Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music
"Here, [Ellen Willis's] witty, cerebral essays finally get the compilation they deserve. She grapples with voices who inspired her . . . and relates feminism to music in revelatory ways.Vinyl Deepsis the testament of a crucial voice. At a time when rock clichés were still being invented, Willis was already leaving them behind." —Rob Sheffield,Rolling Stone"Willis's work is crystalline enough that reading each essay takes the reader on a trip back to the era when it originally appeared, but it's a testimony to her intellect and talent that those journeys look completely unlike any hagiography you might stumble across. She cuts through clichés nimbly . . . and the essays vibrate off the page." —Village Voice "At a time when music was less understood than it is today, Willis appreciated why musicians combined passion and intellect to not only document their time, but also influence movements." —Publishers Weekly, starred review "Out of the Vinyl Deepsshould take its place alongside Marcus’sMystery Trainand Bangs’sPsychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dungas one of the canonical documents of early pop music criticism. Even  with her tendency to use big words and big ideas, Willis always knew at  heart that music was a gas, gas, gas. She celebrated the seriousness of  pleasure and relished the pleasure of thinking seriously. She followed  in the footsteps of the New Yorker critics Dorothy Parker and Pauline  Kael, and elbowed her way into the men’s club of music criticism. Maybe  she didn’t even realize it was a men’s club—Willis seemed fiercely  independent that way. Ultimately,Out of the Vinyl Deepsmakes you want to do what the best music criticism should: pull out a record and listen to it with new ears." —New York Times "I’d call Ellen Willis the Ida Lupino of music writing, but even that wouldn’t say enough about this book's value.Out of the Vinyl Deepsis a time capsule, the publication of which invigorates and illuminates our grasp of the period it covers—but it is also a timeless compendium of clear thinking and fresh, humane, and persuasive prose."—Jonathan Lethem"Finally, Willis’s game-changing music writing is available in one place. It is like unearthing the holy grail of rock criticism!" —Kathleen Hanna"A pleasure to read and a crucial challenge when truly considered, Willis’s essays on rock, freedom, sex, and dancing in your bedroom continue to teach me every time I return to them." —Ann Powers