Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses

by Peter Wolf

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In the tradition of classic collections of observations and musings such as Christopher Isherwood’s I Am a Camera and Truman Capote’s The Dogs Bark, Waiting on the Moon is a treasure trove of vignettes from a legendary musical figure whose career spans more than six decades and is still going strong.
 
Peter Wolf grew up in the Bronx, a child of “fellow travelers” whose artistic inclinations influenced both his love of music and his initial desire to become a painter. Stories of his loving and sometimes eccentric parents complement scenes depicting a very young Bob Dylan as he arrived on the Greenwich Village folk scene. Reflections on Wolf’s studies in Boston—where he shared an apartment with David Lynch—are braided with accounts of first love, an untraditional literary education, and early musical influences such as Muddy Waters.
 
After Wolf joined the J. Geils Band as their front man and his musical fame grew, he rubbed shoulders with other notables who left significant impressions on him, including members of the Rolling Stones, Sly Stone, Tennessee Williams, Alfred Hitchcock, and Van Morrison. Wolf’s marriage to Faye Dunaway is presented in a clear yet balanced and nuanced light.
 
Told with gentle humor and often heart-rending poignancy, the word portraits in Waiting on the Moon provide a revealing glimpse of artists, writers, actors, and musicians as they work—the creative forces that drive them to achievement; the demons they battle; the patterns of their human relationships. They are meant to inspire not only empathy but also admiration. Like Isherwood, Wolf remains “a camera with its shutter open.”
 

Genres: Music, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, Art, Biography Memoir

347 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2025

About the author

Peter Wolf was born in the Bronx, moved to Boston to study painting at the Museum School of Fine Arts then left to pursue a life in music with the J.Geils Band. In 1984, he began his career as a solo artist. Wolf continues to paint, record and tour from his home base, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[George Soule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I’m a massive J. Geils Band fan. They supplied much of the soundtrack to my high school years. So, I will attempt to be objective: The book is a very entertaining read. Peter Wolf is the Zelig of the entertainment and literary worlds - he knows everyone and was everywhere. His stories are wonderfully entertaining, even if they have been somewhat embellished. I was quite disappointed, however, in his treatment of his former J. Geils band mates. Sure, I understand that the band’s break-up was not his choice, but Wolf comes across as petty and contemptuous when he refers to harmonica player Magic Dick and drummer Stephen Jo Bladd as “the harmonic player” and “the drummer” respectively. And, he is altogether peevish in the single chapter he dedicates to the band that made him. Even so, good fun stuff.

[Mike Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked It. Didn’t Love It

I liked parts of this book but overall I was a bit disappointed. I guess I have certain expectations when I read a rock star’s memoir and this just didn’t meet them. I want to know how the band came together. How you landed that first record deal. What creative spark brought about your biggest hits. What did it feel like the first time you heard one of your songs on the radio. These types of things. Peter Wolf seemed far more interested in listing his who’s who of famous people he’s gotten to hang out with rather than providing the background into those life changing moments. His one chapter history of the J Geils band, which appears late in the book, seemed superfluous.

So yeah, it was cool hearing about how he came to know everyone from Andy Warhol to David Lynch and from Van Morrison to Bob Dylan, and the details of his marriage to Faye Dunaway, but in the end I wanted more about him and his career. Morrison is a great example. After Wolf details their friendship he mentions an argument that caused them not to speak for years until the fences were mended, with not even a hint about what the disagreement was. Also, Wolf’s early artistic passion was painting but at some point he turned his focus to music He never offers a reason why or even if he returned to painting later in life. That’s literary negligence if you ask me.

Books like this usually lead me to doing a deep dive into the artist’s music. Wolf talked so little about his own music the only thing this memoir turned me on to is the Them song “Mystic Eyes.” It’s an awesome proto-punk track that I’d never heard before so I guess for that I should be grateful.

