There comes a time in every girl's life, when she has to choose good or choose bad. Amy Asbury chose bad, hands down. Good meant wallflowers, secretaries and subservient wives. Bad meant power- and a possible escape from a life of secrets. At twelve years old she was trying to make sense of a drug-addicted father and his disturbing behavior. By fifteen she was dealing with horrendous depression, blackouts and rape. At sixteen she was in a mental institution for suicidal tendencies and violent behavior. She knew she could never be normal. The only place for a girl like her was Hollywood. Read the true story of the social ascent (and eventual decline) of a girl in the Sunset Strip music scene of the early 1990's. From crazy parties to glittered junkies and man-eating strippers, Amy has chronicled what life was like back in the days of excess and debauchery. It is not just a fascinating look into an amusing time in pop culture, but also details the mindset of a young woman trying to find confidence and self-worth in a life full of pain and chaos. The party came screeching to a halt when the Grunge movement took over and heroin became more prominent. How far off track can a person go before it's too late?

Extravagant visual tribute to the spandex, rouge and eyeliner days of 80s glam rock glory. Colour photographs, interviews, lyrics and keepsakes of the uninhibited teased-hair days of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Steven Blush edited the successful punk rock history American Hardcore (Feral House) and also wrote the screenplay to the feature-length documentary of the same name that debuted at Sundance and will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

Book Description 2000 Hollywood Diaries, is the true, intimate, and sometimes disturbing diaries of Morgana Welch. The diaries begin in 1971 and mark the beginning of a young girl's search for reality and sense of self in a section of society that was anything but normal, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The diaries reflect a way of life that would afford Morgana the pleasure and pain of living in the world of rock and roll. Hollywood Diaries takes you inside the world of a 1970s groupie. In the days before cell phones, you-tube, and myspace when you had to be face to face (fantastically lusciously face to face...) with the center of the rock-and-roll vortex. Hollywood Diaries will take you on a vicarious journey paying homage to the world of rock and roll, for better and worse. Her recollections are not steeped in rose colored hues that are tempting when addressing the escapades of youth. While great care has been taken to assure that some of the players are not marred by their past behavior, the events and life portrayed is as it happened, without judgment, and without regret. "You kept a very good diary. Everything in it is one hundred percent TRUE!!" - Chuck Ruff, Edgar Winter band. "The stories you told in your book brought back fond memories for me of the crazy fun times we had". Bill Lordan - Sly and the Family Stone, Robin Trower "I saw that 'infamous groupie' photo in Stephen Davis's Hammer of the Gods and always wondered who the girls were. You are a fine writer and I enjoy your voice a lot. I love hearing about the groupie heyday and I really admire how you manage to come across in your writings, insightful and warm. Others have glossed over the seedier sides that must surely have been there. You handle them with a terrific approach, without overdoing it for shock value. Thanks for sharing your stories; it's great to finally know who the pretty blonde girl in the middle is!" - Kerstin Exemplary reflective storytelling, the hooks revolving around musicians we all know, the central inspiration in the end though is one of the human spirit, survival and honesty. The flow of consciousness with its celebrity thread is arabesque, organic and finessed. - Shorty I thought it was excellent. An honest snapshot of amazing times that will probably never happen again. Have also just read Laurel Canyon, which features some of Morgana's story as well. I agree with some other posts on this site...Morgana should write a detailed account of her life. Wild and magical...and surviving was nothing short of a miracle! - Tony McGraw

Dispatches from a land of extremes, by writers and movie stars, natives and visitors, activists and pioneers, and more. California has always been, literally, a place to write home about. Renowned figures and iconoclasts; politicians, actors, and artists; the world-famous and the not-so-much—all have contributed their voices to the patchwork of the state. With this book, cultural historian and California scholar David Kipen reveals this long-storied place through its diaries and letters, and gives readers a highly anticipated follow up to his book Dear Los Angeles. Running from January 1 through December 31, leaping across decades and centuries, Dear California reflects on the state's shifting landscapes and the notion of place. Entries talk across the centuries, from indigenous stories told before the Spanish arrived on the Pacific coast through to present-day tweets, blogs, and other ephemera. The collected voices show how far we've wandered—and how far we still have to go in chasing the elusive California dream. This is a book for readers who love California—and for anyone who simply treasures flavorful writing. Weaving together the personal, the insightful, the impressionistic, the lewd, and the hysterically funny, Dear California presents collected writings essential to understanding the diversity, antagonisms, and abiding promise of the Golden State. Writings from Edward Abbey, Louis Armstrong, Ambrose Bierce, Octavia Butler, John Cage, Willa Cather, Cesar Chavez, Julia Child, Winston Churchill, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Einstein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Fonda, Allen Ginsberg, Dolores Huerta, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Steve Jobs, Billy Joel, Frida Kahlo, John F. Kennedy, Anne Lamott, John Lennon, Groucho Marx, Henri Matisse, Marshall McLuhan, Herman Melville, Charles Mingus, Marilyn Monroe, John Muir, Ronald Reagan, Sally Ride, Joan Rivers, Susan Sontag, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mark Zuckerberg, and many others.

Sometimes a rock concert is more than just an event. Every so often a band's performance becomes a musical milestone, a cultural watershed, a political statement, and a personal apotheosis. On any given night a rock concert can tell the truth about who we are, where we are, and what's going on in music and life right now. In The Decibel Diaries, Carter Alan, longtime DJ and music director at WZLX in Boston, chronicles a lifetime in rock with a tour through fifty concerts that defined such moments - from Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young playing in the rain when Richard Nixon resigned to Talking Heads and the first stirrings of punk in the basement bars of New York and Boston to the bluegrass angel Alison Krauss and the adaptable veteran Robert Plant forging a plangent, plaintive postmodern synergy. For each event Alan shows us what it was like to be there and telescopes out to reveal how this show fit into the arc of the artist's career, the artist's place in music, and the music's place in the wider world. Taken together, The Decibel Diaries is a visceral and visionary portrait of nearly fifty years of rock 'n' roll.

In 1969 he felt the call of God to begin a work in Florida with no money and without the backing of any church or organization. Those humble beginnings started a movement that would have a ripple effect that would eventually reach many around the world. But in spite of countless miracles and changed lives, turmoil at home eventually found him running from God-a prodigal, whose long journey back to the Father's home would finally lead him to redemption and victory. This is the miraculous and moving story of Ken Simmons.

Raised in the Forrest Hills section of Newark, New Jersey, city life was an inherent part of Christopher Angelo Lento’s experience. While his Family relocated to Hunterdon County, NJ, in his late teens, high school graduation and a brief stint at Rutgers University was nowhere near enough to quench his thirst for adventure. An attempted career in modeling and acting took him around the world, yet the position of bartender and bar manager paid the bills along the way. Relocating to diff erent cities and abroad landed him in Hollywood.. An actor by trade and bartender by night give this barkeeps memoir an edge and truth into the underworld of bartending not seen before. This is the memoir the industry craves, yet doesn’t dare write.