Beastie Boys Book

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Beastie Boys Book

Written by: Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz

Narrated by: Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Various

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About this listen

#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 Spike Jonze “live documentary” Beastie Boys Story, coming soon to IMAX theaters and Apple TV+

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, featuring a collection of voices reminiscent of your favorite mixtape.

Photo Credit © 1987 Lynn Goldsmith

Audiobook Cast Includes:
Steve Buscemi / Ada Calhoun / Bobby Cannavale / Exene Cervenka
Roy Choi / Jarvis Cocker / Elvis Costello / Chuck D / Nadia Dajani
Michael Diamond / Snoop Dogg / Will Ferrell / Crosby Fitzgerald
Randy Gardner / Kim Gordon / Josh Hamilton / Adam Horovitz
LL Cool J / Spike Jonze / Pat Kiernan / Talib Kweli / Dave Macklovitch
Rachel Maddow / Tim Meadows / Bette Midler/ Mix Master Mike
Nas / Yoshimi O / Rosie Perez / Amy Poehler / Kelly Reichardt
John C. Reilly / Ian Rogers / Maya Rudolph / Rev Run
Luc Sante / Kate Schellenbach / MC Serch / Chloe Sevigny
Jon Stewart / Ben Stiller / Wanda Sykes / Jeff Tweedy / Philippe Zdar

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

Entertainment & Celebrities

Music

Celebrity

Hip-Hop

Witty

Biography

What the critics say

“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

“As nutty, irreverent, and fun as you think it would be.”—Vogue

“As freewheeling and funny as their albums . . . a beautifully messy (and large) talisman containing within it many of the great joys and surprises that come with listening to the Beastie Boys”—The AV Club

“Horovitz and Diamond share sincere moments of reflection about their music, their friendship and the guy who taught them to fix radiators, to care about human rights, to own up to mistakes and to grow up.”—NPR, Morning Edition

“Teeming with tour anecdotes, personal letters, playlists, comics and photographs—[Beastie Boys Book] unspools the crew’s thirty-year run in the music industry and is appropriately massive.”—Los Angeles Times

“Diamond and Horovitz alternate as narrators, and their prose is as infectious as their music. Other contributors chime in with their own idiosyncratic takes. Roy Choi offers a mini cookbook of Beastie-themed dishes. Amy Poehler delves into the videography of the group. Luc Sante takes the reader on a musical tour of New York City streets in the early 1980s. The result is a book Beastie Boys fans will clamor for and a must-read for music enthusiasts.”—Booklist (starred review)

“This entertaining look at Beastie Boys history is as innovative and raucous as the band’s music.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Beastie Boys fans will devour this book, as will anyone interested in the early days of hip-hop, the art/music/street life of New York City in the 1980s, and the alternative-nation zeitgeist of the ’90s.”—Kirkus Reviews

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Can't recommend this title enough. Wether your a Beadtie boys fan, a fan of hip-hop, punk, audio engineering/production or just a music fan in general there is so much you content here to entertain and educate delivery in a fresh way.