3 out of 5 stars from me on this. Sorry I can’t say more good things about it.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wolf's memoir is a collection of wonderful, warm encounters with his heroes as he evolves the ladder of rock n' roll and celebrity fame as the lead singer of J. Geils Band and husband of actress Faye Dunaway. There won't be better snapshots of bluesmen John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, James Cotton and Howlin' Wolf, as they are befriended by awe-inspired, blues-loving Wolf -- "Little Wolf," as Muddy Waters called him. Later, as an up-and-coming rock success, Wolf nails it on the head, developing friendships with people like Dylan, Van Morrison, Jagger, Richards, Rod Stewart, John Lennon, Sly Stone, Aretha, Don Covey and Merle Haggard. His marriage to Dunaway opened doors too, leading to encounters with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams and Jack Nicholson -- although the latter ends up boffing Dunaway, while Wolf is downstairs. On his own, a denizen of Cambridge, MA, Wolf finds his way to Andy Warhol, Julia Child and poet Robert Lowell But Wolf's difficult rise to the top with J. Geils -- "Centerfold" was #1 -- is less glorious. One of rock's most charismatic performers, the American Jagger, he hardly talks about the music or the band at all. He does, however, tell his side of the band's breakup at the peak of their commercial success, and being "helped" by mobbed up manager Dee Anthony, greedy Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic, and good guys like my dad, Bill Krasilovsky, a lawyer. I really loved the book, a spirited undertaking dedicated to "the college of musical knowledge," as Wolf loves to say -- but also to poetry, painting, writing, and the Bronx.

[W. Kelly McDowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lack of stories about the J.Geils band took me by surprise, but Mr. Wolf made up for it in spades by recalling his history with so many legends of the music industry. Insightful and highly entertaining.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I’m not a Peter Wolf fan but man does he have some good stories about his interactions with well known people over the years. This audiobook was a pleasant surprise.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having listened to an interview with him on a podcast, I knew going in that there wouldn't be much about the J. Geils Band (I can see not liking this book if you did not know that). So my disappointment on that was tempered (there is a little part near the end about the band). I also knew this was going to be a book about name-dropping and some humble bragging. And some of the tidbits I heard on the podcast were good enough (he's a great storyteller) for me to want to read this.

It is quite crazy to see all the people he's met through coincidence or just being in the "industry". Even some of those turned out to serendipitous. Yeah, there is some humble bragging, but mostly it's about the other people he's met along the way. I'm not a fan of celebrity stuff these days, but this was different and I enjoyed most of the stories.

But we still need a J. Geils Band bio. Please, someone write that.

Note: I saw them play in 1982 in Syracuse, NY. Still in my top 5 of all-time concerts. Incredible band.

[Blane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has seen him perform live or heard concert recordings of The J. Geils Band knows Wolf is one of the legendarily great front men in rock & roll. His ability to weave a compelling story (often present in those live performances) also makes him stand out to be quite the raconteur. These gifts come together perfectly here, his first collection of musings and encounters with, well, just about everyone famous. But don't come into this expecting a Geils Band play-by-play or a Faye Dunaway tell-all; it is neither--and is all the better for it. The serendipitous tales spun here may or may not be 100% true, but they are at times hilarious and a lot of fun. I recommend the audio just to hear Wolf speak.

Best of 2025.

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Waiting on the Moon - Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters and Goddesses' by Peter Wolf (2025)

For those unfamiliar with his career, Peter Wolf was the lead vocalist and songwriter for the J Geils Band, and he was one of popular music's most dynamic frontmen. This book is not about the J. Geils Band. Instead, it focuses primarily on the author's personal life and experiences.

The novel's opening scene, depicting a young Peter seated beside Marilyn Monroe in a cinema, foreshadows a life filled with remarkable adventures.

From there, we are treated to his experiences
rooming with a young David Lynch, being invited to Alfred Hitchcock's home, chumming with among others, Andy Warhol, Peter Sellers, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, and did I mention that at one time he was married to Faye Dunaway? 

