Punk Rock Lit

[kaylim]

So I'm a huge fan of punk rock. All eras and all sub-genres. Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, the Ramones (of course), MC5, the Clash, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, even some Green Day. Whenever a book has cool punk rock characters, I usually love it. Unfortunately, I haven't read too many though I know they are out there. Here are a couple I read:

American Skin: A working class guy with hippie parents gets involved with a skinhead crew which--in the USA--means they're bouncing at punk shows and getting into fights with swazis (nazi skinheads). I thought the subject matter was awesome because skinheads that aren't racist is not very well represented in any medium. I haven't read it in a long while, but some scenes have always stuck with me. The relationship between the skinhead leader and the main character was the most interest part of it I thought.

Dharma Punk: This is a memoir about a young punk who becomes a buddhist after ending up in trouble with the police. The first half of the book paints a cool picture of 80's hardcore punk in California and eventually Noah, the author, decides to use meditation to transform his life. It works.

That's about it really. I want to read 10,000 saints after watching the movie though.

 

[jennontheisland]

Go Fuck Yourself Press is a good place to look: http://www.punkbooks.com/
They're a Canadian publisher so mostly in tune with the Canadian punk scene (DOA, SNFU, etc)
Also, Joey "Shithead" Keithly of DOA has written a thing or two, I think.

 

[kaylim]

Ah Joey Shithead. Best name ever. I saw him give an interview in the documentary American Hardcore. I bookmarked the page. Will check it out later.