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Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene
"A wild ride through a vital chapter in rock ’n’ roll history." —Publishers Weekly
Time-travel to the punk scene of 1970s New York and beyond, as seen through the eyes of its chief reporter known as “the original punk” who gave the movement its name.
Part memoir and part cultural history, Resident Punk offers a no-holds-barred expose chronicling the iconic and unforgettable music scene that would become defined by bands like the Ramones, Blondie, Television, the Heartbreakers, and Talking Heads.
In 1975 at just 19 years old, Legs McNeil—alongside John Holmstrom and Ged Dunn—cofounded PUNK magazine. In doing so, they inadvertently chronicled the start of a movement. McNeil’s role in the whole thing? To be their resident punk, embodying the zeitgeist the magazine was looking to capture, often by getting f*cked up with musicians, artists, writers, and hangers-on . . . and sleeping with a different girl every day of the week.
Now, just in time for the 50th anniversary of PUNK magazine, Legs tells the stories behind the stories in a sleazy, star-studded adventure. The coauthor of Please Kill Me, Legs invites readers along for the ride as he tussles with musicians and artists, groupies and writers, Golden Age Hollywood film stars and legendary figures of ‘70s New York. Featuring untold stories about Joey Ramone, William S. Burroughs, Patti Smith, Alan Vega, Martin Rev, the Dictators, the Dead Boys, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Poly Styrene, this book is an immersive look at the punk music scene as only a true insider can tell it.
What’s more, Legs shares the raw meat of his life, starting with his gritty suburban childhood, and the teenage wasteland years that put him on a path to punk. Join him as he steals David Bowie’s hubcaps, wrestles with Norman Mailer, and lives life on the edge, and wrestles his own demons—eventually setting in a small Pennsylvania town, where he’s very much still the Resident Punk.
2026 by Literary Investments, Inc. ℗ 2026 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Time-travel to the punk scene of 1970s New York and beyond, as seen through the eyes of its chief reporter known as “the original punk” who gave the movement its name.
Part memoir and part cultural history, Resident Punk offers a no-holds-barred expose chronicling the iconic and unforgettable music scene that would become defined by bands like the Ramones, Blondie, Television, the Heartbreakers, and Talking Heads.
In 1975 at just 19 years old, Legs McNeil—alongside John Holmstrom and Ged Dunn—cofounded PUNK magazine. In doing so, they inadvertently chronicled the start of a movement. McNeil’s role in the whole thing? To be their resident punk, embodying the zeitgeist the magazine was looking to capture, often by getting f*cked up with musicians, artists, writers, and hangers-on . . . and sleeping with a different girl every day of the week.
Now, just in time for the 50th anniversary of PUNK magazine, Legs tells the stories behind the stories in a sleazy, star-studded adventure. The coauthor of Please Kill Me, Legs invites readers along for the ride as he tussles with musicians and artists, groupies and writers, Golden Age Hollywood film stars and legendary figures of ‘70s New York. Featuring untold stories about Joey Ramone, William S. Burroughs, Patti Smith, Alan Vega, Martin Rev, the Dictators, the Dead Boys, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Poly Styrene, this book is an immersive look at the punk music scene as only a true insider can tell it.
What’s more, Legs shares the raw meat of his life, starting with his gritty suburban childhood, and the teenage wasteland years that put him on a path to punk. Join him as he steals David Bowie’s hubcaps, wrestles with Norman Mailer, and lives life on the edge, and wrestles his own demons—eventually setting in a small Pennsylvania town, where he’s very much still the Resident Punk.
2026 by Literary Investments, Inc. ℗ 2026 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Audible Audio
Published September 15, 2026
About the author
Legs McNeil
16 books218 followersRoderick Edward "Legs" McNeil (b. 1956 in Cheshire, Connecticut), is the co-founder and a writer for Punk Magazine. He is also a former senior editor at Spin Magazine, and the founder and editor of Nerve magazine (print only; 1992).
