The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique [Paperback]

Derided as one-hit wonders, estranged from their original producer and record label, and in self-imposed exile in Los Angeles, the Beastie Boys were written off by most observers before even beginning to record their second album - an embarrassing commercial flop that should have ruined the group's career. But not only did Paul's Boutique eventually transformed the Beasties from a fratboy novelty to hiphop giants, its sample-happy, retro aesthetic changed popular culture forever.Dan LeRoy is the Director of Literary Arts at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, PA. His writing has appeared inThe New York Times,Rolling Stone,Newsweek,Vibe, The Village Voice, National Review OnlineandAlternative Press. Mr. LeRoy is the co-author (with Michael Lipton) of20 Years of Mountain Stage, a history of the National Public Radio show, and his bookThe Greatest Music Never Soldwill be published by Backbeat in autumn 2007. He is also a contributor toBut Prince Don't Moonwalk, an anthology of music writing to be published in 2008 by Crown/Random House.

The idea was simple: to ask a group of authors to each write a book about a classic album. What emerged became Continuum's 33 1/3 series. Without guidelines or rules, each author embraced their own favourite album and chose exactly how they wanted to write about it.As a result, each book is by turn anecdotal, obsessive, technical and personal, but always passionate. Swell Music, December 2006

...recognized as a cultish, kaleidoscopic classic...a frequently illuminating and entertaining tale... Stevie Chick,Mojo

Just how the hell did three snot-nosed party boys from Brooklyn go from fighting for the right to party to creating 1989's hip-hop masterpiece Paul's Boutique? The album, with its thousands of samples, is an aural encyclopedia of musical landmarks, served up in a funk stew of arrogance, attitude, and ultimalS#