"The raw humanity and free spirit of artists such as Patti Smith, The Ramones and Iggy Pop have always been an inspiration for Ace. Please Kill Me was one of Alex's favorite books, so to host the 20th anniversary tour with Legs and Gillian is an immense honor." - Kelly Sawdon, Partner and Chief Brand Officer, Ace Hotel.
A Time Out and New York Daily News Best Book of the Year when it came out in 1996, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk has now become a contemporary American classic, giving a complete analysis of the punk phenomenon from its origins in Andy Warhol's New York to its last gasps in the 1980s. The book features reports from famous and infamous punks who lent their voices to chronicle a musical and social revolution, including lggy Pop, Richard Hell, Patti Smith, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone, Malcolm McLaren, Jim Carroll, Debbie Harry, Lou Reed and many more.
As 2016 marks the 20th anniversary of Please Kill Me, Grove Press is issuing a special edition of the book complete with new photos, chapters and an afterword by authors Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. When Please Kill Me came out in 1996 it was revolutionary, not just because it unabashedly chronicled America's punk movement through first-hand accounts, but because it helped to popularize the oral history style, later perfected in Edie: American Girl by Jean Stein and George Plimpton. McNeil and McCain sum up the beauty of the form: "The narrative oral history is such an incredible format because it draws from every art form," they write, "the chapters have the rhythm of song, the cuts are cinematic, newspaper headlines can punctuate incidents, slang is celebrated, and first-hand accounts bring the poetry of the spoken word."
In celebration of the anniversary, Ace Hotel - who cites punk amongst its influences - is honored to host a series of events across six properties, which will combine readings by the authors along with DJ parties and festivities to mark the occasion.
The book tour schedule is as follows:
London on July 8th
New York on July 14th
Pittsburgh on July 18th
Palm Springs on July 30th
Los Angeles on August 1st
Portland, OR on August 8th
New York on July 14th
Pittsburgh on July 18th
Palm Springs on July 30th
Los Angeles on August 1st
Portland, OR on August 8th
Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain will appear in every city except London, where Gillian McCain will be the guest of honor. All events are free, all ages and open to the public.
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"Lurid, insolent, disorderly, funny, sometimes gross, sometimes mean and occasionally touching . . . Resounds with authenticity."
- New York Times
"An often shocking oral history of those gloriously volatile years when a pocket of this country's largest city raised its middle finger to the rest of the world."
-Chicago Sun-Times
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About Gillian McCain
From the early to mid nineties Gillian McCain worked at the Poetry Project at St. Marks Church, where she started the still-existing Friday Night Series - which mixed film, music, poetry and lectures. She also edited the Poetry Project newsletter for one year and put out four issues of an original lit-zine called MILK. She is the author of two books of poetry: Tilt and Religion. Her work has appeared in a number of literary magazines including Grand Street, Shiny, Lingo, Court Green and the Columbia Poetry Review. Her vernacular "found" photo collection has been featured in magazines, books and gallery shows. She is currently at work with Legs McNeil on a new book about the California music and counterculture scenes of the 1960's.
About Legs Mc Neil
Legs McNeil was the Resident Punk at Punk Magazine, a senior editor at Spin, and currently contributes to Vice. His other works include The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry as well as Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose, which he co-authored with Gillian McCain. He currently lives in Schwenksville, PA.
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