#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A panoramic experience that tells the story of Beastie Boys, a book as unique as the band itself—by band members ADROCK and Mike D, with contributions from Amy Poehler, Colson Whitehead, Wes Anderson, Luc Sante, and more.The inspiration for the Emmy-nominated Apple TV+ “live documentary” Beastie Boys Story, directed by Spike Jonze NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE … Jonze
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Rolling Stone • The Guardian • Paste
Formed as a New York City hardcore band in 1981, Beastie Boys struck an unlikely path to global hip hop superstardom. Here is their story, told for the first time in the words of the band. Adam “ADROCK” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond offer revealing and very funny accounts of their transition from teenage punks to budding rappers; their early collaboration with Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin; the debut album that became the first hip hop record ever to hit #1, Licensed to Ill—and the album’s messy fallout as the band broke with Def Jam; their move to Los Angeles and rebirth with the genre-defying masterpiece Paul’s Boutique; their evolution as musicians and social activists over the course of the classic albums Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty and the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits conceived by the late Adam “MCA” Yauch; and more. For more than thirty years, this band has had an inescapable and indelible influence on popular culture.
With a style as distinctive and eclectic as a Beastie Boys album, Beastie Boys Book upends the typical music memoir. Alongside the band narrative you will find rare photos, original illustrations, a cookbook by chef Roy Choi, a graphic novel, a map of Beastie Boys’ New York, mixtape playlists, pieces by guest contributors, and many more surprises.
Praise for Beastie Boys Book
“A fascinating, generous book with portraits and detail that float by in bursts of color . . . As with [the band’s] records, the book’s structure is a lyrical three-man weave. . . . Diamond’s voice is lapidary, droll. Horovitz comes on like a borscht belt comedian, but beneath that he is urgent, incredulous, kind of vulnerable. . . . Friendship is the book’s subject as much as music, fame and New York.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Wild, moving . . . resembles a Beastie Boys LP in its wild variety of styles.”—Rolling Stone
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This massive book of essays, musings, comics, photos, recipes, and more tells the story of Beastie Boys, by band members ADROCK and Mike D (MCA passed away from cancer in 2012), with contributions from Amy Poehler, Spike Jonze, Kate Schellenbach, just to name a few. This book does chronicle the shenanigans most casual readers may expect from the Beastie Boys, but being that this book is a gargantuan 600-page Beastie tome, I don’t believe it was intended for a casual reader. It is for beloved fans of Beastie Boys and music in general, as well as a love letter to friendship and New York City (and a love note to Los Angeles, too).
The photos and various ephemera are enjoyable but I particularly liked the self-awareness put on display by ADROCK (Adam Horowitz) and Mike D (Michael Diamond) about their friendships, their place in time in NYC when they were kids, their luck at being in the right place at the right time, and their adolescent mistakes. All of their misogynistic jokes on their early recordings and videos still haunt them to this day and they gracefully retell many of the steps they took to fix their youthful transgressions with their friends. Early band member Kate Schellenbach is given a chance to tell her side of the story of why she felt she was “fired” from the band and her observations of that time. It’s an affecting part of their story. And I clearly remember hearing their song Sure Shot for the first time with its infamous MCA verse, “I want to say a little something that’s long overdue / the disrespect to women has got to be through / To all the mothers and the sisters and the wives and friends / I wanna offer my love and respect till the end” and thinking to myself, ‘They’re growing up. That’s cool.’
For me, Beastie Boys were and still are a big part of my musical life. I have enjoyed all of their music and videos since She’s On It. I was 15 when License to Ill came out. My friends and I memorized all the lyrics on Paul’s Boutique. Hearing Check Your Head for the first time in my car BLEW MY MIND! Ill Communication continued blowing my mind. I saw them at Lollapalooza in ’94 at their Houston stop. I also saw their In the Round show in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center. To say the Beastie Boys are part of my life is an understatement. So, reading this book not only gave me more insight about their lives, it also sparked my own memories of my life as it was partly soundtracked by their music.
What a glorious soundtrack that is!
If you’re a fan of Beastie Boys or music in general, then I highly recommend this book.
I loved the special on APPLE TV. Grew up with the Beastie Boys. Loved the anecdotes and the style that they chose for the audiobook but some chapters were wayyyy out there. If you’re a fan, you’ll enjoy it.
As an old school fan of the Bboys, I seriously enjoyed hearing their behind-the-scenes stories, as well as stories behind their inspiration and how they got their start. The audiobook is especially entertaining when Mike and Adam narrate, and the pictures in the hard copy are epic, so I’d recommend fans get both!