Lou Reed: The King of New York

This lengthy biography of the late Velvet Underground cofounder and musician/poet/provocateur discusses his long association with New York City, collaborations with megastars such as Bowie, Warhol, Robert Wilson, and Delmore Schwartz, and his relationships with men and women, including his marriage to performance artist Laurie Anderson. Relying on NYPL’s Reed archives and numerous secondary- and primary-source interviews, Hermes (Love Goes to Buildings on Fire) chronicles Reed’s (1942–2013) wild life and times. Hermes admiringly emphasizes Reed’s gender-fluid, nonbinary lifestyle and output, parsing song lyrics and quoting friends, enemies, and family. He excels at describing songs and concerts by the Velvets and Reed as a solo artist but occasionally falls into the trap of musing about what Reed might have been thinking, reading, or reacting to. There is a frank discussion of Reed’s drug use and reputation as a difficult collaborator and partner, but Hermes also reveals Reed’s softer side, especially after he cleaned up and met Anderson.