Under the Big Black Sun (book)

Under The Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk is a book by John Doe of the American punk rock band X and co-author Tom DeSavia.[1] The book examines the evolution of Los Angeles punk rock between 1977-1982, covering the years between the emergence of punk as an underground phenomenon and ending as some of the musicians in the scene crossed over to mainstream success.[2] The book featured guest chapters by Exene Cervenka (Doe's ex-wife and co-lead vocalist in X); along with Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's, Mike Watt of Minutemen, and Henry Rollins of Black Flag.[3] Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong penned a foreword for the book.[1]

Under The Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk
First edition
AuthorJohn Doe
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPunk rock
GenreMusic
PublisherDa Capo Press
Publication date
2016
ISBN978-0306824081

The audiobook version received a Grammy Award nomination[4] in the "spoken word" category.[5]

Reviews

Eric Noble-Marks of Exclaim! gave the book 7 out of 10 commented that although it is "flawed and incomplete," the book "is valuable for not only giving us a glimpse into what punk rock looked like and sounded like, but also what it felt like."[6] Ryan Bray of The A.V. Club gave the book a "B" rating and noted the potential difficulty of the "erratic structure of DeSavia and Doe’s narrative."[7] Jedd Beaudoin of PopMatters gave the book eight out of ten stars and said the memoirs allow the reader to "feel something akin to being there."[8]

References
  1. Slate, Jeff (April 26, 2016). "Under the Big Black Sun Chronicles the Often Forgotten Story of L.A. Punk". Esquire. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  2. "Under the Big Black Sun". NPR. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  3. Larsen, Peter (June 7, 2019). "What happened when LA punk splintered apart? John Doe and friends tell tales in 'More Fun in the New World'". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  4. Barton, Chris (December 6, 2016). "John Doe's unconventional memoir, 'Under The Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk,' earns a Grammy nomination". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  5. Alvarez, Jimmy (January 23, 107). "Under the Big Black Grammy Sun with X's John Doe". OC Weekly. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  6. Noble-Marks, Eric (June 21, 2016). "Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk By John Doe with Tom DeSavia". Exclaim!. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  7. Bray, Ryan (April 25, 2016). "Under The Big Black Sun opens up L.A.'s punk-rock underbelly". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  8. Beaudoine, Jedd (April 25, 2016). "'Under the Big Black Sun' Tells of an L.A. Before the Kids From Orange County Arrived". PopMatters. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
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