At the age of 18, disgusted with the hippie movement that seemed to be going nowhere, McNeil gathered with two high school friends, John Holmstrom and Ged Dunn, and decided to create "some sort of media thing" for a living. They settled upon a magazine, assuming that people would "think [they were] cool and hang out with [them]" as well as "give [them] free drinks". The name "Punk" was decided upon because "it seemed to sum up...everything...obnoxious, smart but not pretentious, absurd, ironic, and things that appealed to the darker side". In Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, McNeil said that the magazine was inspired by two chief influences: Harvey Kurtzman and The Dictators' debut album The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!, indicating that the magazine was started strictly so that its creators could "hang out with the Dictators".
Nicknamed "Resident Punk" in the magazine, he claims (to much dispute) that he was the first person (along with co-founder John Holmstrom) to have coined the term "punk" to describe a certain type of music, fashion, and attitude. He says he came up with the name punk because Telly Savalas used the line "You lousy punk!" on the show "Kojak." According to McNeil: "After four years of doing Punk magazine, and basically getting laughed at, suddenly everything was "punk," so I quit the magazine."
At the age of 18, disgusted with the hippie movement that seemed to be going nowhere, McNeil gathered with two high school friends, John Holmstrom and Ged Dunn, and decided to create "some sort of media thing" for a living. They settled upon a magazine, assuming that people would "think [they were] cool and hang out with [them]" as well as "give [them] free drinks". The name "Punk" was decided upon because "it seemed to sum up...everything...obnoxious, smart but not pretentious, absurd, ironic, and things that appealed to the darker side". In Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, McNeil said that the magazine was inspired by two chief influences: Harvey Kurtzman and The Dictators' debut album The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!, indicating that the magazine was started strictly so that its creators could "hang out with the Dictators".
Nicknamed "Resident Punk" in the magazine, he claims (to much dispute) that he was the first person (along with co-founder John Holmstrom) to have coined the term "punk" to describe a certain type of music, fashion, and attitude. He says he came up with the name punk because Telly Savalas used the line "You lousy punk!" on the show "Kojak." According to McNeil: "After four years of doing Punk magazine, and basically getting laughed at, suddenly everything was "punk," so I quit the magazine."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 13, 2026
After finishing Cicero's Tongue, classicist Catharine Edwards' life and times of Rome's great orator and social commentator, I looked around for a good companion read. Which is how I ended up reading Resident Punk, Legs McNeil's memoir. Is McNeil a modern-day Cicero? Perhaps. He certainly is a compelling wordsmith and social commentator. And, like Cicero, he always seems to find himself in the midst of a shitstorm. I adored Resident Punk. It is about friendship and music and art in all its many forms. It is about pop culture and fame and the weird power dynamics between money and art. It is funny without being mean. The name dropping is WILD. If you have any interest in the New York of the 70s - this is the book you have been waiting for! Legs McNeil lived it all, knew everyone, and is willing to tell you about it. Of course you should listen to the audiobook - there's nothing quite like a natural storyteller telling you their own stories. A super fun read. Thank you to everyone involved in the audioARC, including Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley.
October 16, 2026
Legs finally tells his side of the story and it’s a rollicking tale of debauchery. I love books about New York and the early punk scene so I was thoroughly entertained.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the advance audio version of this book. All thoughts are my own.
Legs McNeil was an icon of the 70s New York punk scene, and the first book of his that I read, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (co-authored by Gillian McCain), was killer. This is a much more personal tome filled with anecdotes of his life, both in and out of the scene he wrote about previously.
What I Loved
Legs doesn't give a shit what you think of him, and his unabashed attitude is what I appreciate most. The inclusion of stumbled in the subtitle of this book is there very intentionally, as he never really did anything normally. You can almost smell the stale beer and cigarette smoke as he talks through his exploits. I particularly enjoyed his detailing how the Punk zine came about, and how he used it sometimes to get into clubs for free. That tickled me, as I cannot say I wouldn't have done the same thing. Though this is more his story, there are still some solid nuggets of punk and NY rock history here. The second-to-last story in this book, regarding his relationship with Shannon McNamara, both oddly endearing and ultimately heartbreaking.
What I Thought Could Have Been Better
This is a memoir, so there is not really anything I could say that would make what he wrote better.
