The long awaited memoir by Cameron Crowe one of America s most iconic journalists and filmmakers revealing his formative years in rock and roll and bringing to life stories that shaped a generation in the bestselling tradition of Patti Smith s Just Kids If you ve seen Almost Famous you may think you know this story but you don t His clarity of observation and memory his choice words his people Cameron Crowe wonderfully continues to serve us WES ANDERSONCameron Crowe was an unlikely rock and roll insider Born in 1957 to parents who strictly banned the genre from their house he dove headfirst into the world of music By the time he graduated high school at fifteen Crowe was contributing to Rolling Stone His parents became believers uneasily allowing him to interview and tour with legends like Led Zeppelin Lynyrd Skynyrd Bob Dylan Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Fleetwood Mac Crowe spends his teens politely turning down the drugs and turning on his tape recorder He talks his journalism teacher into giving him class credit for his road trip covering Led Zeppelin s 1975 tour He earns the trust of icons like Gregg Allman and Joni Mitchell who had sworn to never again speak to Rolling Stone He embeds with David Bowie as the sequestered genius trans