The definitive book about The Cars, one of the most popular and beloved bands to emerge from New Wave, with articulate musical insights and exclusive new reporting with access to the surviving members of the band and everyone who surrounded them—from critically acclaimed writer and musician Bill Janovitz, author of the New York Times bestselling biography of Leon Russell.

New York Times bestselling author Bill Janovitz explores the musical, cultural, and commercial impact of The Cars, one of the biggest and most influential bands of the 1970s and 80s. With roots in Maryland, Ohio, New York, and New England, eventually convening in Boston, The Cars were journeymen musicians, all forming and performing in a series of bands before finding each other along with the right sound at the right time. It turned them into Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. Janovitz reveals the stories of each member of the band, and of the band as a unit, with great care and understanding. He has the cooperation of the surviving members and everyone in the orbit of the band, but he does not shy away from the significant conflicts within the group or the reasons for the band's untimely end. The band's unusual providence in the Boston area, with the support of Jonathan Richman, is fully explored for the first time. Each of the band's landmark albums is chronicled and dissected in the way that only a writer and musician like Janovitz can achieve. To paraphrase the band's own lyrics, hello again, you might think this is just what music readers needed. It's magic. Let's shake it up and let the good times roll.