Overview

'Hey, you! Beautiful!' The voice was compelling-an order. So I turned around. 'Yeah, you,' he said. 'What are you doing in here? You look normal.' 'I am,' I said. Bettye Kronstad met Lou Reed in 1968 as a nineteen-year-old Columbia University student; they were married, briefly, in 1973. Their relationship spanned some of the most pivotal years of his life and career, from the demise of The Velvet Underground to the writing and recording of his seminal solo masterpieces Transformer, for which Lou wrote 'Perfect Day' about an afternoon they spent together in the park, and Berlin, which draws on tales from Bettye's childhood. In Perfect Day, Bettye looks back on their initially idyllic life together on the Upper East Side; Lou's struggle to launch a solo career after leaving perhaps the most influential rock band of all time; his work and friendships with fellow stars David Bowie and Iggy Pop; and his descent into drink and drug abuse following the success of Transformer, which sent him spinning out from gentle soul to rock'n'roll animal and brought a swift and calamitous end to their relationship. The result is a powerful and poignant meditation on love, loss, writing, and music.

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9781911036067

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Reviews

'At its most interesting and tragic, this book serves to inject the well-worn myths of Lou Reed the legend ... with humanity, and offers an insider's perspective to Reed's losses of personal control and his fears and anxieties.' --Pitchfork

'At its most interesting and tragic, this book serves to inject the well-worn myths of Lou Reed the legend ... with humanity, and offers an insider's perspective to Reed's losses of personal control and his fears and anxieties.' --Pitchfork

'At its most interesting and tragic, this book serves to inject the well-worn myths of Lou Reed the legend ... with humanity, and offers an insider's perspective to Reed's losses of personal control and his fears and anxieties.' - Pitchfork

Author Information

Bettye Kronstad lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her beloved cocker spaniel, Elroy. She has two daughters and three grandchildren, and works as a freelance writer and editor, and as a composition, literature, and speech instructor.

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