These are merely a few of the captivating experiences, each enhanced by exceptional storytelling and Wolf's ability to recall conversations, locales, and people. It is one of the most enjoyable music memoirs I've read in recent years.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

As rock autobiographies go this is a very entertaining one. Wolf, frontman and singer for the J. Geils Band, opts for a series of colorful vignettes rather than the standard biographical arc. That said, given the ordering of the vignettes, it amounts to much the same thing, but without the connective tissue of a lot of extra pages. Good move. The vignettes are a lot fun, with chapters on Eleanor Roosevelt (!!!), Bob Dylan ("What is Truth!?!) Van Morrison, Faye Dunnaway (Wolf's wife for five years), the Rolling Stones, Julia Child, Tennessee Williams, Robert Lowell (the poet), Aretha Franklin, Sly Stone, Merle Haggard, and many more. Wolf seems to have known everyone. On top of that he seems like a pretty nice guy with few axes to grind. That does a change a bit when discussing Dunnaway, though that seems more a sad recounting than a getting even one. Dunnaway, hugely talented, also has her issues that Wolf calls, being kind I suppose, "moodiness." He's less diplomatic when it comes to his former band, the J. Geils Band. It's obvious that this event is still painful for him (they kicked him out and then survived for one album). Given Wolf's prominence in the group that would be akin to the Rollings Stones kicking out Mick Jagger. The band basically committed suicided with that move.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw this in the bookstore and was lured by the subtitle: "Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters, and Goddesses." Turned out to be a memoir by the former lead singer of the J. Geils Band (a Boston rock group from the Seventies and Eighties). Mostly short chapters about various celebrities (and others) that Wolf encountered during his life, including Muddy Waters, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bob Dylan, Julia Child, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin, John Lee Hooker, and many, many more. "Interesting people I have known." Some you've heard of, some not. Little about his ex-band and rather too much about his ex-wife, Faye Dunaway. Interesting, amusing, entertaining, but not a lot earth shattering. Some stories have a merely anecdotal feel, something that might be told over a beer, but a few touch on genuine emotions that make it worth reading. Wolf seems to look for the good in people and a constant theme is what he learned from those he met. An okay way to while away a couple hours. It's a fast read. [3½★]

[Dan Banana · Rating 5 out of 5]

An autobiographical story of encounters and the life of the author, thoroughly interesting throughout.
I am assuming Peter Wolf is 104 years old to have this many stories and assume there are many more not contained within these pages.
He's lived a much more interesting life than I expected having no knowledge of his life, other than seeing him once in the Kingdome.
Autobiography, history, music, business, love and life.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

a Libby audiobook read by Peter Wolf which is the right choice. Struck how he living in New York and Boston, California and being a DJ and lead singer led to a lot of experiences not available to us in the hinterlands.

https://www.boston.com/culture/books/...

[Mary Vanpatten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every chapter is its own story with various characters

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a first-rate showbiz memoir.

Wolf was the lead singer for the J. Geils Band. He was married to Faye Dunaway from 1974 to 1979. He had a pretty good solo career after his band broke up. He moved and grooved with famous musicians, actors and industry bigwigs.

He says that the book is collection of the stories that he has been telling for years. People kept telling him he should write a book. So, he has.

He has a bunch of great celebrity stories. He grew up in NYC. He knew Bob Dylan in his early years. He was at the iconic John Lee Hooker shows in Greenwich Village where Dylan was the opening act. He got to know Muddy Waters in Boston. He has an amazing story about Muddy Waters, John Coltrane's band and a raid by the Boston Police Drug squad.

He met John Lennon, Harry Nilson and Yoko around the time Lennon went on has famous lost weekend. He went barhopping in Hollywood with Pele. He toured with the Rolling Stones, had a bad situation with Eddie Van Halen and an awkward lunch with Alfred Hitchcock. David Lynch, the director, was his roommate when they both attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. They did not become buddies.

