100 books like The Girl in the Back

By Laura Davis-Chanin,

Here are 100 books that The Girl in the Back fans have personally recommended if you like The Girl in the Back. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Just Kids

Joan Gelfand Author Of Outside Voices: A Memoir of the Berkeley Revolution

From my list on 1970’s art & politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone who lived through the very interesting and tumultuous 1960s and 70s, I am fascinated by details of other’s experiences of the same time frame. I inhabited the early 70s fully, going to so many once-in-a-lifetime cultural events: poetry readings, music performances, avant-garde theater, and ‘be-ins’ or ‘happenings.’ With a Masters degree in Creative Writing, I have been an observer of culture and art for several decades. I am the author of three collections of poetry, a book of short fiction, a novel, and a book for writers. 

Joan's book list on 1970’s art & politics

Joan Gelfand Why did Joan love this book?

I loved this book because Patti Smith paints a true portrait of a young woman burning with passion to become a poet and artist. The book shows the struggles of committing to a life with no assurances in a city teeming with aspiring artists and writers.

What I love the most is showing the years it took, the alliances she made, the risks she took, the hunger she felt, and the desperate circumstances she faced and overcame. When her lucky break came, I was rooting for her! She had paid her dues, and she rose to the occasion when a band put her poetry to music, and she broke out to become a sensation.

By Patti Smith,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked Just Kids as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

“Reading rocker Smith’s account of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, it’s hard not to believe in fate. How else to explain the chance encounter that threw them together, allowing both to blossom? Quirky and spellbinding.” -- People

It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation.

Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence…


Book cover of Confessions of a Rock N Roll Name Dropper: My Life Leading Up to John Lennon’s Last Interview

Madeline Bocaro Author Of In Your Mind: The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono

From my list on memoirs by women about their musical heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a passionate music lover. Music–especially rock–and its creators have always fascinated me. My many adventures include becoming a music journalist, attending hundreds of concerts since the 1970s, and meeting many of my heroes who have since become legendary. This is why I love books that conjure memories or take me to musical moments in time that I have missed. Especially wonderful are the biographies written by or about bands, superstars and people who adore them. 

Madeline's book list on memoirs by women about their musical heroes

Madeline Bocaro Why did Madeline love this book?

It was very interesting to follow Laurie Kaye’s progression from a childhood of neglect and abuse to radio fan and later, to becoming a radio star. Her resume of interviews with rock stars and celebrities is stunning. Her intimate descriptions made me feel as if I was there during her incredible moments with several Beatles members and other superstars, who warmed up to her intelligent questions.

Laurie got the scoop of a lifetime with her RKO radio team in 1980—an interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which tragically turned out to be John’s last. He was murdered hours later. As the author of a Yoko Ono biography, I was thrilled that Laurie accurately described Yoko in a positive light. I found it exciting and harrowing to read about how Laurie’s life became entwined with the sudden death of Lennon, which shattered her psyche and shook the whole world. A…

By Laurie Kaye,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Confessions of a Rock N Roll Name Dropper as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In December 8, 1980, twenty-something rock journalist Laurie Kaye entered the legendary Dakota apartments on Manhattan's Upper West Side to co-conduct an interview with her longtime idol, John Lennon. It was the last interview Lennon would ever give - just hours later, outside that same building, Lennon was shot dead by a twenty-five-year-old man (whom Kaye refuses to refer to by name) whom Kaye herself had encountered after finishing the interview and stepping outside onto the street.

Kaye has beaten herself up ever since over her failure to recognise that the assassin - who blocked her path and harassed her…


Book cover of Be My Baby: A Memoir

Madeline Bocaro Author Of In Your Mind: The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono

From my list on memoirs by women about their musical heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a passionate music lover. Music–especially rock–and its creators have always fascinated me. My many adventures include becoming a music journalist, attending hundreds of concerts since the 1970s, and meeting many of my heroes who have since become legendary. This is why I love books that conjure memories or take me to musical moments in time that I have missed. Especially wonderful are the biographies written by or about bands, superstars and people who adore them. 

Madeline's book list on memoirs by women about their musical heroes

Madeline Bocaro Why did Madeline love this book?

It was revelatory to read about the struggles and oppression that this icon had to face in her life and career, especially at the controlling and abusive hands of her infamous producer/husband, Phil Spector. I was astonished to learn how hard Ronnie fought to break away to survive and to sing the truth, although she always made it seem effortless.

