Lydia Lunch

No Wave founder Lydia Lunch's first book, Paradoxia (Akashic, 2007), proved that she is as strong on the page as it is on the stage. Her talents are even more impressive and varied in this iconoclastic and uncompromising collection. Whether crafting personal essays, short fiction, or interviews with fellow antiheroes Hubert Selby Jr. and Nick Tosches, Lunch dazzles with her ability to provoke discomfort and awe, terror and hope.

Will Work for Drugs

Lydia Lunch was the primary instigator of the No Wave movement, and the focal point of the Cinema of Transgression. A musician, writer and photographer, she exposes the dark underbelly of passion. Paradoxia contains frank and often shocking confessions. Lunch relays in graphic detail a predator's diary, revealing the true psychic repercussions of sexual misadventure.

A Predator's Diary

Paradoxia

"So Real It Hurts is the perfect title for this collection. It's a mission statement. A few bleeding slices straight from the butcher shop. A sampler from an enormous archive of work that will, no doubt, be pored over by grad students, book lovers, film historians, music nerds and straight-up perverts a hundred years from now." —Anthony Bourdain, from the Introduction Through personal essays and interviews, punk musician and cultural icon Lydia Lunch claws and rakes at the reader's conscience in this powerful, uninhibited feminist collection. Oscillating between provocative celebrations of her own defiant nature and nearly-tender ruminations on the debilitating effects of poverty, abuse, and environmental pollution, along with a visceral revenge fantasy against misogynistic men, Lydia Lunch presents her exploits without apology, daring the reader to judge her while she details the traumas and trials that have shaped her into the legendary figure she's become. Inserted between these biting personal essays, Lunch thoughtful cultural insights convey a widely-shared desire to forestall inevitable cultural amnesia and solidify a legacy for her predecessors and peers. Her interview with Hubert Selby Jr. and profile of Herbert Hunke, her short unromanticized histories of No Wave and of the late Sixties, and her scathing examination of the monetization of counterculture (thanks, Vivienne Westwood!) all serve to reinforce the notion that, while it may appear that there are no more heroes, we are actually just looking for heroes in the wrong places. The worthy idols of the past have been obscured by more profitable historical narratives, but Lunch challenges us to dig deeper. So Real It Hurts pulls the reader into a world that is entirely hers — one in which she exacts vengeance against predators with an enviable ease and exerts an almost-sexual dominance over authority, never permitting those with power to hold on to it too tightly.

So Real It Hurts

Bir Seks Avcisinin Gunlugu - Paradoks

Ted McKeever

Toxic Gumbo

Infused with her apocalyptic vision of American spiritual collapse and the violence of sexuality, Lydia Lunch's uncompromising work has defied categorisation and been largely underrepresented in mainstream media. The Gun is Loaded fills this gap, narrating her evolution from No Wave singer, through art-house editor, to spoken word poet, celebrated author and photographer. The Gun is Loaded demonstrates Lunch's continued position at the forefront of underground American culture. The first volume of its kind to document her visual art and her portrait series, accompanied by prose, poems, lyrics and narratives. Featuring an introduction by Jack Sargeant, as well as a stunning collection of archival material, The Gun is Loaded is a provocative journey into the vision of one of America's most fearless and pioneering daughters.

The Gun is Loaded

V. Vale

Marian Wallace

In these uncensored, easy-to-read yet not dumbed-down interviews, Lydia Lunch spiritedly discusses her personal history and some of the many creative collaborations that have spiced up her life, art and travels. A master of cutting through creative gordian-knots, she discusses how she evolved her unique style of guitar-playing and song-writing. Simplicity and originality are the hallmarks of her recent Teenage Jesus and the Jerks concert performance tours. Lydia has not only survived but thrived as she has traveled the world making art, music, performance and installations -- always on her own terms. An incarnation of female Nietzschean will, Lydia Lunch continually surprises, provokes and evokes dark laughter in these "you-are-there" transcribed conversations. Hopefully, after reading this book, every reader will be inspired to make art, create blasphemous thoughts, and change the world...

Adulterers Anonymous

“Lydia Lunch is an American icon.”—Austin American-Statesman “Lunch has defined the underground music and art scene for over thirty years. Predictable only in her unpredictability, she has exploited every creative outlet at her disposal, from film to books, photography to poetry.” —SF Weekly No Wave founder Lydia Lunch’s first book, Paradoxia (Akashic Books, 2007), proved that her talent is as strong on the page as it is on the stage. Her literary talents are even more impressive and varied in this iconoclastic and uncompromising collection. Lydia Lunch is a musician, writer, and photographer. She was the primary instigator of the No Wave movement, and the focal point of the Cinema of Transgression.

Exene Cervenka

Surreal poems explore the authors' disillusion and discontent with life in America

Dave Naz

In his sixth book for Goliath, Dave Naz once more proves that beyond his exquisite compositions, perfection, precision to detail and choice of sophisticated yet sassy locations, the real mastery at the root of his genius is the ability to create truly intimate photographs. His portraits are possessed of such a natural erotic essence that they feel real enough to touch; his images so inviting that the voyeur can't help but feel that they are part of the original script. AVAILABLE FROM APRIL 2011

Butt Babes

Robert Williams

This collection of Williams's paintings has been a bestseller since its first publication in late 1989. It features 60 full colour paintings including Jezebel on a B.L.T., Empire Hanging By a Stretch Mark and many more. Introduction by Lydia Lunch.

The Art of Robert Williams

Visual Addiction

Gene Gregorits

Kelly Dessaint

Jesse Hopkins

Sex and Guts 4

AS-FIX-E-8

Marcy Blaustein

Underground legend Lydia Lunch presents witty and provocative recipes for feeding your friends and lovers nourishing, deeply satisfying food while maintaining a hedonistic downtown lifestyle. Lydia Lunch earned her name from cooking up banquet feasts out of whatever ingredients were on hand for fellow starving artists and musicians, including Sonic Youth, Suicide, Henry Rollins, the Dead Boys, and the Butthole Surfers. In this book, she draws on her experiences and the celebration of a healthy obsession for foods that not only satisfy our craven desires but are also nutritious, delicious, and exactly what a body hard at work and play needs. This book serves as a provocative guide to setting the mood as well as the table for a rousing three-course meal—whether a quick pick-me-up after a long night, a party for a gang of pranksters, or a much-needed weekend detox to replenish the body after being depleted by glorious overindulgence. Written with sass and dripping with sexy personal asides from the racy author, this volume is an irresistible addition to every hedonist's library.

The Need to Feed

Incriminating Evidence

Betsey Johnson

Cesar Padilla

A visual history of counterculture music T-shirts, spanning the defining era of indie music. Ripped is the first book to document the shirts of the post-punk and indie period, after the submission of 1960s rock ‘n’ roll to mass popularity and before the onset of ironic consumerism. Carefully selected from the archives of vintage fashion collector Cesar Padilla, the 200 T-shirts in this book are classic examples of rare and extremely limited shirts created by and for the very bands who embodied the true essence of the DIY and indie movements—from The Ramones to Sonic Youth, John Cale, Talking Heads, Madonna, X, Pil, The Germs, and many others. Each shirt has been photographed in all its gritty, sweat-stained glory just as it was found—on the street, in a thrift store, or inherited from a friend. Introduced by Lydia Lunch, the book includes recollections and ruminations from musicians, fashion designers, and pop culture personalities on the enigmatic and enduring appeal of the rock band T-shirt.

Lydia Lunch

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