The Velvet Forum

what about the book though?
don't expect an instant review, but just flicking through it, does anything stand out? is the print quality good? any new photos, or interviews with anyone new?

FYI if you haven't pre-ordered yours like at did, there is now a cheaper option on ebay - rarewaves lists it for $50 w free shipping to the US:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134303260930

simonm wrote: ↑28 Oct 2022 20:38 what about the book though?
don't expect an instant review, but just flicking through it, does anything stand out? is the print quality good? any new photos, or interviews with anyone new?

I deliberately didn't say more because I haven't really read any of it yet but with those caveats...

Since you ask, it does feel as if the picture reproduction could generally have been a tad sharper but maybe I'm just a nit-picker!

Some of the shots are pretty familiar (e.g. that shot of the Theatre of Eternal Music with Cale and Conrad) but the James Hamilton ones include a haunting (he says, diplomatically) set of Nico and some Candy Darling ones I hadn't seen before.

Text-wise it feels as if there's a lot to get stuck into, so I'm looking forward that. It basically consists of a series of interviews rendered Q&A style with meaty intros to provide context. All of the Velvets (including Doug) are interviewed, Lou and John frequently. The lengthy Sterling interviews look great. Lenny Kaye, Gerard Malanga, Jackson Browne (!) and Todd Haynes are also interviewed. Parts of some of the interviews previously appeared in Feed-back but as I haven't read that for decades I'm sure they'll feel fresh to me.

In a nutshell, I can't imagine anybody here not revelling in this.

All the publicity shots of this book made it look like a paperback. But I’ve just seen a genuine photo of it and it was a cloth-bound hardback. I guess that justifies the price a bit more. But some people are still listing it as paperback for the usual 45 - 55 quid. Are there two different editions? EDIT. Juno and Rough Trade do say ‘hardback’.

iaredatsun wrote: ↑29 Oct 2022 15:57 All the publicity shots of this book made it look like a paperback. But I’ve just seen a genuine photo of it and it was a cloth-bound hardback. I guess that justifies the price a bit more. But some people are still listing it as paperback for the usual 45 - 55 quid. Are there two different editions? EDIT. Juno and Rough Trade do say ‘hardback’.

It's a hardback. I don't know what the correct technical term is but it's a hardback without a removable dust jacket/cover.

I am the table! wrote: ↑29 Oct 2022 16:50

iaredatsun wrote: ↑29 Oct 2022 15:57 All the publicity shots of this book made it look like a paperback. But I’ve just seen a genuine photo of it and it was a cloth-bound hardback. I guess that justifies the price a bit more. But some people are still listing it as paperback for the usual 45 - 55 quid. Are there two different editions? EDIT. Juno and Rough Trade do say ‘hardback’.

It's a hardback. I don't know what the correct technical term is but it's a hardback without a removable dust jacket/cover.

Clothbound with no dustjacket is the technical term. Thank-you. I still wonder whether there's a paperback version too?

Mine arrived yesterday and it looks beautiful

Not read it all yet, but what I've read so far is pretty great. Good quality interviews with all the major characters in the VU story.

I got mine the other day too...'I am the table' is right in that the picture prints aren't very HD, which is a shame, and I've come across a fair few typo's in the text so far...but the book itself is very good quality and the Sterling interview is really great.
It appears to be the same interview as this (it's literally word-for-word in places): https://youtu.be/dXJey3Q9JdI ...but it's the entire transcript (the video must be edited/cut down for time) so it has a lot more detail.
His interview is far as I've got at this point, but it has already answered a couple of the questions that I was planning to ask Martha Morrison later today, which allows me concentrate on other subjects instead which is great! Just about to read Moe's interview...

A minor correction regarding the binding of this book. The technical term is a printed paper casewrap. It is not clothbound, as noted above.

Stepeanut wrote: ↑31 Oct 2022 10:42 A minor correction regarding the binding of this book. The technical term is a printed paper casewrap. It is not clothbound, as noted above.

thanks for clearing that up - i see now that it is as you say, and not cloth-bound. Which is to say the boards are paper-covered, not cloth covered. Still, a hardback.