Despite all the hardship, it is refreshing that she told her story candidly. I love books about wild rock n’ roll experiences told by actual survivors, and this is one of the best! Ronnie’s memoir has been revised and updated since her passing in 2022.

By Ronnie Spector, Vince Waldron,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Be My Baby as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the greatest rock memoirs of all time, Be My Baby is the true story of how Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Ronnie Spector carved out a space for herself against tremendous odds amid the chaos of the 1960s music scene and beyond.

With an introduction by Keith Richards and a new epilogue from Ronnie.

Ronnie Spector's first collaboration with producer Phil Spector, 'Be My Baby', stunned the world and shot girl group The Ronettes to stardom. No one could sing as clearly, as emotively as Ronnie. But her voice was soon…


Book cover of Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla

Madeline Bocaro Author Of In Your Mind: The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono

From my list on memoirs by women about their musical heroes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a passionate music lover. Music–especially rock–and its creators have always fascinated me. My many adventures include becoming a music journalist, attending hundreds of concerts since the 1970s, and meeting many of my heroes who have since become legendary. This is why I love books that conjure memories or take me to musical moments in time that I have missed. Especially wonderful are the biographies written by or about bands, superstars and people who adore them. 

Madeline's book list on memoirs by women about their musical heroes

Madeline Bocaro Why did Madeline love this book?

Cherry’s book is so delicious that I devoured it in one day. I was fascinated when I read about the early 70s New York City, when Cherry lived and worked in the best of both worlds. She was among Andy Warhol’s factory superstars and was also present at the beginning (and instrumental in the climax) of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust fame as his publicist and lover. When worlds collide, fabulous things happen! Cherry’s mission statement: ‘…the passion of the groupie is probably the purest, holiest thing in all of rock and roll.’

This was a long-awaited tome (in 2010) from someone in the midst of the mayhema fearless, sweet, vivacious 1970s groupie who became a “superstar.” Her first UK touring band included Sting of the Police. She released some albums and was a part of London’s early Punk scene.


By Cherry Vanilla,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lick Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?


Cherry Vanilla’s memoir takes us from the birth of rock to the explosion of punk, with memorable detours through the sexual revolution, the women’s lib movement, and the Theater of the Ridiculous. A wunderkind on Madison Avenue in the swinging sixties, Cherry found fame as a DJ in clubs in Manhattan and on the French Riviera, starred in Andy Warhol’s Pork in London, and gained notoriety as a groupie. Working as David Bowie’s PR rep (and occasional lover), she played a major part in introducing him to the US market. She was one of the few successful women in punk;…


Book cover of Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot

Audrey Golden Author Of I Thought I Heard You Speak: Women at Factory Records

From my list on revealing untold stories in music.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been thinking about and researching obscured narratives for a long time, now. As a lawyer, I learned about how systems and structures marginalize and hide important voices because of overt discrimination and implicit biases, and I took that knowledge with me while I earned a PhD in literary studies. I’ve learned — and am still learning! — that if we want to remedy exclusions from cultural histories, we’ve got to learn to think about what voices are missing and why. I hope reading my book and those recommended here will give you a chance to learn with me. Let’s change the ways we think about so-called “definitive” histories of music. 

Audrey's book list on revealing untold stories in music

Audrey Golden Why did Audrey love this book?

This is an essential book for anyone who wants to learn about women in punk—from the explosion in the UK in 1976 to the present, and across geographic spaces.

Goldman covers a broad and diverse range of artists, highlighting the critical work women have put into making punk what it is while also illuminating the ways in which punk as a DIY ethos has allowed women musicians to push back against barriers built by misogyny and discrimination to create lasting and influential records.

This book gave me in-depth information about bands I already knew and loved, and it introduced me to other women in punk across the globe. Thanks to Goldman’s book, I’ve become invested in punk from Indonesia, Mexico, Tokyo, Iran, and more. What a gift.

By Vivien Goldman,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Revenge of the She-Punks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As an industry insider and pioneering post-punk musician, Vivien Goldman's perspective on music journalism is unusually well-rounded. In Revenge of the She-Punks, she probes four themes-identity, money, love, and protest-to explore what makes punk such a liberating art form for women.

