description: This controversial biography has become a primary reference on the life &amp; times of Phil Ochs, student activist, journalist, 60s rebel, social commentator, street socialist, poet, pop star &amp; disturbed child of an America gone war &amp; assassination-crazy. Altho his recordings were never bestsellers &amp; there were times when he was more greatly appreciated in the UK, Canada &amp; the 3rd World than at home, the late Philip David Ochs was one of the few American folksingers, aside from Woody Guthrie &amp; Bob Dylan, who wrote &amp; performed his own songs. This singing journalist's earliest ballads--championing civil rights, pacifism &amp; revolution, attacking unemployment &amp; US foreign policy--dealt with the romance of politics. Later ones celebrated the politics of romance. Fascinated by night, death, drowning, James Dean &amp; Elvis Presley, Ochs was only 36 when, after surviving an attack in Africa followed by a psychotic break, he hanged himself in 1976. Eliot's sympathetic, powerful biography 1st appeared in paperback in 1979. Newer editions contain an epilog that updates information on Ochs's family &amp; friends, discusses the FBI's 13-year surveillance of him &amp; offers a revised discography.
language: English
title: Death of a Rebel: A Biography of Phil Ochs
titlecomplete: Death of a Rebel: A Biography of Phil Ochs
characters: Phil Ochs
genres: Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Music, Biography
ratings_count: 140
publisher: Random House