One odd thing is that he says very little about the J. Geils Band. He has one short chapter about the breakup of the band. He does not really discuss the beginning of the band, how they recorded, how they picked songs, what it was like on the road or anything about the personalities of the other band members. It is hard to know if he resents the idea that he is best known as the lead singer for the J. Geils Band or if the bad blood from the breakup made him not want to talk about them. It is a big hole in the middle of the book.

There are a bunch of good stories. Dinner and a wine tasting at Julia Child's house with Boston's leading chefs has a wonderful ending. Bob Dylan has a perfect Bob Dylan blurb on the cover of the book. Wolf, at one point, asks Dylan, "what is truth?". The answer is a Dylan classic.

He describes growing up in NYC with progressive parents and little money. He tells the sad story of his first love, and he dishes a moderate amount of dirt about his marriage to Faye Dunaway.

Good stuff.

[Bonnie E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining autobiography written as a series of vignettes about Wolf’s experiences with all sorts of famous people, from Muddy Waters to Bob Dylan to Andy Warhol to Jack Nicholson, even Marilyn Monroe. There is brief (but loving) mention of his parents, limited accounts of his upbringing and very little about his J.Geil band mates but the man has led quite the life, and he is a very good story teller.

[Chris Butts · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best memoirs i have ever read.

[Jonathan Landry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of the best music memoirs I've read. I've been a huge J. Geils Band/Peter Wolf for as long as I can remember, having grown up in the Boston area. Well, Southern New Hampshire... But I've been fortunate to have seen him solo four or five times and the J. Geils Band once (albeit without John Geils, but anyway...)

Anyway, it's well written, with some fantastic stories of people he's known throughout the years, some more famous than others. He comes off as someone who has little ego, and while he never reached the heights of stardom like the Stones, he realizes how fortunate he's been to have the career that he's had and known the people that he's known.

I didn't realize until recently that he was asked to leave the J. Geils Band. I always assumed that he left to pursue his solo career. In a recent interview with The Boston Globe, he said that 90% of his fans likely didn't know he didn't leave on his own. But you can tell that he was hurt and saddened to be betrayed by the band that he helped bring to stardom. But he didn't trash them, so kudos to him for that...

[Mike Balsom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some memoirs written by rock stars can be difficult reads, self-indulgent train wrecks that leave the reader doubting having ever admired the musician. This is something much, much different. Wolf is like a Zelig figure, his life weaving through encounters with the likes of Howling Wolf, Don Covay, Sly Stone, Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin and Merle Haggard. His sense of humour and his love for the history of American music come across throughout the book. And his account of his relationship with the great Faye Dunaway is fascinating. Throughout it all Wolf comes across as grateful and almost in awe of the life he has led. An enjoyable, enlightening read. Thanks to Hachette Book Group and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

[Wendi Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Wolf has always been a mystery to me. I’ve loved his work for most of my life, but he seems to be a very private person. When I saw this, I had to read it!

I loved this. It doesn’t have the typical musician vibe at all. It’s an artist looking over his life. There’s not a lot of rock and roll dirt here, and it could definitely have gone deeper into The J. Geils Band period, but that’s my only complaint.

It’s very well written and I recommend this to everyone.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Gail Farias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up in Mass., I'm a bit of a Peter Wolf fan. From the days that the J Geils Band played the Providence Civic Center on NY Eve to Pete's solo performances, which I've seen probably 10 times over the years. I've heard some of these stories at his shows and have always said what a great story teller he is. It was nice to learn more about this very talented musician, poet and man.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, this book was never going to be for me. Celebrities talking about all the people they ran into 50 year ago is mind-numbingly boring to me.

The writing was unexpectedly decent for a celeb memoir. It kinda felt like reading passages from the ACT test

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. If you're a huge J. Geils Band fan, this book will not satisfy you - it is shockingly light on stories about the band that defined at least half of Wolf's career. (This is understandable, as the band breakup *clearly* still pains him deeply in the one part he talks about it.)

I am *not* a J. Geils Band fan. In fact, I'd never heard of them (although I realize now that I've heard several of their hits, particularly "Centerfold") - in fairness, I'm notorious for being terrible with band names. BUT when I went to see The Daily Show live, Wolf was the guest to promote the book, and he was thoroughly entertaining, so I picked this up. Wolf is like the Kevin Hart of music - he is *everywhere* and seems to have met everyone of note in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Marilyn Monroe napped on his shoulder in a movie theater when he was a kid, he roomed with David Lynch, he stumbled across Van Morrison before he hit it big, smoked with Andy Warhol (although my mother would probably say - who didn't?), etc etc etc. He is a celeb in his own right - he was Faye Dunaway's first husband and toured with huge names. I didn't know some of the names (I'm not a huge blues person), but the ones I did were titans of music, film, and culture. The stories about all these larger-than-life people were fascinating, for the most part. Some of them would be more meaningful, I think, to people who lived through those times, and some stories lacked a little substance. A lot of people were painted in less than stellar light, but not as unflattering as it might have been in reality. Don't read it if tales of binge drinking and parties with a table just for the cocaine lines offend you, for sure.

All in all, an interesting group of stories from the life of a guy who has really seen it all. Maybe a little surface level at times, but for anyone who likes these peeks behind the curtain, a worthy read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Wolf, former lead singer of the J. Geils Band and now a solo artist, certainly has a knack for crossing paths with talent and celebrity. His book of recollections describes encounters with such icons as Marilyn Monroe, David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Prince (to name only a few); a subsection of the book focuses on his romantic relationship with Faye Dunaway, to whom he was briefly married. Early in his career, Peter befriended Blues legends Muddy Waters and James Cotton, who stayed at his apartment when they played in Boston and Cambridge. As a popular Boston DJ, Peter broadened the musical tastes of listeners across New England.

Peter's stories bring back the heady days when Harvard Square and Boston were bursting with exciting new music and other arts, and helped launch the careers of luminaries including Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, and Bob Dylan. As rampant gentrification continues to reshape Boston and Cambridge into bland, upscale anywheres attracting tech giants and big pharma, it's all the more poignant to be reminded of the kind of creative energy the cities once supported.

As some other readers have pointed out, Waiting on the Moon has narrative appeal but not much inner reflection. I agree that the book reads like a string of anecdotes more than a coherent memoir. I was particularly disappointed that Peter often mentions literature and says that he still loves to paint (he started his career as student at the Boston MFA School) but doesn't go into much detail about how these endeavors have shaped him. Maybe that's a subject for another book.

[Glen McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a memoir, not an autobiography. Wolf has a detached way of wrting about his encounters and after a while it got stagnant, for me. I guess I wanted more about the band and this was about Peter Wolf.

[Orrie Yaugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightful read. Most people assumed J. Geils was Peter Wolf. Wolf's recall of some amazing encounters with several famous people, a wacky, rocky marriage to Faye Dunaway, and many other surprises come alive in this very thoughtful & descriptive autobiography.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went in not knowing much about Peter or his band, but I’ve always loved a good musician’s biography. This turned out to be even better—not a straightforward biography, but a fascinating account of musicians crossing paths and influencing each other over the years.

[Amanda Shaughnessy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. It was okay, kind of boring. I was hoping for more of his journey with the band but it's more of each chapter being its own short story of his life randomly.

[Mickey McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Wolf is a great storyteller, and this is a great story about his travels and hanging out with everybody from blues singers, actors, painters, and his marriage to Faye Dunaway. I wish he would have talked about the J. Geils Band more, but this still is a great book.⁸

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The man has been blessed with all the musicians and celebrities he has rubbed elbows with. One of the better music books in years!

[John Bentilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Authentic and easy

This read is a very easy and authentic recall of past experiences that will make all of us who grew up in the 1960's Boston feel nostalgic.
The reason i say authentic is because there is no heroic rock and roll pyrotechnics just good old personal stories of highly interesting people from music and academia that will make you feel sorry happy and sad.wish you the best Peter on your future endeaveres.

PS:Why isn't the Geils band in the Fuckin HOF