With her visceral style, Goldman blends interviews, history, and her personal experience as one of Britain's first female music writers in a book that reads like a vivid documentary of a genre defined by dismantling boundaries. A discussion of the Patti Smith song "Free Money," for example, opens with Goldman on a shopping spree with Smith. Tamar-Kali, whose name…


Book cover of Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone

Uli Hesse Author Of The Three Lives of the Kaiser

From my list on life in a dysfunctional family (i.e. The Ramones).

Why am I passionate about this?

I've written about a dozen books, all about football (or soccer, depending on your denomination), but that was never the plan. The plan was always to write about music. The first piece I ever published in a proper magazine was a profile of Wayne Kramer, formerly of the MC5. It ran in the German edition of Rolling Stone. The honeymoon didn't last long, though, as I gradually ran out of ideas what to pitch to the magazine, until one day I asked: "Would you be interested in a non-music piece about how football has grown out of the Dark Eighties and become hip?" They said yes, and that was that.

Uli's book list on life in a dysfunctional family (i.e. The Ramones)

Uli Hesse Why did Uli love this book?

Marky's drinking almost managed to do what even the hate-love-hate triangle between Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee couldn't do, namely derail the band.

But what makes his book truly special for me is not so much his account of what he calls his "dog days" but his life before becoming a Ramone. He was in a hard rock band called Dust, he played in Richard Hell's Voidoids and he auditioned for the New York Dolls. If he had gotten this job, and he came very close, he would have been in no less than three seminal and legendary New York bands. 

By Marky Ramone, Richard Herschlag,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Punk Rock Blitzkrieg as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When punk rock reared its spiky head in the early seventies, Marc Bell had the best seat in the house. Already a young veteran of the prototype American metal band Dust, Bell took residence in artistic, seedy Lower Manhattan, where he played drums in bands that would shape rock music for decades to come, including Wayne County, who pioneered transsexual rock, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids, who directly inspired the entire early British punk scene. If punk has royalty, Marc became part of it in 1978 when he was anointed 'Marky Ramone' by Johnny, Joey, and Dee Dee of…


Book cover of Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

Chris Payne Author Of Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008

From my list on music and New York City.

Why am I passionate about this?

Where Are Your Boys is the book I always wanted to write. Watching emo bands like My Chemical Romance and Paramore soar from suburbs to stardom during my high school years inspired me to take writing seriously, that a kid like me growing up in New Jersey with few connections to the media industry could find a backdoor in, because those bands did, too. With its dense population, adjacency to New York City, and a multitude of record stores and all-ages shows, New Jersey was the setting for much of emo's 2000s boom and the home of My Chemical Romance and many other important bands. 

Chris' book list on music and New York City

Chris Payne Why did Chris love this book?

The gold standard of rock and roll oral histories. Two authors, years and years in the making, chronicling one of music's most incendiary eras. "Will you die for the music?" Lou Reed asks in the early pages. In other words, how many knife fights, sleepless nights, and dead friends would it take to stop you from chasing artistic salvation?

Reading this book while I wrote my own made me realize just how sterilized my scene (like much of America) had gotten by the turn of the millennium. Third-wave emo wasn't famously dangerous or gritty, but many of its icons grappled with life-threatening addiction and mental health issues (even more than I expected going in). Yet, thankfully, almost all of those band members are still with us. Please Kill Me illuminated this. It's no accident the final word in my book is "survive."

By Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Please Kill Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the true story of a misunderstood culture phenomenon, one embracing Andy Warhol, Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Patti Smith, The Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, The New York Dolls, The Clash and The Damned. It is a story of sex, drugs and rock and roll, documenting a time of glorious self-destruction and perverse innocence - punk was possibly the last time so many people will have had so much fun killing themselves. Legs McNeil, founder of "Punk" magazine has interviewed those who were members of the punk scene, from the brightest stars to the most observant groupies.


Book cover of The Downtown Book: The New York Art Scene 1974-1984

Thomas Dyja Author Of New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess, and Transformation

From my list on how New York became New York.

Why am I passionate about this?

It took eight years to write New York, New York, New York, and reading hundreds and hundreds of books about all different aspects of New York past and present. There were lots of brilliant ones along the way, but these five changed how I think about New York, flipped assumptions, created entirely new maps and narratives.

Thomas' book list on how New York became New York

Thomas Dyja Why did Thomas love this book?

This is the primer for everything Downtown during arguably Downtown’s greatest era. The contributions are first-rate, by people who were on the scene, and it’s a handsome book to hold. If you’re interested in anything from Punk and Patti Smith to Haring, Basquiat, and Afrika Bambaataa, this is the place to start, without nostalgia, agenda, or hype.

By Marvin J. Taylor (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Downtown Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Downtown is more than just a location, it's an attitude--and in the 1970s and '80s, that attitude forever changed the face of America. This book charts the intricate web of influences that shaped the generation of experimental and outsider artists working in Downtown New York during the crucial decade from 1974 to 1984. Published in conjunction with the first major exhibition of downtown art (organized by New York University's Grey Art Gallery and Fales Library), The Downtown Book brings the Downtown art scene to life, exploring everything from Punk rock to performance art. The book probes trends that arose in…


Book cover of Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever

Aaron Carnes Author Of In Defense of Ska: The Ska Now More Than Ever Edition

From my list on music books with a unique twist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love music books and annoy my wife with how many I consume per month. (She wants me to read fiction. Pish-posh.) The ones that play with format and provide multiple viewpoints are my favorites. I became a music journalist after spending my teenage years in a ska band; that alone taught me that music is complex, ever-evolving, and the technical is intrinsically tied to the personal. I approached my book with the same acknowledgment of diverse opinions and fierce emotional connection. I have devoted my life to loving and playing ska, and it seemed to be the only genre lacking a defender. The defender turned out to be me. 

Aaron's book list on music books with a unique twist

Aaron Carnes Why did Aaron love this book?

I can’t see myself writing a detailed chronicle of a specific location and period without pulling my hair out. But Will Hermes did precisely that (well, not the hair-pulling-out part) by relating five crucial years in New York. It initially reads weird, maybe even slow, because he writes short intersecting snippets of music history.

Once I got deeper into it, I fell in love. I already knew much of the history he touched on regarding stuff like punk, Bruce Springsteen, and salsa, but those fun factoids aren’t the point of Hermes’s book. Instead, it’s about how multiple scenes coexisted and informed one another. I’m well versed in the NY music scene now and—bonus!—New York itself.

By Will Hermes,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Love Goes to Buildings on Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Punk rock and hip-hop. Disco and salsa. The loft jazz scene and the downtown composers known as Minimalists. In the mid-1970s, New York City was a laboratory where all the major styles of modern music were reinvented—all at once, from one block to the next, by musicians who knew, admired, and borrowed from one another. Crime was everywhere, the government was broke, and the city’s infrastructure was collapsing. But rent was cheap, and the possibilities for musical exploration were limitless.

Love Goes to Buildings on Fire is the first book to tell the full story of the era’s music scenes…


Book cover of A Visit from the Goon Squad

Kevin Clouther Author Of Maximum Speed

From my list on literary fiction about the passage of time.

Why am I passionate about this?

I live in the past, even as the wellness industry tells me to be present. I try to be present! Of course, I also worry about the future. Time for me, inexorably, moves both backward and forward. I’m always writing things down, scared of forgetting. How do other people do it? That’s why I read fiction (or one of the reasons). As Philip Roth said of his father in Patrimony, “To be alive, to him, is to be made of memory—to him if a man’s not made of memory, he’s made of nothing.”

Kevin's book list on literary fiction about the passage of time

Kevin Clouther Why did Kevin love this book?

When Jennifer Egan published “Found Objects” “Safari,” and “Ask Me If I Care” in The New Yorker I knew she was onto something, but I wasn’t prepared for the cumulative effect of A Visit from the Good Squad, which bounces between past and present (and, occasionally, into the future).

One character asks, “Time’s a goon, right?” Time is, though I hadn’t considered how until surrendering to Egan’s vision, which spans from NYC to Africa to PowerPoint. Whether this is a collection of linked stories or novel or some other hybrid form is irrelevant; the book is pure sorcery.

It was one of the thrills of my career to bring Egan to Omaha in 2019 to lecture to the University of Nebraska MFA in Writing.

By Jennifer Egan,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked A Visit from the Goon Squad as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2010

Jennifer Egan's spellbinding novel circles the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Although Bennie and Sasha never discover each other's pasts, the reader does, in intimate detail, along with the secret lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs, over many years, in locales as varied as New York, San Francisco, Naples, and Africa.

We first meet Sasha in her mid-thirties, on her therapist's couch in…


Book cover of Just Kids
Book cover of Confessions of a Rock N Roll Name Dropper: My Life Leading Up to John Lennon’s Last Interview
Book cover of Be My Baby: A Memoir

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