The Audio Narration
I thought Mark Engelhardt did an exceptional job with the narration. There's a real sense of that punk attitude, and I loved when he would lightly imitate the voices of famous people. The Iggy Pop and Tom Waits voices were my favorites.
Overall
I enjoyed this. It sometimes felt like an addendum of Please Kill Me, and maybe it started out that way. But I did appreciate more insight into McNeil himself. I can already recognize that this book will not be for everyone, especially someone with a puritan's pearl-clutching tendencies. But for those of us who have ever been part of a scene, you will recognize archetypes that carry over no matter the decade.
Legs McNeil was an icon of the 70s New York punk scene, and the first book of his that I read, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (co-authored by Gillian McCain), was killer. This is a much more personal tome filled with anecdotes of his life, both in and out of the scene he wrote about previously.
What I Loved
Legs doesn't give a shit what you think of him, and his unabashed attitude is what I appreciate most. The inclusion of stumbled in the subtitle of this book is there very intentionally, as he never really did anything normally. You can almost smell the stale beer and cigarette smoke as he talks through his exploits. I particularly enjoyed his detailing how the Punk zine came about, and how he used it sometimes to get into clubs for free. That tickled me, as I cannot say I wouldn't have done the same thing. Though this is more his story, there are still some solid nuggets of punk and NY rock history here. The second-to-last story in this book, regarding his relationship with Shannon McNamara, both oddly endearing and ultimately heartbreaking.
What I Thought Could Have Been Better
This is a memoir, so there is not really anything I could say that would make what he wrote better.
The Audio Narration
I thought Mark Engelhardt did an exceptional job with the narration. There's a real sense of that punk attitude, and I loved when he would lightly imitate the voices of famous people. The Iggy Pop and Tom Waits voices were my favorites.
Overall
I enjoyed this. It sometimes felt like an addendum of Please Kill Me, and maybe it started out that way. But I did appreciate more insight into McNeil himself. I can already recognize that this book will not be for everyone, especially someone with a puritan's pearl-clutching tendencies. But for those of us who have ever been part of a scene, you will recognize archetypes that carry over no matter the decade.
Read
September 15, 2026I received an audiobook ARC of this novel in thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.
"Resident Punk" is a novel that is pitched as part memoir part cultural history. Legs McNeil played a huge, influential role on the punk scene in the 1970's, and truly beyond. In this memoir, he shares the stories that shaped him and the path he took to become the journalist that got in on the ground floor of such a pivotal time.
The one element that continued to stick out to me throughout the entire novel was how unapologetic Legs was about who he was. He knew what was important to him and he went after it; which honestly is very punk.
I found his life story so intriguing, mostly because it is such a stark contrast to my own. I loved following along on his journey while also learning about some of the lore behind other influential people and bands of the time. This memoir is peppered with personal stories as well as facts perfectly, and it highlights the punk scene of the seventies wonderfully.
The audiobook was excellently produced and once I started listening, I did not want to turn it off.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is curious about Legs McNeil, the punk scene, or if they simply want to hear a really rad story.
"Resident Punk" is a novel that is pitched as part memoir part cultural history. Legs McNeil played a huge, influential role on the punk scene in the 1970's, and truly beyond. In this memoir, he shares the stories that shaped him and the path he took to become the journalist that got in on the ground floor of such a pivotal time.
The one element that continued to stick out to me throughout the entire novel was how unapologetic Legs was about who he was. He knew what was important to him and he went after it; which honestly is very punk.
I found his life story so intriguing, mostly because it is such a stark contrast to my own. I loved following along on his journey while also learning about some of the lore behind other influential people and bands of the time. This memoir is peppered with personal stories as well as facts perfectly, and it highlights the punk scene of the seventies wonderfully.
The audiobook was excellently produced and once I started listening, I did not want to turn it off.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is curious about Legs McNeil, the punk scene, or if they simply want to hear a really rad story.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
My thanks to NetGalley and BenBella Books for an advance copy of this biography about a man, music, writing, fighting, finding oneself, more music, and being a chronicler, being present, and a scene that seems more of a dream than reality.
