Arts & Literature
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Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner offers a "touchingly honest" and "wonderfully deep" memoir from the beating heart of classic rock and roll (Bruce Springsteen).
Jann Wenner has been called by his peers "the greatest editor of his generation."
His deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history. Wenner writes with the clarity of a journalist and an essayist. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. He was instrumental in the careers of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Annie Leibovitz. His journey took him to the Oval Office with his legendary interviews with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, leaders to whom Rolling Stone gave its historic, full-throated backing. From Jerry Garcia to the Dalai Lama, Aretha Franklin to Greta Thunberg, the people Wenner chose to be seen and heard in the pages of Rolling Stone tried to change American culture, values, and morality.
Like a Rolling Stone is a beautifully written portrait of one man's life, and the life of his generation.
Rolling Stone founder, co-editor, and publisher Jann Wenner offers a "touchingly honest" and "wonderfully deep" memoir from the beating heart of classic rock and roll (Bruce Springsteen).
Jann Wenner has been called by his peers "the greatest editor of his generation."
His deeply personal memoir vividly describes and brings you inside the music, the politics, and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. The age of rock and roll in an era of consequence, what will be considered one of the great watersheds in modern history. Wenner writes with the clarity of a journalist and an essayist. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. He was instrumental in the careers of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, and Annie Leibovitz. His journey took him to the Oval Office with his legendary interviews with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, leaders to whom Rolling Stone gave its historic, full-throated backing. From Jerry Garcia to the Dalai Lama, Aretha Franklin to Greta Thunberg, the people Wenner chose to be seen and heard in the pages of Rolling Stone tried to change American culture, values, and morality.
Like a Rolling Stone is a beautifully written portrait of one man's life, and the life of his generation.
Editorial Reviews
"A touchingly honest memoir from a man who recorded and shaped our times and of a grand life well lived. It is wonderfully deep and rewarding reading."―Bruce Springsteen
"Rollicking read."―Paul McCartney
"[Wenner's] readers-for nearly half the century-get the best of him in these pages. I had a lot of fun getting lost in him and no interest in being found."―Bono
"A rip-roaring and speedy ride through the excesses, excitements, and tragedies of our generation. Alternately thrilling, bedeviling, and deeply moving...unparalleled reading."
―Bette Midler
"Over the top."―Jackson Browne
"Entertaining in spades."―Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times
"Jann S. Wenner takes us on a long, strange trip with his accessible and entertaining rock ‘n' roll memoir."―Associated Press
"Rock may be dead, but Jann Wenner is still rolling…he still has something of the whirlwind about him." ―Maureen Dowd, New York Times
"Like a Rolling Stone is something of an immoveable feast....When he finally ascends to Magazine Heaven, Mr. Wenner will be eligible to join Harold Ross, Henry Luce, Clay Felker, Helen Gurley Brown and a few others at the high table reserved for editors who created or revitalized great and enduring American magazines like the New Yorker, Time, Life, New York and Cosmopolitan."―Edward Kosner, Wall Street Journal
"What we haven't really heard until now is a full-throated inside account of how music came to define American life in the first place, starting in the late '60s and onward-written by the man who channeled that revolution into a magazine, Rolling Stone, that became a cultural force of its own...Jann came, he kicked ass, had his own ass kicked, and walked away with his head held high."―Corey Seymour, Vogue
"A wildly entertaining romp that will stir feelings of envy."―USA Today
"Readers will surely feast on all the behind-the-scenes candy featuring the likes of Bono, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bette Midler, and countless other stars, plus media icons...
"Rollicking read."―Paul McCartney
"[Wenner's] readers-for nearly half the century-get the best of him in these pages. I had a lot of fun getting lost in him and no interest in being found."―Bono
"A rip-roaring and speedy ride through the excesses, excitements, and tragedies of our generation. Alternately thrilling, bedeviling, and deeply moving...unparalleled reading."
―Bette Midler
"Over the top."―Jackson Browne
"Entertaining in spades."―Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times
"Jann S. Wenner takes us on a long, strange trip with his accessible and entertaining rock ‘n' roll memoir."―Associated Press
"Rock may be dead, but Jann Wenner is still rolling…he still has something of the whirlwind about him." ―Maureen Dowd, New York Times
"Like a Rolling Stone is something of an immoveable feast....When he finally ascends to Magazine Heaven, Mr. Wenner will be eligible to join Harold Ross, Henry Luce, Clay Felker, Helen Gurley Brown and a few others at the high table reserved for editors who created or revitalized great and enduring American magazines like the New Yorker, Time, Life, New York and Cosmopolitan."―Edward Kosner, Wall Street Journal
"What we haven't really heard until now is a full-throated inside account of how music came to define American life in the first place, starting in the late '60s and onward-written by the man who channeled that revolution into a magazine, Rolling Stone, that became a cultural force of its own...Jann came, he kicked ass, had his own ass kicked, and walked away with his head held high."―Corey Seymour, Vogue
"A wildly entertaining romp that will stir feelings of envy."―USA Today
"Readers will surely feast on all the behind-the-scenes candy featuring the likes of Bono, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bette Midler, and countless other stars, plus media icons...
Readers Top Reviews
KimmybAndrew plunket
If you’ve lived through the 60’s til now or want to learn about that period- Must Read! I Loved it!
Lightrail
Well written memoir by the founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine. Wenner gives a brief bio of his childhood and college years, which are actually pertinent to his path as co-founder of RS, which is widely considered the de facto journal of the hippie/Rock and Roll scene. The birth, growing pains, and maturing of the magazine is nicely woven into the zeitgeist of the 60's and into the 70s, 80s, and so on. He talks about his interactions and friendships with people including Mick Jagger, the Beatles, Bob Dylan and other musicians and cultural figures (e.g., Timothy Leary) of the era. He also spends quite a few pages on his interactions with Annie Leibovitz and Hunter S. Thompson, whose careers he helped establish. His description of his first meeting with Thompson (p. 118-9) is hysterical. Later he describes his (and the magazines) maturation and move to New York from San Francisco. Along with the move came friendships with folks Like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Andy Warhol, Tom Wolfe. Only reason for 4 stars instead of 5, the book at times (especially in the last half) gets a little disjointed and verbose. Wenner's ego seems to take over as he talks about vacations with famous people on his private jet, a cross country motorcycle trip, and other anecdotes that really don’t have much if anything to do with the magazine, music, investigative reporting or politics. Of course if you hang around with people like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jackie O., Bono, Mick, Richard Gere and others I guess you get to boast a bit. At 556 pages it takes some effort to get through the book but I found it worth the time.
Barry Gorfain
It came on time and it was in great shape. I was giving it to my son for a birthday present and he loved it!
Linda Sathre
Wenner’s story took me joyfully back in my own life. I think it has been a real gift to have been a part of this generation. His memories are my memories & his fight has been mine & the music was always great. I will read this again. It is the Boomer’s Bible. Thank you, Jann!
CapefishermanLinda S
As a professional musician I've been a reader of Rolling Stone since the late 1960s and this behind the scene look at the world of rock music through the experiences of its publisher is nothing short of amazing. From early days in San Fransisco through very recent times, Jann lays out the music scene and its influence on popular culture - and Rolling Stone's place smack in the middle of it all. He and others at the magazine realized early on that they could also be one of the voices of the huge cultural shift in the latter part of the 20th Century and the embraced that role with incisive political reporting, too. Werner is not afraid to catalog both mistakes and triumphs through the years from a deeply personal perspective. Sex, drugs and rock and roll are all here and much more. Although he drops story after story of personal contact with virtually every big name in rock music those stories are told in a matter of fact manner; no hero worship here! He makes no denial of his admiration for certain people in the world of modern American popular music but does a great job of humanizing them with insights about their professional and private personas without value judgements. The book is long and occasionally lags a bit but stick with it if you want to confirm or find out the truth behind the inexorable ties between modern popular music and the monumental changes in American culture over the last half century. Highly, highly recommended!
