
“A very readable portrait … Blending informed biographical narrative with abundant quotes and a dishy, conversational style, Bockris captures the many moods—and mood swings—of a true rock and roll chameleon”—Entertainment Weekly
“Transformer is an even more staggering brief than Wired (about John Belushi)”—Spin
“Bockris provides insight into the private life that led Reed to create many of rock’s memorable songs, including “Heroin” and “Walk on the Wild Side”—Publishers Weekly
“One of the funniest and most memorable time-lined rock documents around”—Philadelphia City Paper
Muhammad Ali in Fighter’s Heaven
Keith Richards: The Biography
Making Tracks: The Rise of Blondie (with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein)
Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story (with Gerard Malanga)
Warhol: The Biography
With William Burroughs: A Report from the Bunker
Patti Smith: A Biography
What’s Welsh for Zen: The Autobiography of John Cale (with John Cale)
Beat Punks
Rebel Heart: An American Rock ’n’ Roll Journey (with Bebe Buell)
The Burroughs–Warhol Affair
Burroughs Reloaded (photographs)
This book is dedcated to Barney Hoskyns, Gerard Malanga, Bob Gruen, and Legs McNeil
Contents
Two: Pushing the Edge, 1960–62
Three: Shelley, If You Just Come Back, 1962–64
Four: The Pickwick Period, 1964–65
Five: The Formation of the Velvet Underground, 1965