I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found the subject matter really interesting. The book was well written and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book.

I loved this book, loved knowing John Lurie told the truth and the tales he wanted to tell.

History of Bones by John Lurie
"I don’t want to visit cheap". This is a quote from John Lurie's latest book: The History of Bones (this link will take you to a google preview of the book, it's a pretty random view of the book, but a good idea of the book).

Amen.

He doesn’t sell himself (or his story) out on what YOU think is important. I am glad that he didn't cowtow to writing about what people want to hear and it’s glorious.

There are a bunch of random reviews out there that will entice you by saying things like: a great book about the grit of NY in the late 70s. Sure, I guess. But really and this is what I got out of it... it's all about the value and desire of a musician to make a difference in the world and what he has to do to get there.

It's gritty as things get with no apologies, but it's really self reflection and not hot goss about Studio 54 and the East Village which is what some of the preliminary reviews were and I couldn't have wished for anything more different.

The first five chapters are so important to the rest of the story do not skip them. Truly. It’s a side I certainly did not know. I mean I read the book so I could know more but this was very important reading to understand who Mr. Lurie is and why he pursues everything in the way that he writes about. To me, this was wildly brave.

It’s a semi-linear story told in fits and starts which while reading it’s like listening to John Lurie tell you the story directly… and yes there is an audio book that will be just be that exact piece of art. If you have watched "Painting with John" (and I suggest that you do), there is a familiarity in the narrative. If you have seen "Fishing with John" then you definitely are in familiar narrative territory.

About halfway through is where the book fine tunes (no pun I promise) so there are some of the more juicer tales. The pace is the same but things get busier and more prolific for John Lurie.

Lots of drug use without apology so it can be triggering and honestly hard to read. But he puts it out there and it’s brave. Lots of memoirs talk of drug use and this is so matter of fact that you have to wonder... how can this be, but knowing that there are no other punches pulled, welp, it can and it was. He doesn't glorify it at all. It's pretty heavy to read.

There is an interlude (one of many) that was so touching and seriously kind an observation about Andy Warhol when I read it my idea of both of them are actually changed.

86 % in the book (at least according to my reader counter thingie) we get this quote- "making a record is a very artificial thing to do. You are trying to encapsulate , in sound, this thing that is a little moment of soul." I sucked in a huge gasp of air when I read that. It was like "boom" this is what this book is about.... little moments of soul , further peppered with moments of struggle, love and other creative gestures.

That is what this book really is about in my opinion, John Lurie... the musician. Every bit of the book always comes back to the music for Lurie.

It was a great read.

There are some great pictures shared too of his life which if you read all the way through the book, then go and look at them and then they will make more sense. So read the book, then look at the pictures. I am glad that I waited to look at what photos he did share.

I honestly will be ordering the audio book too so I can hear him tell me the stories and tales of the road again. It was that good to me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for an advanced copy of this memoir.

Artist, musician, composer, actor, model, bon vivant, and amateur fisherman John Lurie has written a memoir encompassing not only his life less ordinary, but of scene and a lifestyle that could only have been New York in the eighties. Starting at his birth in Massachusetts and ending close the end of the century in New York, The History of Bones follows Mr. Lurie from his humble beginnings, his less humbles 20's, into his dangerous 30's as fame and infamy started to come for him.

Fame is both a blessing, opportunities, publicity, musical success, and a curse, no money, his band the Lounge Lizards growing to hate him and dissolving, and more opportunities to be taken advantage of. There are women, lots of women, maybe even a true love , but drugs, the outside world and his own actions and psyche usually end it.

Sex and drugs, lots of drugs were a big part of his narrative, but the music is the center of the memoir. Mr Lurie's description of his sound, his tone the way the music feels in his body, how it he gets it and performs it are some of the most beautifully written passages in the book. He might not think that much about himself, but of his sound he can't talk enough about it, and know that it has always been there for him. Music is the one love that he has never done wrong. The band might underperform, but he has always tried to make it the best he could.

Famous people pass through, some with a kind word, some with an ehh. Others get the full treatment, and there are a lot of those. Some people are mentioned, but not identified, the names strike a cord probably from Interview or Details magazine back in the day, so maybe a few words on who these people are might have helped. That is only a minor quibble in an otherwise enthralling read. A perfect book for a music fan, a fan of New York in a certain era, art fans or just someone in the mood for a good memoir. I would like to know more about Mr. Lurie's adventures.

This is an amazing book. Told in a very straight forward way. Covers the music + film + club + drug world in NYC in the 1970s and 1980s. John Lurie was one of the few people who were there before punk rock and was part of several worlds, including the art world. Not limited to just the Lounge Lizards and the music tours. Many recent music bios just map out the success and the tours and repeat stories told elsewhere. LURIE is a great filter and notices a lot of great details about the city and all different types of personalities. I have enjoyed this book a lot.

I received this as a e-galley from NetGalley.

John Lurie is one of those New York downtown figures (of the 1980s onward) who was always mentioned in other books about the time period but I had never managed to read or listen to any of his work.

Even though the memoir jumps in feet first and assumes you know most of the players - I found it very readable and surprisingly funny.

Of course now I see John Lurie everywhere in other things now- and I'm excited to check out his new HBO Max series' Painting With John.