Massive Pissed Love Nonfiction 2001-2014

Richard Hell may best be known as a punk icon, a founding member of seminal bands Television, the Heartbreakers, and The Voidoids, but for decades he’s been a prominent voice in American letters. Through his novels Go Now and Godlike, and his critically acclaimed autobiography, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp, Hell has proven himself as a talented and insightful writer across many genres, in many forms. But one might argue that Richard’s true genius lies in shorter form as a writer on culture. "Love comes in spurts," Hell once sang, and that could well describe the intensity of his penetrating and wickedly droll criticism.

Massive Pissed Love is a collection of Hell’s ruminations on art, literature, and music, among other things, that’s like a candy box of reading treats, a bag of shiny marbles, a cabinet of mementos and uncanny fetishes. However one thinks of it, it’s a joy to read from start to finish and a deeply necessary addition to the oeuvre of one of the sharpest minds and sensibilities at work today.

Richard Hell remains an in-demand voice of culture. He’s currently conducting an interview series at Symphony Space, “A Night Out with Richard Hell.” He’s published journalism in Spin, GQ, Esquire, and the Village Voice. He was the film critic for Black Book from 2004-2006, and in recent years has contributed book reviews to Bookforum and The New York Times Book Review. He’s the author of an autobiography, I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp (Ecco, 2013), of the novels Go Now (Scribner, 1996), Godlike (Akashic, 2005), and a collection of essays, diaries, and lyrics in Hot and Cold (powerHouse, 2001).