"Not your typical rock tell-all. . . . An entertaining coming-of-age story that cloaks a social critique of post-Sixties USA." -- Rolling Stone (3 1/2 stars)

"A near-perfect memoir.... In this erudite, coming-of-age riot, the author deftly navigates the purgatorial rites of passage between university and professional life, developing insightful social critiques and candid self-evaluations along the way.... [Edmundson is] an honest, poetic and hilariously entertaining narrator." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Everything you want a coming-of-age book to be: hilarious, harrowing, and ultimately inspiring. . . . Brims with sparkling observations about everything from drugs, sex and rock and roll to movies, career, and friendship. Truly, there is something arresting and wonderful on every page." -- Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules: An Eater's Manual and The Omnivore's Dilemma

"A compelling and accomplished memoir recounting the dissolution of the sixties and the beginning of the modern, more cynical era that followed. . . Candidly describes Mark Edmundson's journey as a lost twenty-something seeking meaning through sex, drugs, Marxism, rock & roll, and ultimately, teaching." -- Philipp Meyer, author of American Rust

"Edmundson doesn't just chronicle, he channels, the epoch of rock.... He makes us feel its hopes; its confusions; its genuine revelations.... Concert security dude, cabbie, bouncer: these jobs provide him critical lenses on a succession of cultural moments, and on the never-ending task of becoming an adult." -- Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft