"Friend, asshole, angel, mutant," singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt "came along and made us gross and broken people seem . . . I dunno, cooler, I guess." A quadriplegic who could play only simple chords on his guitar, Chesnutt recorded seventeen critically acclaimed albums before his death in 2009, including About to Choke, North Star Deserter, and At the Cut. In 2006, NPR placed him in the top five of the ten best living songwriters, along with Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen. Chesnutt's songs have also been covered by many prominent artists, including Madonna, the Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Sparklehorse, Fugazi, and Neutral Milk Hotel.Kristin Hersh toured with Chesnutt for nearly a decade and they became close friends, bonding over a love of songwriting and mutual struggles with mental health. In Don't Suck, Don't Die, she describes many seemingly small moments they shared, their free-ranging conversations, and his tragic death. More memoir than biography, Hersh's book plumbs the sources of Chesnutt's pain and creativity more deeply than any conventional account of his life and recordings ever could. Chesnutt was difficult to understand and frequently difficult to be with, but, as Hersh reveals him, he was also wickedly funny and painfully perceptive. This intimate memoir is essential reading for anyone interested in the music or the artist.
"Not only one of the best books of the year, it's one of the most beautiful rock memoirs ever written."--Michael Shaub, NPR"Gives a tremendous sense of what friendship with [Chesnutt] was like, for good and for bad, and leaves the reader feeling his absence even more once the book has ended."--Rolling Stone"[Hersh's] observations . . . always ring with a harsh lyrical truth . . . an eloquent, heartbreaking testament."--Pitchfork"It paints a more honest, insightful picture of the late singer-songwriter than any biography could . . . Beautifully, poetically told."--MOJO"A book that will move anyone who's loved and lost, regardless of whether they're a fan of the author or of Chesnutt."--R2"Storyteller tells storyteller. This is a stunning, difficult, and beautiful chronicle of why and how we breathe to create. It all loops back around. The true Vic comes alive in Kristin's words."--Michael Stipe"A raw, poetic memoir . . . a last, wonderful example of Chesnutt at his most charismatically mischievous."--Guardian"Hersh's language is vivid and conversational, as descriptive and elliptical as