Godlike by Richard Hell

Godlike by Richard Hell

Legendary writer, artist and punk rock innovator Richard Hell's second novel is a stunning achievement and quite likely his most important work in any medium to date. Combining the grit, wit and daring narrative drive of his acclaimed first novel Go Now with the charged lyricism and emotional implosiveness of his groundbreaking music, Godlike is both an important novel and a dazzling, heartbreaking examination of what it means to be an artist in an America of idiots, thieves and liars.

Hell, who was born Richard Meyers in Lexington, Kentucky, dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and traveled to New York in 1966 to pursue a career as a poet. Hell formed The Neon Boys with his best buddy from high school, Tom Verlaine, after becoming dissatisfied with his peers' lack of interest in poetry. The Neon Boys morphed into Television, which Hell quit just before their debut album was recorded. He formed the Heartbreakers with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan, who had recently left the New York Dolls, but Hell left the group before they could make a studio CD (a live album with Hell is available, though). Hell formed the Voidoids at this period, and their album Blank Generation catapulted him to international prominence and critical acclaim (the album was named one of The New York Times' ten finest albums of the DECADE).

This CD contains some of the most powerful and authentic rock & roll I've heard in a long time. It stands alone, like most great rock & roll; there are influences, many of them literary, but he is no arty poseur...at the center is Hell himself, his own ninth circle, claiming to be blank while his every motion and word shows a naked, ardent intelligence in the throes of the only really rock & roll artistic convulsion... Lester Bangs Hell released two additional albums, Destiny Street (1982) and R.I.P. (1985). Before retiring from music in 1994, he recorded Dim Stars alongside Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, as well as Don Fleming of Gumball, in 1992.

Hell has continued to read his poems in public, including Duke University, Durham; University of Kansas, Lawrence; Beyond Baroque and The Viper Club, LA; the Make-Out Room, San Francisco; Central Park's Summerstage series, the St. The Drawing Center, NY; La Maroquinerie, Paris; the Second Coming Festival, Stockholm; and the Horse Hospital, London. Mark's Poetry Project, The New School, KGB Bar, the Knitting Factory, and the NightLight series at the Drawing Center, NY; La Maroquinerie, Paris; the Second Coming Festival, Stockholm; and the Horse Hospital, London. Hell also acted in Susan Seidelman's Smithereens, which was the first American independent film to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Hell's work has appeared in a variety of formats over the last two decades, including poetry and notebooks in literary publications and small-press books, articles in periodicals (from Spin and GQ to The Portable Lower East Side), interviews in pop-music magazines, and photos, drawings, and paintings on the walls of small New York City galleries.

If you missed Hell the first time around, Hot and Cold is your chance to grab him now. Hell's diverse work is finally united under one cover on these pages. The book is more of a seamless coherence of the numerous mediums that ink on paper breeds than a compilation or anthology..... Hell will astound you, just as it did in the past.

This is why Richard Hell is my hero. Hot and Cold is a rhapsody of Hell's zealous aims, pure thinking, and incredible command of the English language. It's a important historical lesson, a touching, thought-provoking human exploration, and literature at its purest and most powerful. Dennis Cooper is a character in the film Dennis Cooper.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781888451771
ISBN 10	1888451777
Title	Godlike
Author	Richard Hell
Series	Little House On The Bowery Ser
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Akashic Books,U.S.
Year published	2006-01-07
Number of pages	150
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.