Books — Recently Added

A fantastic collection of space age sci-fi and horror comics – served up here with full color reproductions of the contents, the covers, and even the ads! The work is from the 50s powerhouse of Charleston Comics – kind of the low-budget answer to DC, but a company that brought loads of ... Book

A fantastic collection of space age sci-fi and horror comics – served up here with full color reproductions of the contents, the covers, and even the ads! The work is from the 50s powerhouse of Charleston Comics – kind of the low-budget answer to DC, but a company that brought loads of ... Book

Pre-code horror from the excellent Standard Publications – one of the smaller companies in the b-grade world of postwar comics – but one who managed to really deliver the goods when it came to creeped-out material like this! Standard always had a great eye for a cover – and would ... Book

Stunning work from the glory days of the 50s horror comic – issues of the legendary publication Adventures Into The Unknown – one of the first and most important comics to plumb the depths of supernatural and science fiction! The publication inspired countless imitators, but was always ... Book

Stunning work from the glory days of the 50s horror comic – issues of the legendary publication Adventures Into The Unknown – one of the first and most important comics to plumb the depths of supernatural and science fiction! The publication inspired countless imitators, but was always ... Book

The title's a great one for this creepy horror comic of the 50s – as the stories have this stark, spooky feel that definitely helps you take a journey into fear! The publication was maybe a bit more low-budget than some of its contemporaries – but that also makes some of these stories ... Book

A beautiful book of graphic imagination – a book that features 60s-styled ads for toys that never existed – but which take us back to the glory days of Matchbox, Big Daddy Roth, and Aurora Monster Models! The artwork is all by Marty Bauman – who would have made a heck of a toy ... Book

An insanely detailed book on the role of drugs in American music – written by a guy who's already written a fair bit about drugs and culture! This time around, Martin Torgoff turns his eye towards the postwar years – looking at the interwoven landscapes of jazz, underground culture, ... Book

That's quite a cover photo on the book – and the interweaving of key talents in the image really gets at the style of the narrative within! Author Steven Blush delivers a decidedly one-sided document of the New York scene from the late 60s onward – a picture of countless creative ... Book

A pretty great book about folks who almost made it in the music business, but who never quite hit the stardom they were destined for – even though a few of these figures have become legendary over the years! The book looks at rock and soul artists from the 60s and 70s, almost all of them ... Book

A strange little book that is part prose, part photography – and which recalls the spirit of some of the beat-era writers who would talk about life on the seedier side of the streets – like Hubert Selby or John Rechy! Scot Sothern combines creative activity with his own sexual desire, ... Book

The future of jazz is now, even if it's in the past – as the editors here bring together a selection of essays that document the forward-thinking movements in jazz from the mid 60s onwards – some of which are only getting full appreciation all these many years later! There's a nice ... Book

Not the first book on the groundbreaking comedy of the National Lampoon – but a very detailed document of the fantastic story of the magazine – a publication that not only shaped our sensibilities in the 70s, but also had a pretty big impact on radio, recording, and film as well! The ... Book

A fantastic look at the use of images in political activity on the British scene – a great legacy that runs from the early 20th century to the present – presented here a book of stunning full color images! Most of the work here focuses on the strong role that posters, billboards, and ... Book

The story of Charlie Parker is often draped in hyperbole and exaggeration – which is why it's extra great that this biography is handled by Stanley Crouch – one of the few writers we could trust to get past the hype and really find a way to link Parker's life and music! As you might ... Book

The legendary Iceberg Slim has given us plenty of his own story over the years – but this book is the first to look at the man behind the man – writer Robert Beck, who started as a pimp and became a surprisingly successful author – as well as an underground figure who inspired a ... Book

An incredibly dense book on the psychedelic scene of the 60s – a huge volume that not only looks at an impressive array of music, but also the wider trippy culture, too – but all with a level of text that goes far beyond most of the thinner volumes on the period! Many of the chapter ... Book

One of the most unique books we've ever gotten from John Corbett – an author who's given us some fantastic music writing over the years! This book is completely different – not written, but "salvaged" – as the contents are a lost manuscript from the early 30s – ... Book

Chris Connelly is a hell of a singer – a man with a god-like voice that we'd rank right up there next to David Bowie and Scott Walker – and we're sometimes so entranced by the sound of his voice that we actually forget to listen to the lyrics of his songs, which are equally great! This ... Book

A tremendous achievement from music writer Aaron Cohen – a book that finally gets at the deeper, richer story of Chicago soul – the spirit of empowerment and pride that have always made us so honored to be part of the Windy City legacy! Cohen picks up where other soul writers have left ... Book

Gary Giddins' great second chapter in the career of Bing Crosby – handled with all the same detail and deep knowledge of the music as the first volume – and continuing this much-needed look at one of the most important figures in pop music during the 20th Century! Crosby helped forge ... Book

Drummer Kenney Jones finally gets his time in the spotlight – a fantastic force on the drumkit, and maybe one of the few who could replace the late Keith Moon in The Who – not to mention a core element in the great sound of both The Faces and Small Faces, plus some of the early Rod ... Book

A surprisingly beautiful book on the famous 60s radical Jerry Rubin – one that's not only the first-ever look at the man's life, politics, and influence – but one that's also presented in a lavishly visual style that really conveys the crossroads of art and ideas of which Rubin was a ... Book

We love the work of cartoonist Chris Ware, but we maybe love his Rusty Brown character even more than the rest – as Rusty's an inveterate collector, with the sort of special drive that's plagued us all of our lives! Yet the depth of this volume really matches Ware's more famous character ... Book

One of the greatest writers on singers presents his essential collection of albums from the 20th century – all served up with the kind of loving detail that's always made the prose of Will Friedwald so great! Will's written the book on Frank Sinatra – literally – and on Tony ... Book

The cover looks more punk rock than hip hop, but the book's a really fantastic look at the Cypher – a key move in the freestyle dance world of hip hop – taken places here that are way more than early 80s images of b boys in the streets! The photography of Charles Peterson is in black ... Book

After the big grunge years, we had a habit of never touching any music book with Seattle in the title – but this one's different, and really does an amazing job of getting at the city's lost musical legacy! The book goes back – way way back – and looks at the musical communities ... Book

Not rare tapes by The Smiths – but a book of rare interviews conducted by journalist Howard Smith – an overlooked counterculture figure whose questions and commentary here go way past the usual fluff! The book features complete interviews conducted between 1966 and 1972 – key ... Book

A really special selection of work from British artist David Harrison – a large volume that focuses mostly on his paintings of the early 21st Century – a time in his career when Harrison was creating these amazing paintings that were both representational and fantastic at the same time! ... Book

Jonny Trunk's a man who's given us plenty of great music over the years – his fantastic productions on the Trunk Records label – but this time around, he's presenting us with something sweeter – hundreds of rare candy wrappers from the 20th Century, mixed with some soda cans and a ... Book