Unlike the writer of this book I was born in the Bronx. Legs McNeil was born in Cheshire, Connecticut. I grew up in Connecticut, and McNeil took the first chance he could to get out of his small, confining, town and flee to the Big Apple, a city that at the time had been given up by the federal government, and many others, including my own parents. Except for needing oxygen, that is where our similarities end. Though considering all the cigarettes that McNeil has smoked over the years, maybe he doesn't even need oxygen anymore. McNeil is a teller of tales, a chronicler of an age where music was going through a delayed adolescence, trying to shake off the commercial stink, the easy peaceful feeling, the ABBA of it all, and be what it was when rock first hit. Scary, dangerous and full of fun. This is his story, and what a story it is, full of myth breaking, myth making, smoke, drugs, failure, success and whole lot more. Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene (and Beyond) by Legs McNeil with Crispin Kott, is a biography, a confession, a search for family, and love, with lots about music, entertainment, people famous, infamous, and lots of bad behavior.
Roderick Edward McNeil was born in Cheshire Connecticut, a boy without a father, and with a mother who didn't want to be there. McNeil was the baby of the family, and he spent days crawling through swamps, looking for snapping turtles, and watching bad television, two things that would help him later in life. McNeil's life wasn't quiet. Trouble was always around, from pranks in school, to selling drugs in Mexico while on vacation at age 13. McNeil escaped to New York, supposedly for school, but as that wasn't going to work out anyway, he never bothered. Instead he worked in film where he could, both straight and slightly illegal movies, an interest that later lead to a book. McNeil was making a bit of money helping to write a comic strip for Scholastic when he found a band that literally changed his life. The Dictators. This band made his friends want to create a magazine that covered this kind of music, angry, different, defiant, odd, and life changing. PUNK magazine was born. A magazine that soon gave a name to a nascent form of music. Legs, as he nicknamed himself, soon began to rove the venues CBGB and others, making friends, making enemies, in Lou Reed, and more, covering the music, writing about the scene, and soon made a name for himself in music criticism. Culminating in the first real book about the punk scene, a book that still holds up even many years later, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk along with other books.
The book tells of McNeil's life in details that are almost Dickens-like with a mix of Rimbaud. A real punk one would say, with a sad backstory, but an attitude and a desire to survive. And thrive. One one think there is a lot of fables being written here, but there isn't. Stories that sound like come on man, end with results that seem true. Dreams ending covered in syrup one could say. The writing is funny, and honest. McNeil is as quick to make fun of himself as he is of Lou Reed. There are a lot of jokes, a lot of comic references, and though McNeil wrote about music, there is not that much about the music, more the musicians, like Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry and others.
A Bildungsroman with a bit of a soundtrack. A look at a vanished age where the hope that music would save the world fell apart. A look at writing, journailms following your dreams and mouths filled with cigarette smoke, and sadness. I enjoyed this quite a bit, both for the social history, the music history, and the fact the McNeil lived a really fascinating life. A book for people who like all that, as well as well-written biographies.
Unlike the writer of this book I was born in the Bronx. Legs McNeil was born in Cheshire, Connecticut. I grew up in Connecticut, and McNeil took the first chance he could to get out of his small, confining, town and flee to the Big Apple, a city that at the time had been given up by the federal government, and many others, including my own parents. Except for needing oxygen, that is where our similarities end. Though considering all the cigarettes that McNeil has smoked over the years, maybe he doesn't even need oxygen anymore. McNeil is a teller of tales, a chronicler of an age where music was going through a delayed adolescence, trying to shake off the commercial stink, the easy peaceful feeling, the ABBA of it all, and be what it was when rock first hit. Scary, dangerous and full of fun. This is his story, and what a story it is, full of myth breaking, myth making, smoke, drugs, failure, success and whole lot more. Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene (and Beyond) by Legs McNeil with Crispin Kott, is a biography, a confession, a search for family, and love, with lots about music, entertainment, people famous, infamous, and lots of bad behavior.
Roderick Edward McNeil was born in Cheshire Connecticut, a boy without a father, and with a mother who didn't want to be there. McNeil was the baby of the family, and he spent days crawling through swamps, looking for snapping turtles, and watching bad television, two things that would help him later in life. McNeil's life wasn't quiet. Trouble was always around, from pranks in school, to selling drugs in Mexico while on vacation at age 13. McNeil escaped to New York, supposedly for school, but as that wasn't going to work out anyway, he never bothered. Instead he worked in film where he could, both straight and slightly illegal movies, an interest that later lead to a book. McNeil was making a bit of money helping to write a comic strip for Scholastic when he found a band that literally changed his life. The Dictators. This band made his friends want to create a magazine that covered this kind of music, angry, different, defiant, odd, and life changing. PUNK magazine was born. A magazine that soon gave a name to a nascent form of music. Legs, as he nicknamed himself, soon began to rove the venues CBGB and others, making friends, making enemies, in Lou Reed, and more, covering the music, writing about the scene, and soon made a name for himself in music criticism. Culminating in the first real book about the punk scene, a book that still holds up even many years later, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk along with other books.
The book tells of McNeil's life in details that are almost Dickens-like with a mix of Rimbaud. A real punk one would say, with a sad backstory, but an attitude and a desire to survive. And thrive. One one think there is a lot of fables being written here, but there isn't. Stories that sound like come on man, end with results that seem true. Dreams ending covered in syrup one could say. The writing is funny, and honest. McNeil is as quick to make fun of himself as he is of Lou Reed. There are a lot of jokes, a lot of comic references, and though McNeil wrote about music, there is not that much about the music, more the musicians, like Joey Ramone, Debbie Harry and others.
A Bildungsroman with a bit of a soundtrack. A look at a vanished age where the hope that music would save the world fell apart. A look at writing, journailms following your dreams and mouths filled with cigarette smoke, and sadness. I enjoyed this quite a bit, both for the social history, the music history, and the fact the McNeil lived a really fascinating life. A book for people who like all that, as well as well-written biographies.
September 15, 2026
I have always been fascinated by the Punk scene. I was born too late for it, but- everyone I've ever met who was seriously Punk with a capital P was wildly creative, vibrant and totally interesting. Legs McNeil- the "resident Punk" was part of the start of all of it. He narrates through Crispin Kott the story of both his life, which is irrevocably intertwined with the punk movement of the 1970's.
Brilliance Audio generously shared an advanced copy of the audiobook, and with narration by Mark Engelhardt, I actually sort of felt like I was basically in a casual conversation with McNeil himself. I did check a few times because the narration was so natural I thought maybe it was McNeil doing the narration.
Readers are given stories of McNeil's upbringing, and also many non published stories of the movers and shakers in the Punk scene, Joey Ramone, The Dictators, Elvis Costello, Poly Styrene and more.
This is a great production, and I found myself continuing to think - just a few more minutes- every time I was going to put away my headphones. Some have called Legs the coolest guy in the room and I'm starting to believe it.
Put this on your list if you'd enjoy a memoir with a few tales that read like fiction but are true indeed.
Brilliance Audio generously shared an advanced copy of the audiobook, and with narration by Mark Engelhardt, I actually sort of felt like I was basically in a casual conversation with McNeil himself. I did check a few times because the narration was so natural I thought maybe it was McNeil doing the narration.
Readers are given stories of McNeil's upbringing, and also many non published stories of the movers and shakers in the Punk scene, Joey Ramone, The Dictators, Elvis Costello, Poly Styrene and more.
This is a great production, and I found myself continuing to think - just a few more minutes- every time I was going to put away my headphones. Some have called Legs the coolest guy in the room and I'm starting to believe it.
Put this on your list if you'd enjoy a memoir with a few tales that read like fiction but are true indeed.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I loved this book! In all honesty, I’ve met Legs a few times and have a phone number for him in my phone, which probably isn’t good anymore. That being said, that had nothing to do with my loving this book.
