New and noteworthy books from celebrated artists across genres

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Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.

By Jeff Tweedy

Hardcover, 304 pages

Penguin Publishing Group

Few bands have inspired as much devotion as the Chicago rock band Wilco, and it’s thanks in large part to the band’s singer, songwriter and guiding light: Jeff Tweedy. But while his songs and music have been endlessly discussed and analyzed, Jeff has rarely talked so directly about himself, his life and his artistic process … until now. Honest, funny and disarming, Jeff’s memoir will bring readers inside both his life and his musical process—illuminating his singular genius and sharing his story, voice and perspective for the first time.


Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography

By Eric Idle

Hardcover, 304 pages

Crown/Archetype

We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python—from Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this entertaining memoir that takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theatre and film. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout involving other close friends and luminaries such as Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon and many more—as well as John Cleese and the Pythons—Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal parts hilarity and heart. Named for the song he wrote for Life of Brian, which has since become the #1 song played at funerals in the U.K., Idle’s book shares the highlights of his life and career with the kind of offbeat humor that has delighted audiences for five decades.


The Flame: Poems Notebooks Lyrics Drawings

By Leonard Cohen

288 pages, Hardcover

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Just weeks before his death in late 2016, Leonard Cohen told The New Yorker that he was ready for the end to come. He just wanted enough time to put his last book in order. Fortunately that time was granted. The Flame is his eloquent farewell—a valedictory collection of lyrics, poems, notebook sketches and self-portraits that maps his singular creative journey. As noted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s citation, “For six decades, Leonard Cohen revealed his soul to the world through poetry and song—his deep and timeless humanity touching our very core.” In addition to new poems about war, desire, regrets, lamb chops and hummingbirds, and lyrics from his last three albums including the chart-topping “You Want It Darker,” The Flame includes carefully selected excerpts from his voluminous notebooks, which he kept faithfully over the years. Readers will find in these pages the subjects that have always preoccupied Leonard Cohen: the dimensions of love, the secret code of existence and the hope for transcendence in a broken world.


Annie Leibovitz at Work

By Annie Leibovitz

Hardcover, 256 pages

Phaidon Press

Annie Leibovitz addresses young photographers and readers interested in what photographers do, but any reader interested in contemporary history will be fascinated by her account of one of the richest bodies of work in the photographic canon. The subjects include photojournalism, studio work, photographing dancers and athletes, working with writers and making the transition from shooting with film to working with digital cameras. Originally published in 2008, this revised and updated edition brings her best-selling book back into print.

 


Led Zeppelin

By Led Zeppelin

Hardcover, 400 pages

Reel Art Press

This tome is the only official illustrated book produced in full collaboration with the members of the band. Celebrating 50 years since their formation, this definitive volume charts the group’s unparalleled musical career from the very first performance in a tiny club to their performance at London’s O2 Arena, when 20 million fans broke the world record for highest demand for tickets for a single concert. The book features more than 300 photographs—many seen here for the first time—of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham from photographers around the world, and photographs from the band members’ personal collections. Accompanying the photographs is rare and unseen artwork from the Led Zeppelin archives and fascinating documents and images from the Atlantic Records vaults.

 

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