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Eminent Hipsters

By Donald Fagen

By Donald Fagen

By Donald Fagen

By Donald Fagen

By Donald Fagen
Read by Donald Fagen

By Donald Fagen
Read by Donald Fagen

Best Seller
Paperback $17.00

Oct 28, 2014 | ISBN 9780143126010

Ebook $10.99

Oct 22, 2013 | ISBN 9781101638095

Audiobook Download $14.00

Oct 22, 2013 | 278 Minutes

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    Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen
    Paperback $17.00
    Oct 28, 2014 | ISBN 9780143126010

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    • Paperback $17.00

      Oct 28, 2014 | ISBN 9780143126010

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      Oct 22, 2013 | ISBN 9781101638095

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    About Eminent Hipsters

    A witty, candid, sharply written memoir by the cofounder of Steely Dan

    In his entertaining debut as an author, Donald Fagen—musician, songwriter, and cofounder of Steely Dan—reveals the cultural figures and currents that shaped his artistic sensibility, as well as offering a look at his college days and a hilarious account of life on the road. Fagen presents the “eminent hipsters” who spoke to him as he was growing up in a bland New Jersey suburb in the early 1960s; his colorful, mind-expanding years at Bard College, where he first met his musical partner Walter Becker; and the agonies and ecstasies of a recent cross-country tour with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. Acclaimed for his literate lyrics and complex arrangements as a musician, Fagen here proves himself a sophisticated writer with his own distinctive voice.

    About Eminent Hipsters

    A witty, candid, sharply written memoir by the cofounder of Steely Dan

    In his entertaining debut as an author, Donald Fagen—musician, songwriter, and cofounder of Steely Dan—reveals the cultural figures and currents that shaped his artistic sensibility, as well as offering a look at his college days and a hilarious account of life on the road. Fagen presents the “eminent hipsters” who spoke to him as he was growing up in a bland New Jersey suburb in the early 1960s; his colorful, mind-expanding years at Bard College, where he first met his musical partner Walter Becker; and the agonies and ecstasies of a recent cross-country tour with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. Acclaimed for his literate lyrics and complex arrangements as a musician, Fagen here proves himself a sophisticated writer with his own distinctive voice.

    About Eminent Hipsters

    A witty, revealing, sharply written work of memoir and criticism by the cofounder of Steely Dan

    Musician and songwriter Donald Fagen presents a group of vivid set pieces in his entertaining debut as an author, from portraits of the cultural figures and currents that shaped him as a youth to an account of his college days and of life on the road.

    Fagen begins by introducing the “eminent hipsters” that spoke to him as he was growing up in a bland New Jersey suburb in the early 1960s, among them Jean Shepherd, whose manic nightly broadcasts out of WOR-Radio “enthralled a generation of alienated young people”; Henry Mancini, whose swank, noirish soundtracks left their mark on him; and Mort Fega, the laid-back, knowledgeable all-night jazz man at WEVD who was like “the cool uncle you always wished you had.” He writes of how, coming of age during the paranoid Cold War era, one of his primary doors of escape became reading science fiction, and of his invigorating trips into New York City to hear jazz. “Class of ’69” recounts Fagen’s colorful, mind-expanding years at Bard College, the progressive school north of New York City, where he first met his future musical partner Walter Becker. “With the Dukes of September” offers a cranky, hilarious account of the ups and downs of a recent cross-country tour Fagen made with Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald, performing a program of old R&B and soul tunes as well as some of their own hits.

    Acclaimed for the elaborate arrangements and jazz harmonies of his songs, Fagen proves himself a sophisticated writer with a very distinctive voice in this engaging book.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    About Donald Fagen

    Donald Fagen’s writing has appeared in Premiere, Slate, Harper’s Bazaar, and Jazz Times. Fagen is also the cofounder of the band Steely Dan. He lives in New York City.

    About Donald Fagen

    Donald Fagen’s writing has appeared in Premiere, Slate, Harper’s Bazaar, and Jazz Times. Fagen is also the cofounder of the band Steely Dan. He lives in New York City.

    About Donald Fagen

    Donald Fagen’s writing has appeared in Premiere, Slate, Harper’s Bazaar, and Jazz Times. Fagen is also the cofounder of the band Steely Dan. He lives in New York City.

    Product Details

    Category: Music | Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Penguin Books
    Oct 28, 2014 | 176 Pages | 5-1/16 x 7-3/4 | ISBN 9780143126010

    Category: Music | Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs

    Ebook | $10.99
    Published by Penguin Books
    Oct 22, 2013 | 176 Pages | ISBN 9781101638095

    Category: Music | Arts & Entertainment Biographies & Memoirs | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $14.00
    Published by Penguin Audio
    Oct 22, 2013 | 278 Minutes | ISBN 9780698135789
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    Praise

    Praise for Eminent Hipsters

    “[An] excellent. . . and satisfying memoir.  This is less about Fagen’s career than about his tastes. . .He writes insightfully about music, films, and books. . .with this remorseless, hilarious book, Fagen reveals himself as a first-class grump. . . Eminent Hipsters is also a convincing testimonial to the honing effect of a lifelong devotion to the culture of misfits, weirdos and cranks.”—Rolling Stone
     
    “Fagen is utterly charming when he describes other performers. . .he defends TV and film composer Henry Mancini from charges of fuddy-duddyness. . . his essay on Connie Boswell is the kind of top-notch, incisive cultural critique you ain’t gonna get from the likes of Keith Richards.  Just like the lyrics he penned for the Dan, Fagen’s writing here is charged with a zingy, acerbic intelligence.”—Slate.com
     
    “As you would expect from someone who has been one of the most consistently sardonic voices of rock, Fagen can write.”—GQ.com
     
     

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