It’s always been interesting to read his work, but since he lived through it all, I’ve always wanted to hear about his story. As usual, he doesn’t disappoint. He looks at his life honestly and doesn’t sugarcoat very much. This took me to the times and places that would be the first stop in any Time Machine travel I get. There’s a feel of NYC in the 70’s and Legs has always been able to bring that feeling to life. This book shows that he helped create that feeling and that he’s always just been showing his love for the city.
It’s a gripping, powerful, but yet fun read and I recommend it to everyone. No, seriously, read this as soon as you can!!!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.
It’s always been interesting to read his work, but since he lived through it all, I’ve always wanted to hear about his story. As usual, he doesn’t disappoint. He looks at his life honestly and doesn’t sugarcoat very much. This took me to the times and places that would be the first stop in any Time Machine travel I get. There’s a feel of NYC in the 70’s and Legs has always been able to bring that feeling to life. This book shows that he helped create that feeling and that he’s always just been showing his love for the city.
It’s a gripping, powerful, but yet fun read and I recommend it to everyone. No, seriously, read this as soon as you can!!!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.
September 28, 2026
The audiobook narrator was exceptional. It really felt as if you were just listening to Legs McNeil tell you a bunch of stories. I especially liked his voice inflections when quoting other people. It really made the audiobook feel authentic.
This was an interesting and entertaining memoir. Legs' life was a wild ride of music, and journalism/writing. You get a front row seat to the New York punk scene's beginning, as well as, Legs' life and career. At times it did feel a bit repetitive, and cause me to think the player skipped backwards, but overall the book is well worth your time. Some of the parts are full of details, while others are a bit scarce, but that lends to the feeling of someone telling you their story. A must read for anyone interested in the birth of punk, New York in the 70s/80s, and a life that has been lived, and has the scars to show it.
**I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
This was an interesting and entertaining memoir. Legs' life was a wild ride of music, and journalism/writing. You get a front row seat to the New York punk scene's beginning, as well as, Legs' life and career. At times it did feel a bit repetitive, and cause me to think the player skipped backwards, but overall the book is well worth your time. Some of the parts are full of details, while others are a bit scarce, but that lends to the feeling of someone telling you their story. A must read for anyone interested in the birth of punk, New York in the 70s/80s, and a life that has been lived, and has the scars to show it.
**I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
September 18, 2026
Resident Punk combines personal memoir with an insider’s account of the New York punk scene during the 1970s.
Legs McNeil’s role as cofounder of PUNK magazine places him close to the movement’s early artists, musicians, writers, and cultural networks.
The book moves between notorious anecdotes and more revealing reflections on addiction, identity, journalism, and survival.
Its portraits of figures such as Joey Ramone, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, and William S. Burroughs connect private experience with a larger cultural history.
Published alongside the 50th anniversary of PUNK magazine, the memoir offers both a record of punk’s formation and a personal account of the man who helped document it.
Legs McNeil’s role as cofounder of PUNK magazine places him close to the movement’s early artists, musicians, writers, and cultural networks.
The book moves between notorious anecdotes and more revealing reflections on addiction, identity, journalism, and survival.
Its portraits of figures such as Joey Ramone, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, and William S. Burroughs connect private experience with a larger cultural history.
Published alongside the 50th anniversary of PUNK magazine, the memoir offers both a record of punk’s formation and a personal account of the man who helped document it.
September 25, 2026
A shameless and authentic view from inside the world of the punk ethos from someone who was actually there, whose every scar was earned. Lou Reed called Legs McNeil an asshole, and maybe he is, but to be fair, Lou Reed was one too.
The problem with this book is that this is Legs' own story and with that are the usual lapses in memory and maybe a skewed point of view here and there, so sometimes it is hard to believe what he has to say.
Legs is the hero of his own story, but it is one that is not burdened with a whole lot of thorough introspection. If Roderick "Eddie" McNeil aka "Legs" had been braver and dug deeper this could have been a great book, but as it is, it is just good enough.
The problem with this book is that this is Legs' own story and with that are the usual lapses in memory and maybe a skewed point of view here and there, so sometimes it is hard to believe what he has to say.
