Craig O'Hara

This book could have been much better. The author, who was in the punk rock scene in D.C. since the eighties, certainly brought a good deal of first-hand knowledge to the subject, but his writing skills are poorly developed. The book was originally published as photocopied pages that were staple bound, and it was eventually published by AK Press, a major radical publisher. The writing is not really publishable, in my opinion, however.

Of course, in keeping with the punk rock tradition, the book does not rely on academic or mainstream sources, and that is a potential strength if it demonstrates that a book can coherently present a social phenomenon this complex without recourse to anything but alternative, collective, autonomous institutions. Bayard uses letters published in zines as his primary sources, which is a great idea. Unfortunately instead of drawing convincing conclusions from the research, he contributes little more than the preachy letters he quotes.

He wanted to write a book for people unfamiliar with the punk-rock subculture, but I think he could have written a better memoir without the explicit intention of educating the public.… (meer)