Legs is the hero of his own story, but it is one that is not burdened with a whole lot of thorough introspection. If Roderick "Eddie" McNeil aka "Legs" had been braver and dug deeper this could have been a great book, but as it is, it is just good enough.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
As someone born long after the 70s, but with a huge appreciation for the punk scene and how it evolved modern alternative music, I was really excited for this book. I love that it comes from such a personal place of experience and anecdotes, and the author does a great job of taking you along on the ride with him. It's obvious this is as much a personal reflection for the author, who's excited to tell his story, as it is supposed to be informative about the scene at the time. It's a unique take on how most music scene reflections are told, and I really did appreciate the personal touches.
September 28, 2026
I first heard of Legs McNeil through 'Please Kill Me' and thought his memoir would be pretty interesting - I was not wrong. He has lived through a lot, and it's always fascinating to see iconic moments of history through the eyes of someone that was there. While I think his stories were very authentic and honest, and I enjoyed some of them quite a bit, others felt repetitive and a little tired to me. The audio was very well done, and I definitely recommend listening to this one if you can. Thank you to Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to check this out!
October 28, 2026
Enthralling slingshot memoir by the Punk Zelig of the 1970s punk scene in NYC
You get a little bit of everything in this book. Problem is, I wanted alotta bit of everything. From Legs’s (aka Eddie, Rodrick) childhood in Connecticut through the founding of Peng magazine and the version of New York City punk scene to his 10 year at spin and his writing of PLEASE KILL ME and THE OTHER HOLLYWOOD. at turns hilarious, jaw, dropping, frightening, but always a fun ride. I hope he has a volume two in him somewhere.
You get a little bit of everything in this book. Problem is, I wanted alotta bit of everything. From Legs’s (aka Eddie, Rodrick) childhood in Connecticut through the founding of Peng magazine and the version of New York City punk scene to his 10 year at spin and his writing of PLEASE KILL ME and THE OTHER HOLLYWOOD. at turns hilarious, jaw, dropping, frightening, but always a fun ride. I hope he has a volume two in him somewhere.
October 4, 2026
I’ve been a fan of Legs McNeil since I read Please Kill Me and The Other Hollywood in high school so I jumped at this release and it did not disappoint. The book is weird, and hilarious, Legs is great at creating mental image and has a very street way to weiting, as we go from his youth to the punk scene to famous writing endeavors and publishing triumphs. This is excellent nonfiction like the rest of his books #booksbooksbooks #book #punkrock #legsmcneil #nonfictionbooks tion
October 18, 2026
Underwhelming. One of the alleged "founders" of the Punk scene and magazine in NYC, the author was there as the movement was unfolding and was friends with many of the bands that defined the genre. However, sadly the book is mainly focused on who he shagged, the pursuit of other women and how much he drank. I would have like more in depth detail on Richard Hell, Blondie, The Ramones and Sinead O'Connor, but I suspect he cannot remember most of the details from the time.
October 8, 2026
Received as a giveaway. One of the founders of PUNK magazine the author was there as the scene was unfolding and was friends with many of the bands that defined the genre. Problem I had was the book is focused on sex, drink and rock and roll in that order. I suspect he cannot remember some of the details from the time. I would have like more in depth detail on Blondie, The Ramones and Sinead O'Connor but it was just a rambling story for me.
October 20, 2026
So John Cale did not write "The Gift", he read it but it was based on a Lou Reed story.
Habeas Corpus does not mean what the author thinks it does.
The NY 1974 to 1980 era fascinates me as I love the music but I do find the author a bit of a sexist dick.
Habeas Corpus does not mean what the author thinks it does.
The NY 1974 to 1980 era fascinates me as I love the music but I do find the author a bit of a sexist dick.
November 13, 2026
The miracle is that Legs survived…everything
Review of advance copy received from Author
Before there was punk, Legs McNeil was the prototype. When punk was a scene, he was the living embodiment. When punk was a genre, he was the chronicler. Now that punk is an American subculture, Legs is the Godfather, a pop culture superhero who tells his origin story so intimately that you can smell the warm beer. This punk Pilgrim’s Progress speeds by like a song by the Ramones, as stark as William S. Burrough’s Junky and more hilarious than Will by G. Gordon Liddy.”
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